Meeting new friends

I was a little worried about going to retreat because we had heard that it was full and I had only met Becca, Jennifer and Carol, Jennifer's mom, before heading up there. Well, I had met Bonnie Hunter, also, but I didn't expect her to remember me from a couple of classes more than a year ago. I was also pretty excited to meet Judy L because I love reading her blog!

This is Sally, Becca and me. Sally came all the way from Minnesota and didn't know a soul! Ruthie asked me and Becca if we would share a room with her and we gladly said yes. She came with us to dinner on Thursday night which was the only night that we went anywhere and when we went shopping, she gladly joined us! She was a lot of fun and a very sweet gal! (Hi, Sally!!!)

(Sorry for the terrible picture - this was with my phone after my camera battery had died.)

These gals are from Wichita, Kansas and sat across from me and Becca. Donna is on the left and Vera is on the right. We had great chats about Guilds and serving on the boards. Donna told me about her husband who traveled to Cincinnati on business and just raved about some of the food here. (Donna!!! I hope that you gals made it home OK! Leave me a comment or send me an email!) Becca and I sent Donna and Vera to Caroline's and Donna came back with a tiara!



These gals from Grand Rapids, MI sat to my right and were just a hoot! They have been friends since kindergarten and the 2 on the left will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversaries next year. At least, I'm pretty sure that is what I heard. From left to right, there's Nellie, Arliss, Joan and Jean. Most of the time during the day, they went out and roamed the town and shopped and then would bring everything back and show it off. I really enjoyed just listening to them tell stories and banter - their voices were just so lovely to listen to! And we had quite a bit of laughter over some of their antics!



And then there was Judy! I was really worried that Judy was not going to be as great as I had expected her to be after reading her blog for several years. You know how sometimes when you meet someone famous in person and you tell them how you follow them and watch what they are doing and they give you the brush off? Well, Judy is very much NOT like that! She is just as wonderful in person as she is on her blog! She didn't recognize me when I got there and the gals at her table had to point me out to her and she just kept saying, "That's not Jill!! That's not Jill from Ohio!" and once I smiled and said it was me, I think she thought maybe it was me, but still wasn't too sure. Once I freshened up for dinner and took my ponytail out, I walked back into the sewing room and she said, "Well, Jill's here!!!" We spent the weekend chatting about our pups and sewing and quilts and Vince. I was just so tickled that she has been reading my blog and knows about what is going on with me!! That was one of the best parts of my weekend!

Again, crappy picture from my phone and I think that is Donna's finger! :)

I also got to meet some other great gals, but I don't have pictures of them.

Karen from San Francisco flew into Chicago and Judy brought a machine for her to use during retreat. Karen was my breakfast companion on Friday and Saturday and we had some nice chats!

Deja is from Maryland, I think, and I would pass her on the way to the room in the late night hours. What a sweetheart! And Saturday night, she was part of the group that stayed up late sewing with me!

Teri was a spit fire! She probably worked on 20 different projects while we were there and she got most of them into flimsies. The amount of energy she had was amazing! She finally posted on her blog this week after an 8 month hiatus and she is looking for fabric. Please check out her blog and see if you can help!

And Janet! I think that Janet was a local gal with Ruthie's group and she was a hoot and a half! Lots of silly times with her around. You will see that in a future post!

And of course Ruthie and Subee! There were so many other gals who were just super nice! I hope that I don't hurt anyone's feelings by not mentioning them! :)

I just have to add that this retreat was one of the best ones that I have been on. It was so peaceful and relaxing and yet full of laughter and energy that you can just feed off of to continue working longer than you thought you could have. And meeting all of the fellow bloggers who I have been reading for a while and the ladies who have been reading my blog... It was like instant friendships popping up left and right!

I can't wait for next year!

Maisy thinks that friends and retreats are nice, but so is staying home to cuddle!

I'm retreating!

After what seemed like the longest drive in the world yesterday where I seemed to find every person in Indiana that wanted to drive at or below the speed limit, we finally made it to Shipshewana! Becca drove up and stayed at my house Wednesday night and I packed the car up on Thursday morning and we were off. I had wanted to be on the road by 7, but after being awake well past 1 AM I didn't think it was wise to get up and out that early. As it was, we didn't leave until 8:45.

