They've landed.......

"Take me to your leader"

Maybe it's just me, (probably) but doesn't this remind you of something off the SyFy channel?
Maybe if you squint - LOL

It was standing outside the backdoor of the retreat center on the way to the ladies room. It was even stranger at night - hmmmm, maybe we did stay up too late.

Quilt til you wilt?

Here at last, are some pics from this months quilt retreat. I am thinking we should maybe call it a quilt marathon rather than a quilt retreat. Many of us end up staying up way past a reasonable bedtime or getting up with the sun to quilt. I admit to belonging in the night owl camp. There were about 25 of us at this retreat and I know I should have taken more pix but I was too busy stitching, visiting and giggling.

Anyway...here are some of the fabulous quilts that were being created at "retreat"... enjoy!

Peggy was diligently working away at this stunning quilt. I love the colors in this

Karen was adding piping and binding to her lovely quilt - turned out perfect!

Oh-oh - this was a twin needle I was using to top-stitch a knit top I was making - something went wrong. Oddly, it didn't break, but It should be pointing down not sideways LOL

Debbie put together this pretty blue, white and yellow quilt - Love that color combo

Here's Fran modeling the cool scarf she made - now we just need some weather below 70 degrees!

Here's Fran's amazing quilt she made for someone's wedding  - lucky people.

Truly a labor of love.

Linda B - (on right)  made this stunning quilt top after changing the design numerous times - also a gift for someone lucky.

Karen's fabric collage project "Ray in progress and looking fabulous!

Dear Marcia - she traveled all the way  back from her home in the northeast just to be here with us and quilt. She taught many in our group how to hand applique. She is a joy and a treasure - can't wait to see her next year again!

Gosh, love this quilt but now I can't remember who made it. Trying to tell who is hiding behind it, anybody else know?

This is a McKenna Ryan quilt that Jo and her sister Connie were working on together all weekend. They are doing a splendid job- it's gorgeous!

Here's one of our quilter's that resorted to making a sleep mask because her room-mate kept the lights on to read and the light was keeping her up - I snapped the picture when she asked me if it was centered as she was adding the strap - naughty Linda.

Carol was working on her wedding quilt blocks. All her guests signed blocks at their wedding and now she is putting them together in a quilt - she had a lot of signature blocks - it was a big wedding.

Alice finished up this stunning contemporary log cabin quilt top

A few were having word fun with the whiteboard in the room.

Linda F. was working on this awesome quilt - I saw it last week finished and it's really beautiful!

btw, we had 4 Linda's at retreat - we considered going by our middle names to stop the confusion every time someone said Linda.

Aloyse rescued this traditional pieced quilt top from a rummage sale and is hand quilting it. 

 

 

 

We all had such a good time,  it's great to see quilting friends that we don't always get to see much of throughout the year, and it's also very inspiring.  I hope you have a chance to take in a quilt retreat  where you live. Belly laughs are priceless, as are all my dear, silly, quilty friends.

 

And alas - on our way out the door.... bye, bye  retreat center - until next time......

 

 

on the road....with quilters

Ah yes,  another quilt retreat has come and gone, but what a retreat it was. Of course all good retreats begin with the road trip to get there. WOO - HOO!
This year my friend Karen was the driver and I, the navigator. This usually works out quite well, I said usually. Last year there we took a small unintended detour. Oops.

This year things went very well. We started out in the morning and met up in Sarasota with our friend Fran (aka Frannie). We had decided to go to Yoder's Amish restaurant for lunch before hitting the quilt shop. Hard to shop on an empty tummy.
If you are going to be in Sarasota, love good homemade food, and are hungry, then Yoder's is a must. They were featured on an episode of Man vs Food. You can see the video clip on their website. Warning .....it will make you hungry.

Anyway, we all sat down and then started placing our orders. When it came to choosing our side dishes we decided to all get something different, and then share. Sounds like a plan..... well, when the waitress came to our table and set our "sides" down in front of us, we all burst into peals of laughter. OMG and OMG again! See for yourself..... we could have shared with the entire restaurant.

would you call these "side" dishes?

