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retreat sweat shop

Well what a weekend!! So much happening! Our retreat was this weekend actually Thursday to Sunday! I got a lot accomplished. Two small quilts machine quilted, one small top sewn together, some blocks made for my embroidery quilt and a top started.So much sewing done and now to get the projects to completion. The bindings I will work on tonight during quiltcam and the others will come along in the next few weeks. We were so well taken care of too. The food was to die for and not having to cook was great!!So good some of us took pictures before diving in! And falling into our down filled duvet covered beds at night and listening to the water hitting the shore....oh and the giggling from the room above us!!!We were 27 ladies chattering and laughing for 3 1/2 days!!

Dinner one night

Desserts so yummy

fair quilt

Also on the weekend my winning quilt from the local fair went to the district meeting and won. So now it goes onto the provincial meeting in February. Very exciting for me cause it won in the machine quilting category. Not one of my favorite things!!

Kay's stars quilt

Another surprise this weekend came from a friend who attended a quilt show in southwestern Ontario. She saw a quilt I had made (and given another friend) hanging in the show. It was great to see it hanging and knowing my friend liked it so much to put it in the show. My friend had given me the scraps and I made the quilt for her.

So with such a fun-filled weekend and so many things happening, is it any wonder that I am having a hard time getting anything done this week. DH is away hunting and I should be sewing up a storm but I need a little motivation so I am headed off to guild today. Maybe that will help get my butt in gear. Have a great week!!!

Quilt Retreat

It should fit in the car!

Well I am packed and patiently waiting for departure time. That will be tomorrow morning early. We are headed out to do some quilt shopping and then to the retreat destination. This is the 7th year we have gotten together. Each year there have been new faces joining us and some that have not returned. I will always remember a dear sweet lady Madeline, she was quite a character, 80 years or more and there she was having the time of her life with us crazies. She was a very accomplished quilter and story teller.Especially the story of her husband who asked her to make him a quilt. She had made lots of afghans for him but not a quilt. His reply was those afghans are full of holes, he wanted a quilt!!!She hand pieced and hand quilted most of her quilts too! Sadly she had a stroke and past away. I will always be glad for our retreat where we get to meet such amazing people like her!

Belle sitting still-3 month old

Now that my things are packed all I want to do today is sew. I have only machine quilted in my sewing room so things will be very different at the retreat...no cabinet and smaller space. Maybe today I should set up on a table and see if it works for me. Otherwise I need to pack more projects to work on! YIKES

I am hoping for a productive weekend and that I will have lots to show you next week.

All Stuffed and now for leftovers!!

jars of beet pickle and soup broth

Yes filled with turkey and stuffing and now leftovers. Well I won't have that much, most of it went home with other family members but I got the turkey remains. And this is what happened to half of it today...boiled it down to make soup later. Also today I pickled beets. I can't seem to grow them in my garden so bought them from a friend who has a green thumb and has a huge garden...well okay a farm!!
DH is gone guitar playing for the evening so it is just me and the dogs to sit and relax and get some slow stitching in with Kathy and the rest of the ladies!
Are you sick of puppy stories yet? Well here is one that is not so funny but I am sure will be in a few days. I have been knitting this pair of socks for myself. The other day I came to the realization that I had done something wrong and had to take out all of the knitting to the cuff. So I did and left it on the couch. Next day I thought the dogs were sleeping and I was doing housework. I came out into the family room to find the knitting on the floor and 3 or the 4 bamboo needles and a piece of yarn  chewed. ARGGG!!!! I just keep saying "she's cute...good thing she is cute!"
So tonight I am knitting from scratch...it is a kind of stitching and believe me...it is definitely slow stitching!!!

will need new knitting needles

 Hope you're enjoying your weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving

Well to my Canadian readers, this is turkey weekend with family. Our plans are very low-keyed, dinner tomorrow with DH's family and the rest of the weekend is finishing up the outdoor chores before the snow flies. I also have to pack and get things ready for my quilting retreat which starts next week on Thursday till Sunday!!  3 1/2 day of sewing, eating and talking.

marcus sew along top finished

I have been cutting and kitting some projects but I am considering taking a machine quilting project too. But that would mean taking two machines. Has anyone else done that? I have come to love piecing on my featherweight but would need my other machine to quilt on. OR I might just get that quilting done this weekend. The quilt is from the Marcus Sew along. I showed part of the top in the last blog entry and I did have enough fabric for set in triangles and was able to find border, backing and binding fabric yesterday. The backing is peeking out from under the top. Those squares are whiskey labels. Lending even more of a masculine feel to the quilt. I am also taking some handwork along for those times when you just need a break from the sewing machine!!

Belle is now 12 weeks

Zoe & Belle(8weeks old)

Life with a new puppy is getting better. She is almost sleeping through the night and she is growing too. There is almost not enough room for both of them on the one bed anymore but she tries to fit!! I will try for a better pic of her alone but she doesn't sit still long unless she is sleeping!

I have been doing some embroidery in the evening and have one block done. When I took out the second block I realized I had drawn the pattern on the wrong side of the fabric....oops!! Back to the tracing board! Embroidery is almost as relaxing as hand quilting!

Hope everyone has a fun,turkey and family filled weekend!!
  

Quilting Season

I have heard the Fall referred to as quilting season more than once this year. Well I guess it is the time of year once all gardening and flowerbeds are put to sleep for the winter. We find ourselves with time to do more. For me here in Northern Ontario...the winters can be long and playing with fabric and quilting keeps me hoping for Spring. I do love the winter and snow but sometimes it is nice to watch the snow falling from inside sitting at a quilting frame or sewing machine!! This is also the time of year I go on my annual quilting retreat. Seventh year for it and I was there for the first one and haven't missed one! But I get an extra holiday this year cause a friend and I are going shopping for a couple of days before the retreat. We are planning on hitting a few quilt stores and some other shopping. A couple of days away from home to shop, relax and road trip from store to store!!! I call this my hunting season! For the week after DH will be gone hunting.

all cut and ready to sew, will also work on embroidery

So in the quilting room I have been putting projects together, doing the cutting here so at the retreat I just have to sew. I find figuring out the cutting at home alone in quiet much easier. Let's face it at retreat there is a "wee" bit of chatting going on!!!

my layout...have to sew it together yet

I have also been working on my Marcus sew along. Although I have figured out I don't have enough fabric to complete the alternate blocks. So yesterday I had to go into design mode! And voila!! A creative opportunity presented itself and I was able to come up with a plan. It worked out well. I wanted to use the bright plaid but didn't have enough but I didn't have enough of the fabric I was suppose to use according to the pattern. So a compromise was born....use both of them. Also that way I have enough fabric. Now I am left wondering if I have enough background for the set in triangles. No miscalculations...I used only scraps from my stash so I am being forced to make due!!!

A local church is having a Harvest supper tonight and DH is taking me out.That's big in our house. So I have to put sewing away for now and will do some slow stitching tonight. Check out Kathy's blog and see what others are doing today on slow stitching Sunday!