The following are things that I forgot to throw in the car (Barb, this is for you! HOLLLLLAAA!!!!!!!):

1. A jacket - Surprisingly, it is a lot cooler this far north in the evenings. Really, I am not surprised by that, just kicking myself that I left the jacket at home. On the agenda for today - buy some sort of jacket, just in case.
2. My sewing machine's extension table and knee lift. Not a big deal because I am mostly going to be piecing on blocks that don't extend off of the sewing machine, but the knee lift has been missed!
3. My rotating rotary cutting mat. I do have some projects planned with HSTs and the spinning mat is very nice to have. I can make do.
4. My camera cord. A while ago, I started taking the memory card out of my camera and inserting it into the laptop to download the pictures because I found that it is much easier. Unfortunately, this means that my camera has not been connected to the laptop in some time and the charge is, well, low. I can still take pictures for the time being, but I may lose power totally by the end of the weekend.
5. To pick up the dog doo at my house. Yes, a necessary evil and probably exactly why I forgot it. lol

Barb had asked me last night what I forgot and said that she is getting me a stack of "To Do" list paper pads for Christmas. She knows me well, apparently! :)

The retreat center is very nice and our seats are facing a wall of windows. The view last night was awesome and I should've taken a picture, but that would've meant spending more time outside (see #1 above). I have already made the bottom insert for my Margo bag that I made last week (post later on that) and worked on the Oriental fabric blocks for another neighbor's quilt. I should be able to get those blocks finished up quickly.

Here is a picture of the projects that I packed. The top row is the 2009 Mystery BOM blocks, the Christmas trivet and the 2009 $2 a block BOM setting blocks. The bottom row is the strips for the 9 patch blocks for my grandma's quilt, Whimsy Split Decision and the Orientals quilt. Yep! Six projects!



I got all of this plus some notions stuffed into 2 Art Bins - a medium and a large. Woo hoo!!

All right, enough of this! I need to get ready, get breakfast and then hit Lolly's and Yoder's and then get back to sewing!

Max and Maisy and the condo are being looked after this weekend by my aunt and cousin. I got a text last night that the pups were very happy to see them! :) Max just knew the something bad was going on Wednesday night as the stack to go in the car kept getting bigger and bigger.

Sunday while Becca was here

I kept meaning to post this all week, but it just didn't happen. And Sunday was the day that I got the most done while Becca was here!

When I woke up, Becca was already dressed for church and sewing borders on a quilt. We chatted and I checked emails until she left. Once she left, I had breakfast and then made a Runaround bag. Now, I just have to mail this off to the recipient.



Then, I finished attaching the binding to the Milky Way quilt. I was 2 strips shy when I tried to attach it all the first time. Once I had that binding on, I put the binding on the Storm at Sea quilt since I was in a binding mood!



Then, I started working on the borders for the One Block Wonder quilt. The dogs were very excited while all of this was going on...



When Becca was ready to leave, we ran down to the Dip for an ice cream. It was a great end to the weekend!

Hello, Weekend!!

I am so happy to be in this long, three day weekend!! I was able to start it early, but had to bring a little bit of work home with me. I needed to leave early because I had a mission.

For the last week, I have been working on a UFO from the end of 2008. This quilt became a UFO because I was unsure of how to handle the borders. While Becca was here last weekend, she told me what to do discussed my different options with me and I came to a decision about how to proceed. I was able to get the first two of the 3 borders finished. Once Becca left, I got hung up on the third border again. I did throw the quilt up on the design wall and figured out a couple of options and decided how to make the third border, but it wasn't until last night that I decided on the final width of the border. It turns out that I didn't have enough of the border fabric.

Once I calculated how much fabric I would need for the rest of the border, the binding and some of the backing, I knew that I had to go back to Lambikins in Hamilton so that I could get the same fabric. I looked online today at work and saw that they were supposed to be closed this whole weekend! I really want to get this quilt finished this weekend!!!

Soooo.... I waited and waited for the notice at work that we could leave early. When I was getting close the absolute latest that I could leave, my boss said to just go since I was done with my month end work anyway. Woo hoo!!! I rushed out of there and got to Lambikins just after closing, but they stayed open to help me out.

