Retreat Wrap-up

 I wasn't firing on all cylinders this week, so I kept my project load light at the S'mores retreat.  First I stitched the binding to Twisted Ribbons.

The handwork kept me busy while I watched the NCAA Women's Gymnastics finals today.  I also got the binding stitched on Diamond in the Rough.

The handwork will take a while.  I started that project in a class with Debbie Caffrey in 2012 (at least that's when she autographed my pattern) and I've been holding on to it to get custom quilting.  My LAQ did a spectacular job.

I put the two more borders on Delectable Mountains.

It still needs at least a narrow border to stabilize all the seams along the edges.  I also put the first narrow border on Weaver Fever (no photos) but ran out of steam.  I will try to get the second border on before the end of the month since it is the challenge project for April.

Weather permitting, I'll be playing golf with our church women's group on Monday. We call ourselves the Westminster Abbies.  Haven't played in a couple of years, so wish me luck.

Have a great week, Y'all!

Retreat Days 2/3

 Each day I'm feeling stronger and so glad I opted to spend time with my friends.  We've all had a nose to the needle, foot to the pedal and much beautiful stuff is evolving.  But, unfortunately, the cloud is being selective in which photos it wants to save.  I'll show what I can.

First is Sena's feathered star that she started at a Cindy Williams retreat.  It will eventually morph into Blue Velvet, a Cindy Williams pattern.

Next is Nancy's feathered star that she began in a class with Marsha McCluskey in 2009.

I love the setting!

Deanna brought a quilt made from a blocks we exchanged at a retreat in 2013.  The challenge was to use "Civil War" prints, any block pattern.  I love the setting on this one, too.

I put the last two borders on Delectable Mountains, layered the paraments for the church, and have stitched the bindings on both quilts that recently came back from the LAQ.  Photos to follow.

Retreating After All

 As I started feeling better each day over the weekend, I became more hopeful that I could make it to the S'mores  retreat at least one day.  Then Mr. Lakeside suggested that, if I felt up to it, I go yesterday after I had Micah (the van) serviced.  So with a few swift last-minute additions to my supplies, I was ready to go.

I arrived just as Donna was putting the finishing touches on Grassy  Creek, last year's Bonnie Hunter mystery.

I have a few fiddly projects to work on today, but mostly I'm just going to chill with my friends.  We've all been vaccinated and our tables are more than 6 feet apart.  We are preparing our own meals.  Life is good!

Almost Human

I don't often have side effects from medication, but the antibiotics I took for a tummy problem last week laid me low.  I think I had every known side effect except ruptured tendon.  Yes, ruptured tendon was one of the less-likely side effects!  I have let the clinic know that I do not want to take those pills again!

But I am much improved!  Since I had planned to attend a quilting retreat during my birthday week, Mr. Lakeside booked an overnight at a posh Nashville hotel Saturday night.  On the way there, we stopped to pick up a couple of quilts from the LAQ.  Wait till you see them!

He also patiently waited while I got rid of my Covid hair.

We spent the afternoon lounging in the suite, enjoying champagne, and watching The Masters.  Son-1 and his bride joined us for dinner and a grand time was had by all.

Oh, I bet you want to see the quilts!  Well, I'm reserving full-on shots till I have proper space and lighting.  But here are a few highlights of the quilting.  First is a smallish quilt, Twisted Ribbons, that I made in retreats with Cindy Williams (The Math Whisperer).

I don't normally like heavy quilting, but this is going to be a wall hanging so I asked my LAQ to have fun with it. And fun she had!  I especially like the detail in the outer ribbon.

The other quilt is a favorite of mine, started in a class with Debbie Caffrey about 10 years ago.  This one is staying with me so I requested custom quilting.

Custom, but not heavy.  I can't wait to show the whole quilts!

Still Gimpy

Well, I DID make it down to the sewing room today, but only to consider a border change on Weaver Fever that I showed yesterday.  

I was inspired by my friend Donna (born a Weaver) who used a floral border on hers.

 

This is Donna's second started in 2015!

Well, of all my border prints, nothing would work (insert sad face here).  But in my search I did discover a baggie with pieces and parts from a Quilting 101 series I taught at a guild in 2014.

There is another Table Scraps runner in my future!

Happy Easter!

 Greetings and Easter blessings to all my virtual friends!

Can you believe we have already crossed the first quarter mark in 2021?  Time to get a move on ...

Getting a head start on April when Angela announced the RSC color a few days early, I immediately went to the orphanage in search of bright or light blue blocks I could use for Table Scraps, a challenge hosted by The Joyful Quilter.  I found several possibilities and, before I knew it, I had a near finish.

I had three blocks left over from Weaver Fever (Jackie Robinson pattern at Animas.com) that were either too long or too narrow.  When working with this "bargello" type of block, it is critical that intersecting seams line up and these three just didn't make the cut.  But as a table runner the length didn't matter and I could trim the width. (As a point of reference for you, the lower left light blue rectangle is the top left of the block.)

I pulled a moldie-oldie fabric for the back.

In full disclosure, I still need to tuck the seam in on one end and then I'll do a bit of stabilizing quilting.

Speaking of Weaver Fever, S'mores' Donna pulled #1 from the magic mug ...

... and putting borders on Weaver Fever is #1 on my S'mores monthly challenge list!

Inner and outer borders have been cut and packed for the next retreat later this month.

I needed to get Summer Baskets off the design wall.  Even though I have not put the fused flowers in the baskets, I decided to go ahead and assemble the center.  

All four of the little triangle borders had been made and since those were all bias I was afraid they might stretch if I folded them into the project box.  So I added them, as well.  Then, just for grins, I started making the triangles for next borders and put some up on the wall.

After considering several different combinations and arrangements of the triangles and floral fabric, nothing made me happy so I am going to simplify the design and just add the large outer floral border.

This project will go with me to retreat and if I have mechanical problems or just get burned out on sewing, I can work on the flowers.

I have been under the weather since Thursday -- don't panic, it's not Covid -- and have done nothing more than poke through my blue scraps.  Hoping to get back to the sewing room tomorrow. 

What a Weekend!

 and More to Come

I should have known with this sunset last Tuesday that a front was moving in.

 

And move in, it did!  The yellow sky on Saturday morning was an omen of things to come.

The early morning severe storms passed us on the west, but this shelf cloud dumped a lot of rain.

We managed to make our Saturday errands in town before the serious rain moved in.  Rain, hail, lightning, wind -- you name it, we had it!  It was so bad that I was up at 3 a.m. on Sunday, unable to sleep.  In the end, we had about 5 inches of rain over two days.  The tip of our dock was under water for most of Sunday.

I know it's hard to see, but the debris shows it was up to the third post.  Thankfully, the house is much higher and we were in no danger of flooding, but I do appreciate those of you who expressed concern. 

On the other hand, our previous community was not so lucky.  You may have seen a couple of people interviewed on The Weather Channel whose homes were flooded again by the Little Harpeth River in Brentwood, TN.  While we lived up the hill from the river, I was blocked from getting home in the 2010 flood because the river was over the only street into the subdivision. 

More rain coming tomorrow. Stay tuned.