So Far Behind

. . . and not just in my quilting. Somehow, I got about 3 weeks behind in reading the blogs I follow and my OCD tendency would not allow me to post until I'd read all the blog entries I'd missed.  And I have to read each one since you all write such great stuff!  After spending close to 3 hours reading last night and still being several days behind, my brain said "Enough!"  So it's time to share a wonderful experience I had this weekend--and I'll read the rest of the blogs later.  :-)

I spent Saturday with a person I've been wanting to meet for the past 3 or 4 years. Cathy and I "met" at My Quilt Blog and since we seem to have many things in common, we've been emailing each other ever since. We've tried numerous times to set a day when we can actually meet face to face and finally did it on Sat. Cathy lives less than 2 hours from me so we met in Stillwater MN for breakfast.

I've never met an on-line friend before so I was a little apprehensive--What if we don't have anything to talk about?  What if she's overbearing or shy and retiring?  What if she has BO or bad breath? What if she's too classy for me? What was my plan of escape if this didn't go well?  Not to worry. From the instant I saw her in the parking lot, I just knew we would hit it off. We talked all through breakfast and then went shop hopping for the rest of the day. We covered 4 shops in the area that I'd heard of but hadn't been to and, Oh My! What a treat each shop was!

I bought a few things pictured here, but the best part of the day was spending time with my new found friend.  I'm so glad we finally got together and I would have liked to have spent more time with Cathy except she and I both had obligations we had to get home for.  BUT, we both agreed that Saturday would only be the first of many times we'll be together.  All my concerns were unfounded. I felt as though I'd known her for years--she's so easy to talk to and best of all, she listened to what I had to say!  Yep, I'm glad we took a chance and finally got together. Thanks, Cathy, for a wonderful day together.

Here's what I got at the shops. I found these fabrics on the sale rack:  Some cute robins and a Xmas fabric I think would work well as sashing in a project.  One and a quarter yard of the robins and 1 1/2 yards of the Xmas.

Actually, as I look at the photo, I think these fabrics might go together very well.

At another shop, I found this embroidery pattern which I started last night.

Although the pattern is for a pillow, I'm going to make it up as a little wall hanging for my guild Xmas exchange.  We will have a pot luck party in early December and we are to bring a wall hanging no larger than 24" by 24" for a gift exchange. So, this will be my offering.

I'm off work today and have a ton of drudgery and toil homemaking to do. It's a beautiful sunny day with not too much wind and with promise of enough warmth that I'll be able to clean my windows before the frost and chill of winter sets in.

I'm full to the brim with quilting!

I can't believe the last 3 days of my life!  An amazing journey in quilting, unlike anything I've experienced before.  Three days on retreat with about 20 members of my guild--Ah, life is good.

We stayed at a northwoods resort on Lake Holcombe an hour's drive east of where I live. We were all in one room with our machines whirring away, irons steaming, Ipod playing great tunes, and a "special" table spilling over with delicious snacks. A quilter's heaven!  We all worked on projects that we had brought from home as well as a charity project. We each sewed a dress for "Little Dresses for Africa" http://www.littledressesforafrica.org/blog/ and we'll send them to Nancy's Notions http://www.nancysnotions.com/ to be shipped to the organization.  I hope the girl who receives my dress enjoys wearing it as much as I enjoyed making it. 

We played a few games, had drawings for door prizes--I won a book of seasonal quilts and a little table to keep near my sewing machine for pressing little blocks or to hold quilting supplies as I sew--and talked/laughed/sewed/ate until the wee hours. 

I finished the applique on Lily's D 4 Patch quilt.

I also did most of the flannel owl baby quilt for my friend's expected new granddaughter.  (Thank you to whoever put this fabric in the Traveling Stash!) I created this quilt as I went along and decided I needed a bit of green flannel for a narrow inner border or flange before putting on the main border. When I packed up to leave on Sunday, I headed for the shop where I'd purchased the rest of the flannel to get the green.  I also decided to make prairie points instead of flange. 

Other than the tremendous amount of camaraderie, stitching, and sometimes reverse stitching that occurred, there were 2 highlights for me.

1) We took a trip to a new-to-me LQS about 20 miles away and they had some very cute things. I couldn't pass up this fat quarter bundle of Xmas prints (Can you believe 8 FQ for $12.50???) and I also bought this bag pattern which I'm wanting to make up RIGHT NOW!  and 2) On Saturday, I took a 2 mile walk in the afternoon (which I normally don't do because of knee pain when I walk) and NO KNEE PAIN afterwards! Hurray!

All in all, it was a wonderful retreat for a first timer and I'll definitely return next year. As Lily would say, "Aww--Do I have to wait an entire year for the next one? Not fair!"