Once I left there, I saw on Facebook that Linda was grumpy and needed chocolate. I suggested that we go to dinner at the Mexican joint again. She agreed that alcohol would do in place of the chocolate. We had an awesome dinner!! We laughed so hard that we cried several times! My tummy hurts from all of the laughing! (Thanks, Linda!!!) It is so nice having someone that lives so close and can meet at the drop of a hat like that! :)

When I got home from dinner, I sat down. BIG MISTAKE!!! The dogs and I were relaxing and before I knew it, an hour and a half had past! I realized that both dogs are in the midst of back pains and I gave them meds and sat with them a little longer to make sure that they stayed still. And after a very rousing pep talk from Shellie, I went to the basement and started laundry and loaded a quilt onto the frame.

While I washed two loaded of laundry, I quilted this cute little baby quilt for Becca. She had planned on quilting it last weekend, but forgot it here so I told her I would have it quilted when I saw her tomorrow.




Baby sized quilts are so easy!! I used Bottom Line in the bobbin and King Tut in the top and some extra Warm and White batting that was leftover from something.

Now, I am ready to sleep. Maisy is laying here next to me. I think that the back pain that she is experiencing now is the worst that it has been for her. I think that I need to get baby gates to keep them from going up and down the stairs on their own. My poor babies!!

August Accomplishments

This month, I had a couple of big things going on. The biggest being the weekend in Indianapolis and taking Bonnie Hunter classes. When I got back, I was in a lull, but I think that having Becca in for the weekend gave me just the kick into gear that I needed! Now, if I can just keep that momentum going for the National Sewing Month!!

Quilty Accomplishments

1. Prepped the backing and the binding for my 2008 BOM quilt
2. Made 2 popsicle blocks for Sew to Win at Guild
3. Got some lovely mail from Wales and now I have a ton of projects to make!
4. Made a good dent on organizing my scraps
5. Gave away 18.5 yards of fabric!
6. Threw my Jitterbug YBR blocks on the wall at the shop so that I can start assembling the quilt.
7. Made a table runner sample for the shop
8. Went to Indianapolis to take 2 classes from Bonnie Hunter and to spend a weekend with quilty pals! Here, here, and here.
9. Had Becca over for the weekend! Had a blast with her and ate at IHOP! Woo!!
10. Finished 3 wallets for Pay it Forward gifts
11. Made a Runaround Bag
12. Made and attached 2 borders onto my Wizard of Oz OBW

These last three have been done, I just haven't had a chance to blog about them with pictures yet.

Books read

1. Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith
2. These High Green Hills by Jan Karon
3. The Full Cupboard of Life by Alexander McCall Smith
4. In the Company of Cheerful Ladies by Alexander McCall Smith

I am still really enjoying the Mitford series books by Jan Karon and the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith. I have already requested the next books in both of the series from my library. I want to know what happens in them, but I am trying to make them last a while so that I can savor the story lines! They are just that good!!!

Week 35 Stash Report

I used a very little bit and bought just a tad more. I used .28 on the binding for the 4 wallets that I made and I bought 1.5 to replace a fabric that Becca and I agreed just didn't work in a top that I am trying to put together. Pictures of the top will be posted once I get it together - I just have to work on the 3 borders. But after putting the center with the new fabric up on my design wall, we both agree that this was the way to go! I'm excited about it now!!

Fabric added this week: 1.50
Fabric added year-to-date: 265.26

Fabric used this week: 0.28
Fabric used year-to-date: 149.16

Net Fabric Used: -116.10

Becca's here!

Friday night, Becca came up for the weekend. She has a couple of quilts that she wanted to quilt on my frame so I said, "Come on up!!" Linda came over to my house after work and we chatted and waited for Becca. When we were all here, we ran out for dinner at a local Mexican joint, Cancun. We had a great time and laughed A LOT!! And the food was fantastic! I haven't eaten there in a couple of years and it reminded me that I need to go back soon! And after dinner, we stopped at The Dip, the local ice cream place that is right down the street from my house.

When we got back, Linda went home and Becca and I started checking our emails and Facebook. After a while, I was pooped and just stayed on the computer, but Becca got some things out and worked on finishing up a couple of tops. We went to bed around 1:30.

