I'm BACK.......

I am back from our quilting retreat. Did you miss me? I know I was "here" (courtesy of pre-scheduling of posts) but I wasn't here to read your blogs and comment on them. I must also admit that I probably will never catch up on them.....as I read SO many and over 4 days there were too many posts for me to hope to read them all. :(

Here we are on day #1 of the retreat.....from left to right: Prue, Sherry (they are sisters), Linda, Kathy, and Kaye. (Kathy and Kaye have blogs, so you may "know" them.)We had a super-terrific time. The area where we stayed is blessed with MANY fabric shops.....most owned and operated by either Amish or Mennonites. The fabric prices are about half of what we pay here. When I tell you we shopped every day, I am not joking! I will show you the photos over the course of several days. For now, let me show you my new tote bag...made with Amish-colored fabrics.This was made by a young Mennonite woman. Her mother and father have a shop and we met the mother and talked to her a good bit. She was a very nice woman. She has 10 children!!! She does beautiful quilting and her daughter had made about 100 of these totes.......used denim for the part surrounding the log cabin block and the handles..make if a very sturdy bag. (It has batting and a lining, too.) Stay tuned over the next several days to see some of the things that filled my new Amish tote bag!!!

Post will be later-than-usual today.....

Look for a post late this afternoon or early evening......after I'm back from Bird-in-Hand. I hope to have more photos like this one to share with you.

Blocks for a row-by-row quilt.......

Our Lakeside Ladies (some of whom are in PA with me right now.....I wrote this post ahead of time to automatically appear today) have been involved in a row-by-row quilt....using our own rules (that differ from the way row-by-rows are often made). We each chose a block that we would make for ALL the quilts. Each of us decided if we wanted our rows to be 5 blocks or 6 blocks wide. We each bought our selection of fabric and put it into a bag. We passed the bags around and took turns making the right number of blocks for each other. We decided NOT to join them together as the quilt "owner" might wish to use sashing (as I intend to do). There is one more set of blocks to be made for mine....and I am hoping we can get these blocks all done soon so each of us can start making our quilt tops with them. Below is a photo of the 5 styles of blocks so far and I think they are really nice!!!

Another "no picture" day here.....

Today is the 2nd day of my Lancaster quilt retreat with the neighborhood gals. You can be sure I am going to shop and buy lots of GREAT fabrics!!! While I am gone, HERE is a post from awhile back on Bonnie Hunter's blog that I've bookmarked. I thought I'd try one of these "crumb" quilts someday. Have any of you made them? (I think this is something Gene Black would like.) Bonnie shows the tips from this gal named Barb and a tutorial of how she makes these crumb blocks. It looks very easy and it sure would help cut back on my scraps. I need to do that soon OR throw them away....UGH....and I really hate to throw away fabric...even scraps....but the scraps are threatening to over-run my house. (Sorry for the 2nd post this week with no photo....very unusual for me!!!) I'll be coming up to my 1st annivesary of blogging soon...need to start thinking about a giveaway, too. Stay tuned!

Staying here until Friday......

You have heard me speak of our neighborhood quilting group. Well....this morning 6 of us are leaving to go to THIS cute farmhouse in the village of Bird-in-Hand near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, for 3 nights. Yippee!!! It's a 5-bedroom, 3-bathroom house in the heart of Amish quilt country and our group has rented it. I'm sure we will have a great time. I won't have a chance to read comments from you or answer them or read your blogs for the next few days....won't really have a chance to do that until late in the day Friday, so don't think I'm ignoring any of your comments or your blogs, okay? I'll try to take some photos of the fun to show you when I get back, too.

A no-picture post.....SORRY!!!

No pictures today...sorry about that! Anyway...today will be a busy day. Tomorrow I leave with 5 other gals (quilters from our neighborhood, mostly) for a 3-night stay in the town of Bird-in-Hand in the Lancaster area of Pennsylvania. We chipped in and rented a house and expect to have a terrific time. There are lots of quilt shops in that area and we'll see as many as possible...also some charming gift shops and lots of other nice things to see there as well as some very good restaurants. (We decided we are NOT cooking!) The countryside is beautiful and very peaceful. It will be nice to get away for a few days. I am not taking my sewing machine....just some hand sewing (haven't decided on which projects yet to take....better do that SOON).

This morning is quilt guild. We will reveal who our Secret Sisters have been over the past year. I really have a lot to do and would probably not even go today, but I don't want the gal who had me as her Secret Sister to be disappointed....so I'll go. I've gotten some nice gifts from her and do want to thank her in person today.

Loved this bag, but.....

See this gift bag? It started out as a plain brown one and I used fabric (and instructions from a class) make it look this nice. I really did love it. I gave it as part of the gift to a quilting friend I no longer see very often. She did seem to appreciate it and I hope she kept it...as it was a LOT of work. Too much work to want to make another one (although I've been tempted).......LOL (MIGHT have shown this before on the blog....can't recall. If so, sorry for the repeat.)

A few updates.....Halloween here was quiet...not a single trick-or-treater. We don't usually get many (only 2 or 3 here) but this year, we had to be out for a church commitment from about 3:30 and didn't get back until 7:30.....and it was a tiny bit drizzly then. That's okay......I taught elementary school for years and between that and having kids, I saw more than my fair share of costumes. In NJ, we got tons of them and usually ran out of candy before we ran out of trick-or-treaters! I like that some groups are now doing the "trunk-or-treat"...safer, too, I think.

Granddaughter will go back to school Monday as it looks now. I hope her immune system is strong enough to fight off germs now. I'd hate to see her have any kind of relapse. Thanks for all the kind comments on her pictures posted here yesterday!

Baby Maddy is still in the NICU but wearing regular clothes now and her mommy and daddy have been able to hold her....all steps in the right direction. Keep the prayers and good thoughts coming for her, okay? AND....lastly.....did you remember to turn your clocks back an hour last night here in the U.S.A.? If not, then you are reading this an hour EARLIER than you think it is! hehehe