There is Inspiration out there!

I've been keeping things busy this week. When I have quilting days back to back, it makes things busier than I would like. Or so I thought.

I'm sitting here on the deck, after being at quilting, giving Charlie a hard time with my photo taking! lol She ignoring me of course.

I was lucky to get those looks out of her, she'd rather give me her backside.

I'm thinking about where today went, and it didn't really go very far. I took my camera on my daily walk again today. Couldn't help it with the sun out so bright. We talked about the tree we pass daily, that looks like an elephant or a bear - you decide.

Amazing how nature draws it's own picture. We enjoy talking about what it looks like today.

Even the flowers are beautiful this time a year. I'm admiring my husbands yard work as I sit here typing my blog and getting ready to do the group blog. It's just way too nce to be in the house today.

Our quilt group had about 10 people today, encluding my mother. She brought me lunch and that was very thoughtful of her! She can surprise me, and I love her for everything she's done for me in my life. I do have those days, were she tickes me off, and other days were I woudn't know what to do without her. She actually took one of the other gals friendship block to work on.

Nature has a way of inspiring me. I see color all over the place and I get to where I want to design something beautiful for a quilt. I have ideas, but I'm also one of those that can't be happy with what I invision and what I put on paper. I usually ask my son or daughter to draw for me, but that doesn't happen very often - not the asking - them doing.

I wish this photo turned out better, but I didn't have my telephoto lense with me. I'm lucky enough to be close to both Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helen's. This is a view of Mt. St. Helen's, and if I woud have had the right lense, you would be able to see what I see on a beautiful day. I love being able to come home seeing the mountain at just about every turn on the way. I do wish I could see the mountain from my porch, but I just thankful to be able to see it on a nice day.

I was able to work on the tea cups block at our meeting today. I didn't get much done, because it's just nice to be able to sit and chat with quilt friends that make you laugh.

I'm close to being done with the afghan as well. Give me a couple more days work on it, and it should be done. Then it will sit for about a month before I can give it to Abby for graduation.

OH! Then last night at bowling, one of our friends told us they are expecting a baby.......here goes another project....I'm begining to believe it never gets done the way you want things to get done.....next question - quilt or afghan, afghan or quilt, hum, quilt or afghan....and so it goes.

In the mean time I'm hoping to be back to the Hawaiian Quilt and ask myself that question when I get the quilt done or just be Happy Quilting.............

Getting There

This week has been a pretty good week for me. I'm happy to say, I'm getting a lot done.

A neighbor and I, walk her dog every morning. I enjoy the fresh air around 6-7 am every morning and we get to know each other and catch up on what is going on in each other's lifes. It's a blessing to have someone to talk to that isn't your family member.

So, this week I decided to take my camera along as the weather was nice and it was fun to see what all came around. This is "Willie" my neighbor's dog - he HATES cats. This cat, loves DOGS. So, everytime we go out, this cat comes up to say hi to Willie.

This is the only cat, Willie will have anything to do with. She gave Willie a lot of attention that day. The next day we walked, we didn't take Willie because of his athritis and it was raining. (Willie's smart - he doesn't walk in the ran - my neighbor does though). When we came to the area where this cat lives, she ran out, looked at the two of us, and turned around and left. She wanted to give TLC to Willie and didn't want anything to do with us.

Here are a few "views" we see on our walk. The best part is that each day it changes. What we see today, won't be there tomorrow.

Except maybe the buildings - but then they seem to look a little different each time. Either gettting older or getting worked on.

Well worth getting up early to take a walk.

I also took photos of the flowers in the yard. Patrick takes good care of the yard and we tend to get a lot of flowers coming up. But then he did say he planted over 100 tulips in the yard, and it's showing that.

A different kind of tulip showed up as well.

Had company when I was taking photos, and I can't resist a photo of Charlie at times. She's a joy to have around. Plus I figured out she is 16 years old if not 17 by now. She's purring right next to me as I type. Can't ask for more than that.

The bottom photo was taking at the neighbors how where I play cribbage in the morning. I go next door after walking and play a game of cribbage with Art. I seem to keep the olderly in the neighborhood company. Art's wife, Florence, is a kick as well. She keeps telling me to behave, but that isn't easy when Art beats me 2-1. AND I usually win!

