A Bit More ~

I wanted to show you some of the blocks in the lotto at retreat. We had 101 attendees and collected 54 blocks~ the first time there has been over 50 blocks in years! This is a small sampling of them. Unfortunately my cell phone died after taking this shot, so I didn't get the other half. There were 4 winners who each received a share of the blocks and some of the lotto fabric to go with them.

Of all the things I saw people working on, the paper pieced quilts were the most stunning. I can't show photo's of them because the ladies told me they were making them for specific shows.  Maybe next year. ;-)  I was sure taken though by the accuracy... almost tempting me to begin paper piecing something too! LOL~ And y'all know, I generally don't like to paper piece! ;-)

I did finish my 60+ blocks for a signature block swap this fall. And I worked on my Schnibbles quilt for this month~ more on that later. ;-)  And I brought home 20 FQ's I won in the FQ lottery. :-) Fun!

It is gently raining here and I am off to make some soup. Seems strange to be thinking of soup in April, but this kind of weather just calls for it. :-)

Have a good evening~
More soon!

Here I Am!

Thank you for your sweet comments and well wishes for my retreat! I had a lot of fun and accomplished a lot~ yay!  It is so nice to have dedicated days to working on your projects and getting things done without the interruptions you have at home. And we were treated like queens, the chefs prepare 2 meals/day~ which is plenty when they are sooo delicious and you are sitting on your back side all day. ;-)  LOL Yes, I think I came home with a pound more than I left with! :-o

They offered a bunch of classes but I had so much of my own stuff to do ;-) that I only took one.  A new-to-me technique using the Double Diamond Ruler.  A lot of the ladies worked on table runners, but just to try the ruler, I made this mini mat.  It was so quick! I never would've believed it if I hadn't done it myself! ;-)  I can see this design used in so many other ways~ I need more time to sew! LOL ;-)

I also worked on a few bags, blocks and a mini~ this was a 'just for fun' pattern I have wanted to make for me. I made one years ago and gave it away. I still need to add borders. This is 11 inches square now. With borders it will be around 15 inches.  It looks a lot brighter in the photo than it actually is in 'real life'.

I can't show you a couple of the bags I made, but I can show this one~ it is huge!!  Like a suitcase! LOL

Getaway Bag by Aunties Two Patterns

Loads of pockets inside

I changed mine up a bit by not binding the bottom and making my lining separate. It sure was handy for packing up when we came home! ;-)

I also made a new wallet to go with my bag. This pattern is Cyndi's from Cut Up and Sew!~ thanks Cyndi! I love it!! :-)

The outside~ please pardon my photo taking abilities~ I think I wiggled and made it a bit blurry. :-o 

And the inside~ love all the space for credit cards etc!

That's it for now~ I hope you had a great weekend too!
Until next time~
Happy stitchin'!!

...More Sewing...

I also finished lots of little things at my retreat. :-)  I made these little phone wallets for my DD and her friend from a Valorie Wells Sewing Card. I need to add some pearl snaps and they are finished.

I worked on this Pat-E-Pattern wallet too.

And two of Nancy Halvorsen's  'Count On It' mini quilts... I need to add the eyes and teeth to the bats and quilt them both yet.

And I still finished more! :-)

Hope you are getting lots of sewing done too~
Til next time,
Happy stitchin'!!

I'm Baaa-aaack!!!

And whew!~ what a weekend!  I had a blast at retreat and managed to get quite a few things finished, or close to finished. :-) I need to add a few borders, do some quilting etc, but all-in-all I am very happy with all I got done. 

Mystery Quilt

I got my mystery quilt top together from Leslie at the Crafty Unicorn Quilting.  Next week, or is it this week? Well, one of these weeks, Leslie is going to show us border options.  I just love how it came together!

Piece and Goodwill

I've been working on blocks for 'Piece and Goodwill' (from Quiltmaker magazine Nov/Dec 09) off and on for a while. I finally got 36 blocks together. That is six more than the original pattern, and I am planning to make another row so it will be a bit longer.  Then I'll add the borders. ;-)

Thank you Cyndi!! :-)

I've got lots more to show you, but I wanted to show you my Santa Sack 2 gifts from Cyndi.
She sent an extra little gift and told me to 'open now'~ well, anyone who knows me knows you don't have to say that twice!! LOL Cyndi sent me an adorable bag!  I love it! It is for my birthday~ wasn't that the sweetest?! And speaking of sweet~ that little Halloween bag is full of them! Sweets, that is! I am going to have to do extra laps around the neighborhood. LOL

I'll be back soon!
Happy Stitchin'!!

I'm Ba-a-ack!

And whew do I have a lot to tell you! :-) I think it is going to take a few posts. :-)


Let's start with the retreat I went to in mid-April. What fun!  I worked on bags, wallets, my April Le Petite and much more. Of course, I didn't accomplish half of what I took along, but that is ok~ my kits will wait for me. :-)

Top two bags are Sherrod Studio patterns, bottom two are Lazy Girl Designs.  The wallet is an Indygo Junction pattern

We are lucky enough to have a quilt shop come and set up for the weekend. And the best part is that the owner or one of her staff go back to her shop every day, so if we are looking for a certain fabric, she brings what she has! Isn't that nice?!  I was looking for Thimbleberries to make this quilt~

from the Thimbleberries booklet 'My Best'

...and I found these. :-)  And she gave us a retreat discount too! Pretty cool!

But the coolest by far is the raffle. Every year they giveaway a couple quilts and a 'free retreat' voucher for the next year~~ squeal!!! Guess who won the voucher????!!!!  ME! :-))) Oh my gosh, I was just giddy! lol You could not have wiped the smile off of my face! I think I fell asleep smiling that night! :-)

I came home, unpacked the car, did a quick few loads of laundry and the next day hubby and I took off at 5 AM to go visit our families... more on that in the next post. ;-)

Hope y'all had a Happy Mother's Day! I just heard from the last of my chicks~ DD had been in Canada all weekend and just got back to school.

Until next time~
Happy Stitchin'!!