lakeside weekend . . .

I retreated this weekend.

Aaaaaaaaaaah. It was good. Cuz I mean I really retreated. Like, no cell service or WiFi. In a house on a lake. With quilt-minded friends. 

It was *real* good.

We arrived midday on Friday and set our stuff up and got straight down to business. Lunch. Wink, wink.

And then sewing. (Of course!)

We went out to dinner on Friday evening, but before we went to the restaurant, we stopped and met up with a local long-armer (who's also in our guild) and toured her beautiful quilting space.

I mean, wow, what a set-up.

And what a view! (Not us...sheesh...our lakeside backdrop!)  I'm almost afraid I'd be so distracted by the view, I'd have a hard time sewing!

Saturday we took a road trip and visited "Wilson's Fabric," which I'd never heard of, much less visited. Good GRIEF! I didn't get to spend NEAR enough time there.

It was really lovely.  Lots of bolts of pretties, gadgets, embellishments, and regular fabrics, too. Plus vinyl and notions . . . it was really a lot of fun.

And of course, I had to do my small part in helping the local small business.

We came across a heavily discounted 'row by row' they'd done...maybe last summer.  Lots of fun quilting friends blocks.

This was my favorite of the blocks . . .

We decided to recreate that block on Saturday afternoon.

Too funny!

Sunday morning we had breakfast and went out onto the lake for a ride.  Just a gorgeous morning!

The weekend was over way too soon, but I did manage to get some sewing accomplished.  I stitched up the stack of pink hexies for my hexie flower project.  I need a name for that thing. I've not been satisfied with anything I've called it to date.

And I also got most of the way thru stitching my starburst patriotic topper together . . .

I also read my book, ate, collaborated on quilting and guild matters, took a nap naps, browsed through magazines, walked by the water, contemplated life from the dock, watched hummingbirds play, and drank tea. A most excellent way to spend the weekend, I can assure you!

Plus I made this funky, adorable "handwork pillow" . . .

I didn't even know I NEEDED one of these!  Isn't it fun?  Took about 90 minutes. Crazy pattern at first glance, but super easy. If you're interested, check out Legacy Patterns. It helps alleviate stress on neck, hands and shoulders while you do stitching (or reading or knitting or whatever).  Awesome!

Five more sleeps and we wake up in the month of September.  Who's ready for that? I'm ready for another weekend like the one I just recounted!  Linking up with Small Quilts.

:)

birthday mash-up . . .

Birthday week (the kickoff of birthday quarter) hit the same week as Fanfare 2013 -- our guild's bi-annual quilt show!  So it was a BUSY week!

It started with me spending Tuesday with Ellie.  We had such a fun day!  We made pumpkin spice cookies and walked the neighborhood . . . and in honor of it being Fire Safety Month, Leia shared an important public service message about stop, drop and roll:

If you get the feeling that Leia was less than enthusiastic about her message, you'd be correct!  She is, however, very happy to be linking up to Feline Friday (only a couple of days late) at Sarah Did It! 

I had volunteered, among other things, to help with the judging part, pre-show--that was Wednesday and Thursday.  Our judge was none other than AQS's Bonnie Browning!

I learned more about what judges look for and what *I* should be doing if I ever decide to put a *serious* quilt in a quilt show.  Listening to her commentary as she worked was fascinating!

She's quite a riot, too -- she shared lots of great stories and was very personable and down-to-earth.  Quite a lot of fun!  I was anxious about being in the room when she judged my quilts, but luckily, I wasn't in there when she did the one and she only had good things to say about the other (even though it didn't ribbon -- at least it didn't tank, either)!  And *several* quilts that I'd helped piece *did* make it at least to "hold" and were considered!  All told, I had a hand in seven quilts at the show!  One in a non-judged exhibit, two of my own and four that I'd contributed blocks to!

After judging was finished and ribbons were hung, I headed home for a birthday celebration!  All the families came up to the camp and helped me celebrate.