At the beginning of the week, I had about 2 1/2 rows of the afghan done. I was wondering about the colors, but then they are colors that Abby likes. As the week went on, I was getting more and more done. As well as taking about a row or two when needed.

By Thursday, I was double if not triple the size I had on Monday.

This morning, I figure I'm about 2/3rds done if not 3/4ths done. It's coming along nicely and I'm having fun working on it. I've started tucking in the "ties" at the end, so I won't spend a night doing that later. It's prettier than I expected. Patrick was talking to his mother on the phone yesterday and told her I was working on the afghan - then said "She doesn't have the quilt done yet, but expect she'll get to it when she's done with the afgahn." My brain said, "DUH."

I will try and get the tea cup block done for Janet this week, since we meet on Thursday. My son needs to borrow my car to get his worked on, so may have my plans changed. I have an appointment to see the "Massage Therapist" this week for my back. Love insurance that will pay for it. Hopefully that will help me and my back. The older I get the worse I get. I was the healthest one could get till I turned 48 and then all hell broke loose. ugh

Okay, I'm off to getting the afghan done and trying to get back to being Happy Quilting.....

Here we go again.....

The weekend went great. Had a visit with part of my family. Amazing how time flies.

Took the usual walk with my neighbor, Ruth and her dog, Willie. As you can see,he wasn't game for getting his photo taken. No matter how I moved, he did too.

I've had to put my quilt aside for awhile and get started on doing the afghan for Abby. She graduates in June and I wanted to make sure I gave myself plenty of time to work on it.The nice thing about afghans is that they seems to go faster and at times are more fun. (or so I think, till I'm ready to do something else.)

I found this pattern on ravlry.com and it is pretty easy, except you can't make mistakes and think no one will notice. I had to take out the first black row about 2 x's before I realized it was in the row before it.

It's different, but at the same time, it's in Abby's colors.

I tok my camera along this morning to take a few pictures. I actually wanted to get the dog across the way crossing the street charging Ruth, but when he saw the camera, he backed off. Had a good walk and had to get some photos around the yard. 

Neighbors tree.

I found the tulips that my hubby has been growing and coming up. They are really pretty. Plus I wanted to get the water drops on them. I'm going to post a few of them on my "Pinterest" page.

It was a busy weekend and I'm happy to be back to doing the usual thing lately. I had to run around today and go into town. Needed to go to Micheals for a plastic envelope bag for my friendship blocks I'm going to have everyone do for me. I bought a couple "journals" for $1 a piece, and will use those for the projects I'm working on. I then had to go to the post office to mail out my CD's of the retreat. After that I ended up going to the bank to make a deposit for the the company I work for. Of course, I had to stop and get a veggie sub for lunch. I was happy to come home with a sub sandwich for lunch instead of trying to fix something.

Getting back to my afghan and hope to be Happy Quilting sooooooon.

Love my quilt group!

Today started out pretty good over all. I walked the 2 1/2 miles that I do every morning. Afterwards played cribbage with a neighbor.

Then the brain kicked in and reminded me of quilting! I was running a little late, but oh, well. I made it to our group meeting around 11 am. I had to stop and get a Veggie Delight at Subway...and ended up waiting to eat it, but when I did - it was worth it. My son got me hooked on those, plus I brought part of it back for him.

This is one of the blocks that one of our group memebers made for Janet's friendship quilt. I have mine about 1/2 done. I'm still getting there.

I then worked on our groups blog. http://haventmissedastitch.blogspot.com/ Check it out!

I even got my block done for JoAnn and gave it to her today. Another one arrived today as well.

Mine is the one on top.

Now I am looking forward to be Happy Quilting....tonight....

Finished Another Block

Yesterday I was in the mood to cook or bake, depending on how you look at it. I have those days where I just want to bake or cook all day long. I liked the pretzels I made before I left for Seabeck, and decided I would do them again. I set my bread machine to work on the dough while I worked on dessert for the family. I made a Winter Wonder Log. Sorry, didn't get a photo quick enough for that dessert. Spent the afternoon working on cooking supper as well as pretzels and dessert. I made about eight pretzels. 