Saturday, we got up and ran errands and went to a couple of quilt shops. Our first stop was Lambikins Hideaway in Hamilton which is a knitting store. Saturday was their grand opening of their fabric side. We saw this as soon as we went in. Very cute! All hand appliqued, I believe.



There was an interesting selection of fabrics and I picked up a yard and a half of a marble. Becca got some backings for 2 of her quilts. We were their first fabric customers!

We then went to Valley Quilts in Trenton. Neither of us had been there before and I think that we were both amazed by how much they are able to fit into the shop. Fabulous samples and tons of patterns and books! I picked up a set of Pantograph papers.



I also saw that they have my newest favorite line - Glace by Moda. I'm sure I will be back in that shop soon! :)

When we left Valley Quilts, we headed back to Fairfield and Joann's to get some batting. We encountered a very interesting exchange between the workers in the store. We couldn't get out of there fast enough! It's very uncomfortable to be in a store where the employees are bickering!

When we left Joann's, we decided to get lunch and headed to a Domino's for pizza. Much to my surprise, the store had been closed for some time. I have no idea when that happened! So we went back to downtown Fairfield and got a pizza from Pizza Hut and then stopped by the post office to drop some things off and we headed back home.

After we ate, we loaded a quilt onto the frame and Becca quilted while I cleaned up a mishap I had with a tube of Crazy Glue - it got all over my fingers when I was trying to glue latches onto the frame. Once I got the Crazy Glue under control, I worked on binding while Becca quilted. She is a natural with the frame! I finished the binding on one wallet as she finished the quilting so we decided it was time for dinner. We headed to Steak 'N Shake and as we were getting out of our car we were told that it was like a furnace in the restaurant. We decided to jump next door to the IHOP instead.




When we got back home, it was internet time again and I worked on binding a third wallet while chatting with Becca and online peeps.

Here are the 3 wallets that I got finished that are my Pay it Forward gifts. These will be send out Monday, so gals - Watch for them!! :)



While binding these wallets, I used a new thimble that I bought at the shop a couple of weeks ago. It is a leather one that covers the entire tip of my finger past the first knuckle. I love it!! It is very comfortable!



Now, I have to get sewing! Becca has put me to shame with everything she has gotten done this weekend so far. And she promises that she isn't done! Ugh!! :-D

Some minor updates

There have been a few things going on so I thought that I would just take a little time and update everything all at once.

Weather ... and allergies

Last weekend, the weather here turned very cool - the high was in the low to mid-70's. It was wonderful! I threw the windows open and slept in the night air Friday night. It was wonderful! And then, when I woke up on Saturday, I felt like I was in a bit of a fog. Work was not good on Saturday. When I came home, I opened the doors and windows and the breeze was lovely! But ... I had no energy. I ended up going to bed at 10:15 with a migraine.

Sunday, I was semi-productive ironing scraps until about 1:30 and I realized that I couldn't see anything and I was having a retinal migraine. **Side note - I have retinal migraines on a somewhat regular basis. I have been to doctors for them and no one can give a definite answer on what causes them. Each one individually lasts for roughly 45 minutes and I can only see spots of what appears to be TV fuzz. End note** The odd thing about this migraine was that it was like instantly not being able to see anything. So I got a large drink of water and laid on the couch with the dogs. They were tickled pink!

Around 5, I woke up and was still having issues with my vision, but I was also starving. I got some easy dinner and a cold compress and sat back down with the dogs and listened to the TV. It took until 6:30 for me to be able to see anything without feeling dizzy. I was worn out, but I finished the pile of scraps and got everything sorted. And I was still wide awake at 11.

I slept fitfully Sunday night since I had all of the sleep during the day. When my alarms went off, I called into work and let my boss know that I needed the day off. When I went in the bathroom, I was shocked at the large dark circles under my eyes. I had to think about whether I had accidentally run into something and given myself shiners! I went back to bed and felt a ton better when I woke back up, but I stayed home from work the rest of the day because my head was still pounding an throbbing from the sinus pressure.

I'm much better today and actually went into work today.