We knew there was NO way we could, or would want to, finish these tasty, but decadent plates of food. I do confess however, that the still warm, homemade chips were very good, as were the very tender onion rings. Needless to say, we left with the plates still mostly full and with very full tummies too.
Just one more thing.... Yoder's happens to have the BEST homemade pies and I LOVE apple pie. I have had their apple pie before, and just couldn't leave without some, and so we left, full and giggling with an apple pie in tow.
Luckily, we were headed to retreat where the salad bar rules with lots of healthy choices.

This is all that was left of a large apple pie on the last day of retreat... I did share it....

sharing the apple pie with "Olivia"

Our next stop was Alma Sue's Quilt shop where Fran wanted to see about having her gorgeous quilt hand quilted by the Amish women there. It's a very nice shop and sure enough there were two older Amish women sitting at the quilt frames, quilting away by hand. I found a couple of things while there....more on that next time. Until then......

a true labor of love....by Fran

tangled

You've heard of zentangles? I love a good zentangle but my tangle is a different sort.... I have thread tangles! Yikes - I am packing for quilt retreat and my thread stash is in sorry shape. I think it's time to get it sorted out and untangled, don't you? Granted this is just the tip of the iceberg - I have multiple thread stashes, and they all need attention.  Do you you tame your thread stash, or do you let it do it's own thing?

I am really looking forward to retreat, no news there, but I am having a hard time narrowing down what I want to work on while there. Right now I have waaaaaayyyy too many projects in the take along pile.
Such as......
I have a charity quilt to machine quilt, a table runner all cut out and ready to stitch, some foundation papers for some mini quilts, a new travel tote design I am working on, some red and white fabric for a concept quilt, a small piece that I am need to finish hand quilting, fabric for a crib quilt, and........
I think that's all I have packed so far.

No, I am not staying a month, only four days, but with no cooking, errands, work or cleaning etc. I paln to make the most of it.

I did make a garment this week (gasp) I picked up a pattern for a short sleeve cowl neck top and I had some ancient fabric I figured I'd try it with. It's a knit and it actually turned out pretty good, it fits, and it was easy and quick. I'll probably wear it to work tomorrow.

 I also made some bolt tenders for work ( I work PT at a quilt shop - of course) These are for shoppers to mark their stacks of fabric they want cut so nobody takes them before they're done shopping.

Well, back to my tangles.........and my decisions......

don't swoon......

I don't want anyone to swoon by posting again so soon but I have a little time before calling it a day...

Back to our latest quilt retreat.... My friend Peggy had made some pretty Christmas ornaments and when she came back from lunch one afternoon one was missing....

 There was however a ransom note on her table....
                     (it reads, "Your ball is mine, leave 5 bucks on piano")

Poor Peggy was beside herself and after much finger pointing, hand wringing, and contemplation, she decided not to call the authorities, but to pay the ransom of 5 bucks to get her precious ball (ornament) back unharmed.....

here's the piano with the ransom demanded....

                                                 5 bucks !!!!!
                                 Peggy outsmarted them......

What can I say, she's a shrewd one that Peggy. She did get a confession from the culprit, but they were still trying to locate the ornament last I heard......

On that note I am calling it a night...sleep well

Deja Vu all over again....

 I am happy to report that the lights are back on.  LOL
Since my last posting of July 22nd, (OMG not kidding) the lights again went out Tuesday night when our latest storm rolled through.
Now however, we are thoroughly enjoying the cooler temps here in South Florida. Only in the 70's today!
So where have I been all summer?????
It's been a bumpy road....

 it's a long story that I will edit extensively for your sake.

I had been feeling increasingly tired, and lackadaisical, along with a whole host of symptoms that kept piling on since late spring.
After several visits to several Drs. I finally found out why. I have thyroiditis.
The good news is I will be fine and I am feeling better than I did.
I am at least getting my energy and concentration back and will now try to keep up my blog once again and get back to visiting my favorites.

I did go to our summer quilt retreat over Labor Day weekend and took a few pix to share....