In the morning, I went to the neighbors and played cribbage, winning two out of three games. Came back home and worked on my friendship block that I had started before I left for Seabeck. I had only been able to get part of the white center done, before I went back to working on getting my quilt done. I got quiet a bit done during the day, then last night worked on it while watching Dancing with the Stars. I orginially had an off white (white on muslin) piece for the center. Decided I didn't like that, so I put it aside till today to get the purple center "dot."

This morning I went through and tried to use a webbing for applique work. I found I like the way it works, I just did something wrong as the pieces seemed to "schrink" more than I expected. So, changed my mind and decided to try to do the Cups and Saucers block for Janet using back basting as the technique.

These are the pieces I had cut out to use on the block. I like how soft the webbing is and it seemed to work really well. How I got the size of is beyond me. I decided to do the other method instead because I didn't have enough fabric to be 'goofing' around with it.

While at the doctors office today, I finished the block for JoAnn.

I had to add the green in there because I noticed there were a lot of blocks with green in them. I just hope this is the right green. I have a feeling they were more toward the teal color then green.

When I finished that block, I started working on the Cups and Saucers block for Janet. I did get the handle on the sugar cup done, and the pour spout. I was able to baste the pieces on before going to the doctors, and it was wonderful to have it there to work on. Patrick was probably bored being there with me, since I was appliqueing. He is more patient than I am. Like I told him on the way home, I'm not a "relaxed" person. I have to be doing something all the time.

So, tonight while seeing who gets kicked out off Dancing with the Stars, I'll probably be working on that block. I need to get that and one more done, then I will probably get started on the afghan for Abby, since June is coming up faster than I would like. I'm spending less time playing games on the computer and it's amazing what all you can get done in a day when you don't spend 5 hrs playing games.

It will be interesting to see what all I get done tonight and tomorrow. I need to be Happy Quilting.....or Appliqueing.  Life is good!

After the Retreat

This weekend  has been fun. We went to the casino, movie and then I was home quilting. That's what I like.

After thinking about what I wrote yesterday, I realized I put the wrong name on our teacher from Canada. Judith Peckham. It was not Joan but Judity. Both women are teachers and both are wonderful to be around. Judith designed our Chickadee pattern that we did at the retreat. I did not get very far, but I did work on it up there as well as at home. 

This was as far as I got, as of today. I decided to change the colors of te birds, and do them in orange and yellow. I hope they work out. (smiling) I'm excited about getting it done, so will be working on it this week. I also want to work on the Mystery quilt that Nancy did.

This was my block. I fell in love with the patterns. I have two kits to do. lol 

I worked on my quilting last night. It's slowly coming along. I really am excited about getting this done. I really need to get started on the afghan for Abbie as well. This week I'm hoping to get more applique done while doing laundry and a few more things. 

Charlie is loving the fact I'm home and she keeps taking over my seat to make sure I know she's there. I'll be quilting tonight with her there the whole time. AND I will love every minute of it! lol

I hope you all had a great weekend, and are Happy Quilting....

Back from Retreat - The Applique Society's Retreat at Seabeck, WA

Since I didn't take my laptop with me, not knowing if they had WiFi, I decided I would give you a day to day "enjoyment" of the Retreat at Seabeck. I even took more photos then I needed but I do love to take pictures.

April 1, 2013 - Woke early to take a shower and get moving. Had everything packed the day before. Then when I was getting the suit cases together, realized I needed to take a bigger suit case to fit everything in one instead of carrying 4 different bags. Oh, well. Had my clothes in a small suit case, brought my quilt in a duffel (sp) bag, my supplies in the black carrying case, and last was my camera case. Patrick dropped me off at Ethel's apartment at 7:10 am. I was surprised to find Ann and Beverly already there. We then waited on mom to come with the van. She arrived between 7:30-7:45 am. We all loaded up and mom gave me the keys to drive.

We arrived at Seabeck around 10 am. We were one of the first groups to arrive. Bev wanted to stop in Silverton before going on to Seabeck, but the rest just wanted to get to Seabeck. We waited about an hour to get our room number and keys. In the meantime I pulled out a puzzle from the library and got it started in the main hall.