Cable/Internet connection

The last 4-6 weeks, I have been having severe connectivity issues with my cable modem. When I kept my laptop up in my bedroom most of the time, I wasn't having any issues so it may have been as long ago as May. Wow! Anyway, I have had to unplug and then plug back in the modem each time my laptop lost the connection. It got to the point that it was up to 5 times in an evening before I would get sick of getting up to unplug it. And I wasn't even downloading tons of data when this would happen. I'd be chatting with Regina on Facebook or reading blogs - not anything like downloading a TV show's episode on iTunes. It was very frustrating!!

On Monday, I had finally had enough! I figured that the very least that I could do on my allergy induced sick day was call the cable company and demand service! Or ... you know... ask what they could do for me. :)

The first part of my call was spent talking listening to a man with a slight accent talk very fast and mix my number up like 3 times. Then, he asked for my email address. I debated hanging up and calling back. I told him pass on the email and what my issue was with my service. He told me like 3 times that it was a connectivity issue and he would send me back to a customer service representative from my cable company. Now, this new guy I liked! He ran some tests while I was online and told me that the issue would either be with my modem or the wireless component which I own. He tried to tell me to just watch what lights were on when I was having my issues. I said OK. We sat silently on the line for about 3 minutes. Seriously - 3 minutes. I jumped when I saw that the lights on the modem went out. I said, "Something just happened." He said, "It looks like it is the modem."

Luckily, my cable company has an office in one of the local malls that is very close and I was able to stop by there on my way home from work today. They swapped out the old modem and gave me the newest one that they are using and it has the Turbo Power Boost that they are promoting. Woo! They guy also asked if he could review my bill to try and save me money. Uh, YEAH! So after a few minutes of chit chat and him tapping away on his keyboard, he told me that he saved me $4 a month and gave me Showtime and Starz and all of their extra channels. Woo hoo!! I remember when Starz came out and that they always had very cool movies on their channels. This is awesome!! I also get the On Demand that goes with those, too! Score!!!

Dogs and sneezing

Or rather, reverse sneezing. Maisy developed this annoying habit a few months ago. Some days, she does really well without having a single episode and, some days, we can't be outside without her gagging for breath. Basically, when a dog is pulling air in through their nose in a manner that makes them sound like a duck. Actually, Maisy sort of resembles a duck in the way she flounders around when she is having an attack.

In June, the vet told me that it sometimes occurs in overweight dogs and it is normal and there is nothing that they can do for her. We just have to suffer. *sigh*

A couple of weeks ago, I went to Indianapolis. I took a couple of classes from a teacher. You may have heard? Bonnie Hunter? You already knew that? Hmmm... Well, when I went to Indy, I boarded the dogs. Can you see where this is going?

I now have TWO DOGS THAT ARE SUFFERING FROM REVERSE SNEEZING!!! This is very frustrating. Extremely frustrating. It is very loud and obnoxious and there is nothing that they can do to keep from doing this. I feel so bad for them! I hope it is just a passing thing. For every one's sake!

Weekend off

This weekend, I am not working at the shop at all! I am very pumped about this! It will be my first weekend in town that I am not working all month. And Becca is coming up to quilt on my frame. I still have to clean the house up a bit and get some things ready for me to work on, but I am very pumped about having the whole weekend to sew! It will be nice preparation for Labor Day weekend with another 2 days off from both jobs! Woo hoo!! I ought to be able to bust some stash! :)

OK, I think that is all of the updates that I have. Last week, I sent out 7 packages and they have started arriving. Two were received yesterday and at least one so far today. I can't wait to hear if everyone likes their prizes!

Sorry about the long, not very quilty post!

Saturday and Bonnie’s Crumb Class

Saturday, Becca and I just stopped for a quick breakfast before heading to class. We were the first ones there and were able to relax and wait while everyone else showed up. We had time to clean our areas and Becca sewed on her stars a little more. Once Bonnie showed up, she discussed the crumbs and smallest scraps that she will use in a quilt. She also threw some of her quilts on the floor so that we could look at them for inspiration and ideas.



Once we were all settled in and ready to start, Bonnie called us over to give a demonstration on how she makes her Crumb blocks. She said that instead of sewing with a long tail of fabric, she will just snip and rip the end of the tail off. Here is Linda’s reaction to that.



And I took a couple of pictures of Bonnie’s samples.



We were turned loose with our machines and scraps and told to sew for an hour before our next demo. Here is Becca, Linda and me with our first Crumb blocks.



Next, we learned how to make Maverick or Wonky Stars.