Todd got my cake from Peggy Ann's bakery.  It's pretty, isn't it??  But SO MUCH cake--even with Sawyer and Ellie having seconds!  I cut the remainder of cake into single slices, wrapped each slice in wax paper, and put it in the freezer to enjoy for many days to come.  Sawyer enjoyed helping me remove the candles from the cake (and licking the ends).  Such a big helper!!  ;)

And then it was present time.  Todd got me two really lovely sweaters, just perfect for fall.  Joc, Jason and Ellie gifted me with this darling acorn mini-cake pan and a tin of Royal Wedding Tea from Harney & Sons. Ellie and I will do something with the acorn pan this week!

And James, Kim, Sawyer and June got me this darling Origami Owl necklace!!  The packaging is so cute, with the Chinese box and the fortune cookie case.  I've wanted one of these charm lockets for a while.

\

The charms in the locket are a little heart that says, "changed" a sewing machine, and my birthstone! Precious!!

In addition to everything else he did, Todd got me two petit fours from Peggy Ann's . . . 

My sweet husband--he knows they're my favorites.  I had them with my afternoon tea the next day!  I had to try out the new Royal Wedding Tea -- it was quite lovely and light!

After presents, we tried to get a pic of me and the grands, but waiting until after cake and ice cream was probably not the best of ideas.

This was the BEST of the ten shots that were taken!  I love how everyone is motion-fuzzy!!  My sweet little grandbabies -- I do love them!!!

I also had a sweet little birthday squishy arrive in the mail . . .

Isn't it darling?!  Just so pumpkin-y perfectly me!  Thank you, Janet!!!  :)

Then it was back to the quilt show . . . time to work the admittance tables and get in there and do some shopping!  Thanks to my folks, I had a little birthday change to do some shopping.  And let me just say, we had some great vendors! I kept it relatively simple. I found a darling scissor sitters pin:

And some beautiful wool felt . . .

And a bag of crushed walnut shells (which was really a timely purchase because I've got some pattern weights I'm finishing up for a project) . . .

And I grabbed a couple of fat quarters to make a girlie superhero cape for Ellie.  All-in-all, I didn't go too overboard!

In the middle of all of that, I also managed to get out my fall things and finish up my October piece for my mini-stand . . .

Yay for pumpkins!!  That particular pattern was cute and very easy!  I pulled the pumpkin out of the "Spooky Hallows" BOM (Block 3 - Spooky Pumpkins) that was done by Marjorie of Peck's Pieces last year. I suppose perhaps a turkey is in order for November.  Or, I dunno . . . how about this crazy idea?!? Nothing says there can only be one per month, right?  Maybe I'll do something a little patriotic for Veteran's Day, first!

Finally, I'll leave you with a shot of this . . . the base for my next nature project!

What could it be, what could it be?!?  Let's just say I've talked about this before!

I finished up birthday/quilt show week with a touch of something . . . a 24 virus thingie, I'm guessing.  So I laid low today, but I think the worst is behind me now!

:)

design wall prequel . . .

Really, this is a parade of fabrics that will eventually lead to a design wall post. Friday turned into a mini quilt shop hop, and along with auditioning combinations for the Sentimental Journey blocks that my group is doing in Civil War fabrics and swapping out, I just did my part to help boost local economies and small business owners. *wink*

Our first stop was the one in Decherd, Tennessee, to visit Decherd Needleworks. I was very impressed with both his shop and his prices. While he didn't carry the newest, funkiest lines, he did have a terrific selection and his prices were wonderful. I don't think I paid more than $5 a yard for anything I bought there, except of one fabric. The shop was a good find and a nice way to start our day!

I think I've finally (maybe, possibly) settled on the two combinations of fabrics I want to use for the blocks I swap. The pictures don't do the colors justice, but quilter's have such creative imaginations, I figure you can make up for what the photos lack.