We drew numbers to see who was going in which class room - odds in one, evens in another. Out of the 5 of us, I picked an odd and was in a separate room then the others. That was okay with me, as I really felt I needed to be in another class other then the one mom was in. We were given our rooms, Bev having been given the room in the main hall. We took her luggage (very heavy) upstairs and down the hall. She found out she had to share a bath, and no locks to her room. We then went to Loretta to get the room changed. After getting her in the "other" new building, we took her luggage back downstairs and delivered one to the new room, planning to take the other after lunch. In the main time Ethel, Ann, and I were in the first new lodge, and took the car over to our lodging.

We parked on the other side of the building. Unloading was interesting but faster than I expected. We were on the second floor. This is the view from our room and by the stairs. The lounge area was really nice and comfortable. 

This was Ethel and Ann's bathroom. 

This was our bathroom area. The sink and mirror was in the back as you see, then to the left was the bath. (I didn't get a photo) but it had the toilet and the shower with plenty of room to turn around. 

This was our sleeping area and the desk was a nice thing to have. I believe I actually used it a couple times while staying there. This room was big enough to fit another bed without getting cramped. 

After getting settled in we walked back to the main lodge for lunch. At that time mom and Ethel decided they would not walk around the retreat but take the care every time they needed to go somewhere. 

This is mom, Doris, and Virginia working on some of the "extra" pieces to the puzzle. The two in the back (one is Loretta) were working on the frame. The rest were in the sitting area to the left, waiting for the bell to ring to get into the cafeteria for lunch. 

We all picked a chair and was enjoying each other's company. 

After lunch, our group went to Material Girls quilt show in Silverton, as that was not on our list to go to this year. We bought a few things for class, and of course a few things for ourselves. After Supper we then went to the above quilt show- Quilted Strait in Port Gamble, WA. 

Talk about a quilt show! The owner gave each of us a packet of fabric pieces, as well as cookies. We put our names in for a drawing - at the end 3 people won either a kit, fabric or a wool fabric roll. I bought a beautiful quilt pattern (I know, add another to the list). I also bought some needles that I've been looking for a long time. While the rest were buying and looking, I went around the area and took photos. I even walked up he hill to the cemetery and took a few photos. 

April 2, 2013 - Didn't get much sleep as mom snored all night off and on. Played games on my phone to get me tired enough to sleep. Once I go to sleep - heard mom get up once or twice and then sleep till 4 am when I woke with a headache. Took migraine pills and went back to sleep but woke again at 5:30 am. Decided at 6 am to just get up and take a shower. After I took a shower, mom was up so shut off the alarm. 

Ethel and Ann knocked on the door and said they were ready to go to breakfast. Mom, Ethel and Ann drove down to the cafeteria and I walked over. I decided I would walk the whole time at the retreat, even though at times mom wanted me to drive. After breakfast we head up to our class rooms. I was in the "bell tower" or "main meeting room" while mom and the others were in the "glass room" for their class. We were told not to go visit or bother them as Nancy Chong was giving a "MYSTERY" quilt class. While they were over there, the other class and I, were working on learning back basting from Joan (forgive me, can't remember her name) who came from Canada. When I get her name I will post it. We learned how to mark the backs, 

 and get started. Here are photos of her teaching, so you can see who I'm referring to. 

She was showing us how to add to her design, pushy willows. She had two was of putting them on, and this one the method she used on this quilt. She does beautiful work and has beautiful patterns. Well worth taking a class from her. 

These are some of her applique work using the back basting technique. 

We had lunch and after lunch we then went into drawing - which Jaydee taught the class. We worked on different ways to draw simple patterns that work for Baltimore Album quilts as well as modern and traditional. I would have loved to have had both classes all day long!  After both classes we went to supper where I met up with the rest of my group. We ate and talked about what I did, but they wouldn't tell me what they did in the mystery class. I did ask what colors they picked and I asked if it was something they would finish. I even asked if they were happy with what they were doing. Couldn't get anymore out of them. 