Sharon decided to use her Crumb blocks with some fabric that she brought to make a larger block in an interesting setting. She has plans to make a whole quilt with the blocks. It was very cute!!! And a great idea for a way to think out of the box!



At this point, it was time for lunch and then we had show and tell. Becca showed off her Animal Parade quilt with her pieced backing and I think that Bonnie was impressed with it! And Bonnie showed us her Dear Jane in the Storm at Sea setting Gorgeous!!!



Next, we learned how to make scrappy hearts. Linda had a bit of trouble with this one. We ended up saying that she needed heart surgery and adult supervision!



There … this looks better!



And Cathy showed off her blocks on her portable design wall.



Then, we learned letters. I like the letters!! And here are all of my blocks from the entire day.



After class, we headed back to Quilts Plus because there was just SOMETHING else that we needed! Once we shopped, Jennifer, Linda, Cathy and I headed to Baskin Robbins for a dinner of ice cream and Becca headed on to Cincinnati.

What a great weekend with good friends and learning! If only every weekend could be this good! :)

Friday's Bonnie class

Friday, Becca and I got up and headed to Denny's for breakfast before our first class. It was very nice to have a little one-on-one time with Becca to chat and catch up with each other. We got to class early and got great seats and set up our sewing areas. We had a perfect view of Bonnie and her quilts!



Before we knew what was happening, we were sewing away on our pieces!



And just a short while later...



I had a block! And so did Becca!



It seemed like lunch came up very quickly! Becca and I decided to head out to get something light because of our big breakfast. I jokingly asked if she felt like Baskin Robbins. She quickly agreed! So ice cream it was! And it was good!!




We got a bit of grief from the other ladies when we got back. Something about not bringing everyone a cup.... I don't know... Didn't quite get that! :)

Then we had some show and tell.





The houses were done by Sharon. I sat next to Sharon at dinner an the meeting on Thursday night and she found me at the workshop and sat on the other side of Becca from me. We had a good time getting to know her!

And Linda and Cathy finally showed off the blocks that they made.




After class, Cathy, Linda, Becca and I headed to Quilts Plus so that they could see the shop. I think that they all liked the store! Becca and I then headed to Joann's to get some of the colored Art Bin totes that were on sale. We love them! Then, we headed to Jennifer's house for dinner and chatting.



What a blast! But another late night for Becca and me! We almost fell asleep in the chairs at Carol's when we got back!

Thursday QGI meeting and Bonnie Hunter

I was lucky enough about a week ago to get Thursday off of work so that I could prep and get to Indianapolis early to attend dinner with Bonnie. I took a leisurely morning and gathered some of my items together. I dropped the dogs off at the kennel so that I could run home and finish getting packed without having them all anxious about leaving.



With the most important thing packed - the fabric - I was out the door and on my way.

Jennifer had given me great directions and information on a couple of quilt shops. I plugged all of the necessary addresses into my Garmin and I was on my way. I got there early enough to stop at Quilts Plus and look around. I found the fabric line that Regina was looking for and that I had already bought a little of. (I will do a separate post of the purchases from the weekend.)

After I left the shop, I headed to the Pearl Bistro for the dinner. It was a local restaurant and when I got there, Jennifer was already there and had an empty seat next to her so I was able to sit near someone that I knew. After I sat down and chatted with her, I realized the Bonnie was on her other side. It was very exciting!

The food was very good! Quite different than anything I've ever had. I ordered the spinach and goat cheese quiche. My plate did not look as interesting as Jennifer's bleu cheese muffin so I took a picture of it.



After we ate, we headed to the Guild meeting for Bonnie's presentation. I had to use the facilities and was tickled at something that I saw in the stall. In case you can't tell, it is the latch to hold the door shut and it is a picture of a bathroom stall with a head sticking up above the door and feet below to make the H in the name 'Hiny Hiders.' Too cute!! I did giggle a bit!



We got front row seats and I was this close to Bonnie's quilts!



And Bonnie starting her presentation.



And Linda and Cathy made it to the meeting.



I have more pictures, but I will do a slide show on the last post about the weekend.

After the meeting, Becca, Jennifer and I went to Carol's house and chatted until late before we hit the sack. It was so nice to be able to chat with them in person!