The blues in that beautiful cheddar were wonderful and the shirting fabric did a nice job of complimenting.

And I really loved this flip-flop combination of deep, burnt reds and cream.

My favorite fabric of the day was this pink. The shading is so subtle and beautiful. I may use this combo for my own blocks. We're only swapping for a total of 40, and it'll take at least another thirty or so for a quilt. Yup, I may fill in a lot with the pink. Or may be I'll just use it for something else. I wanted to buy the whole bolt. But I didn't. But I might go back. Seriously.

And I have to say, I was *so* impressed with the shop that I got a little carried away. But they were all so PRETTY!

He had a *really* nice selection of fat quarters, too. I got a little Halloween on while I was there.

We finished so early -- before noon -- that we really didn't feel like we could call it a day. So instead, we zipped on down Highway 64 and hit one of my favorite quilt shops, Hooked On Quilting!

I can always find fabrics I like there, and she did have a line of fall fabrics that was absolutely gorgeous! But since I'd already pretty much emptied my wallet in Decherd, I resisted that urge. I couldn't leave completely empty-handed, though, so I did pick up this cute Halloween charm pack. I have a fun pattern that's just begging me to get fabric for it and get busy. ;)

So we finished up there and decided it was not only too early, but there was a quilt shop down the way that was closing its doors and had some good prices, so we loaded up into the car and headed south, back into Alabama, to Quilter's Refuge.

It's sad to see any small business having to close its doors, but it's even sadder when it's a quilt shop. When Kathy and I got there, they were down to just a few shelves of fabric and some notions and patterns. I did find some pretty fabric to fill in my stash . . .

And a couple of patterns that I couldn't pass up!

And after I'd made my purchases, we hopped back in the car and headed for home.

And while that was the end of my quilting/shopping/fabric day, it was *not* the end of my day! I got home, traded my shopping bag of fabrics for my bag of scrapbooking supplies, and headed right back out!

Before we proceed to pictures, I must get in this disclaimer: I am not a scrapbooker. *But* when the kids went to Europe with my folks several years ago, they also came back with tons of pictures. Jocelyn does enjoy scrapbooking and has all the cool tools, but James -- he just had pictures. I offered to scrap them for him and he gladly turned over his pictures and souvenirs. That was SIX years ago! I'd purchased a book and pages and page protectors and photo tape and lots of fun stickers . . . and still no completed memory book. I knew I needed motivation, so I hooked up with a group of women from Lighthouse who scrap, and asked if I could join their next party. What a difference it made!

It was fun to lay out (once I figured that the pictures were numbered in the order in which they were taken), but it was also tough.

I wasn't on the trip, so I had no way of knowing the significance of any of his pictures!

I left plenty of space and I'll go back over the pages with Jocelyn to see if she can help me fill in the blanks.

Whew! It took me six hours, but I finished the whole thing! There was even a spot left at the back of the book for me to insert pamphlets and tokens and leftover pictures. It's all there.

Since James doesn't really get into blog reading, I'm good to go. I'll present this to him for his birthday! I'm *so* glad it's finished. I may never scrap book again! I think perhaps that scrappy quilts may be more my style. :)

But shopping wasn't finished. Saturday I turned around and took my completed BOM squares to Patches and Stitches and picked up my July instructions . . .

These two blocks and then two in August and the blocks are done! Whoohoo!

I also picked up a little more of my foundational fabrics for the BOM quilt (which I'm still working on names for), as well as a handy little quilter's tool. What quilter doesn't want/need perfect seams?!?

Another gadget for my collection. Can a quilter really ever have too many?

Today I'm off to work out my camera. That's code for "I'm spending the day with Sawyer!" And then there's a good chance I may be headed to KNOXVILLE and the AQS quilt show! Whoohoo!

In the meantime, head on over to Judy Laquidara's Patchwork Times and check out all the lovely stuff being in created in the quilting world! (Note: her design wall post wasn't up last time I looked.)

Happy Monday!

:)