After supper we went up to the "meeting room" and worked on the different projects. Ethel couldn't do anything as she didn't bring anything to work on and she couldn't work on the mystery class because she wasn't allowed to show her work. We worked in the meeting house up to about 8:30pm then everyone decided it was time to leave and get some sleep. 

I walked back and played on my phone for awhile. I got to were I could play a couple hours before going to bed. 

April 3, 2013 - Slept better than the night before, but still waking up from time to time. I froze a couple times, because I thought mom turned the heat up and found she hadn't touched the heat. So, our room was set at 48 degrees. I turned it up at night so I could get back to sleep. 

After breakfast, we head back up to the class rooms, this time I went to the "glass house" and they went to the "meeting room." While in Nancy Chongs class, we were told to pick our fabrics. After everyone got their package of fabrics and supplies, we were then told we had a separate mystery from the one they did the day before. We would not know what the mystery they had till later that night at the big "reveal." So we worked on our mystery, which I fell in love with. I actually got my first block done. There were about three of us that finished the first block in our class room. I fell in love with the combinations that Nancy had set up for us. She did the kits wonderfully and I love the fact that I didn't have to decide what colors to put together, she already gave me that choice. I like blue, so I picked the blue fabric. 

After supper that night we did the big "Reveal" of both mystery quilts. -

My block is the top left hand side one. It was done in blue and a light blue print. I plan on finishing it! It's so pretty. I also need to make copies for the others, as they liked mine better. lol Plus they are supposed to share too. 

This is Nancy showing the way it looks when you put 2 of them together. 

 Here we are showing the block, I'm the 2nd from the left - blue sweater - who hates to get her picture taken. 

This was the first "Reveal" of the block the first group made. They turned out wonderful as well. I may get this pattern from mom later, as I'm not in a hurry to add another project to my pile. 

After show and tell (yes I took photos, but I'm only half way there, so won't show other's quilts), we drew for prizes. Mom really wanted the chicken that she stole from someone. Another gal stole from her. It was so funny! And we had a blast.

April 4, 2013 - Another day! This day was a day for us to work on our projects. So, I worked on my birds, and the went walking some more. I went out to try and find the cemetery not far from where we were staying but since I was on my own and out in the woods, decided to come back to the camp. Got a lot done, enjoyed chatting with the others. Nancy then showed her fabrics she had showed our group earlier. I fell in love with one of them. Told dad about it the night before and he asked how much it cost. I told time it was over $100 and I could drull over it. He told my mother to get it for me, if I wanted it. I was surprised when mom told me to get it, as it was a gift from dad. I couldn't pass that up, and I don't like taking money - any money - from my parents. So, when he asked what I want for my Birthday - I will tell him he already took care of that. 

After lunch, we all went to Pacific Fabrics about 30 mins away. I know it wasn't Bremerton, but not sure which town we were in. Believe it or not, I only got a crochet hook and felt. Mom and I put our stuff with Ethel so we could get the 25% off they had  - if you spend $25 - and by doing that, Ethel was over $25. Kathy was a sweet heart and gave me her Pacific Fabric bag they gave out when buying stuff. Afterwards we head back to Seabeck and worked on our projects. 

Stopping at the store across the street for drinks. 

April 4, 2013

Time to leave and head home. So before breakfast we all got our photo-op. I took the photos and then had to go get an employee to come take one with me in it. 

Of course we missed a few and it looks like a lot of them were from Canada. So, I took this to add to the other photo. 

On the way home I had 3 backseat drivers, and I tell you, next year I may just go by myself in my own car so I don't have to put up with one person telling me one thing and the other telling me something else. Then getting in trouble because I listened to the wrong person. UGH

All in all this was a great trip and I even signed up for next year. This is well worth going to. Nancy Chong will be doing Celtic designs and Patty Murphy will be doing the molas. It should be interesting and fun. 

After getting in the door by noon, mom and I had lunch before she left. I then got laundry going, put my stuff away, and sat down to do applique. I did not touch my laptop till this morning. We bowled last night, and I bowled a 177, 176, and 177. So, since my average is 176 in this league, I can't complain. 

I was wonderful to be back home. Now I can get back to being Happy Quilting......