My dear friend Cathi is always prepared for fun creative play and this retreat was no exception.
She brought along tons of fun tools for creating journal pages.

lots of fun stuff to play with!

She and my friend Karen have started playing around with creating art journal pages and for a change of pace during retreat I gave it a try. It was fun getting paint all over, we finger painted some, but alas I didn't want to pick up my camera then.
Here are a couple of their pages. I still need to shoot mine.....

this is one of Cathi's pages

one of Karen's pages

unfortunately my camera dies just before retreat and I picked up a cheapie at the drugstore. It is very touchy and I didn't get a lot of good pix. Karen decide to try her hand at making a quilt ala Susan Carlson from her book Serendipity Quilts. She decided to make the sun project and needed lots of yellows and oranges. Can't wait to see it finished. Susan's book and quilts are really stunning. If you haven't seen them check them out here.

Here's the start.....just call him "Ray"

Well, I need to pop over to the grocery store before dinner. But I will be back with more....

no, really I will. LOL

There was a ransom demand that took place at retreat, more on that next time.

until then, be well

retreat wrap-up or.... what I did on my winter vacation

Even though it was only 4 nights it did the trick for me. Our semi annual quilt retreats have a way of recharging my batteries or hitting the reset button. Our retreats do not have any scheduled events, the only requirement is showing up and doing what you want. What more can you ask for?
This retreat was a small one...only six of us instead of the usual 8-10 and though we missed our friends we thought of them and hope for their return next time.
I didn't get the camera out as much as I should have.  I guess I was too busy stitching and giggling, but here's what I did get.
 Marti brought along some UFO's to work on and these are her twisted sister blocks. Fun fabrics!
She also brought along her Christmas Tree quilt to bind. I love this quilt and want to make one for next Christmas.

 Then Marti showed me a fun easy fractured 9 patch block to use for one of the 

charity quilts I'm working on.

Begin with a 9-patch with any size squares you want. I am using fabrics that were donated to our guild for this purpose. Stitch together and then cut the finished block in half in both directions. Then play with the layout and stitch them back together.  If you need a quick and easy block this is a great one.

This shows two fractured blocks side by side. notice the secondary patterns you get.

Sandra was diligently working on her bed size 9-patch quilt for her bed. She only had 1 row to go when we left and it's going to be gorgeous!

Karen worked on several things... she finished binding her mini that she made last time. What a super cool quilt.

 She also was working on her Lorna's vine applique quilt that she is making with Cherrywood hand dyed fabrics. So pretty.

We did get invited to a trunk show by Quilts on Plum Lane that another large quilt retreat group was having while we were there and so we got to enjoy the presentation and some shopping. The owner had some beautiful hand dyed wools that she does herself. Had to get some to bring home and Karen made an adorable pin cushion with hers.

Cathi was working on several things but I only got pics of these fabulous little pieces she created.

I just love her color choices and I can't wait to see them finished ...... wink,wink.

Bonnie also had several things going and here she is appliqueing leaves and stems onto a stunning black and white quilt she started. She's stitching so fast her hands are a blur....

she also started making a gazillion triangles for a tree of life quilt. It's going to be awesome.

I made this charity quilt with donated fabric, a lot of it was Lily Pulitzer scraps. I thought I would tone it down a bit by adding the yellow LOL

I hope it brings cheer to whoever receives it.

I was also designing a new project for a pattern in the works...here's a sneak peek

Marti was nice enough to teach a yoga class for us during our stay, it was very nice and very relaxing.

Our last day turned out to be a gloomy rainy one and poor Sandra got trapped outside while moving her van and a large branch came down on top of her van. Fortunately neither she or the van was hurt. The van saved her and the luggage rack saved the van. 

The arrows show the start and end of the branch her van was under the middle.

It just missed Cathi's rental - whew!

the remaining branch debris

So eventually we all packed up and headed home, some of us with finished projects, some of us with more UFO's, but all of us with a weekend of great memories and time well shared with friends.

Can you tell how sat here????

Wish you all could have shared it with us