Monday, February 8th, another successful retreat

This was my 6th time to go to quilt retreat and every time I come home, I say it was the best one yet!!! We always go the day before and this year Celia and I decided to stay an extra day at the end. I never thought I would say it, but I am a little tired of sewing at this point. But, upon taking a serious inventory of active projects, things that need to be quilted and what I want to do, I better get at it if I want to start anything new. I spent quite a bit of time piecing this time and only saw two projects to a level of near completion. One of the things I worked on is a Bonnie Hunter scrappy quilt and the majority of Saturday was spent making 104-4 inch blocks. We adopted a new friend from guild this time and she fits right in with our silliness! Between sewing, laughing and eating, the weekend is very exhausting!!The fabulous group!! There were 6 in our group, 7 from Downer's Grove, (new friends for us) and 4 ladies that we have been with at retreat in the past. We all got along great, which makes for great times!

We shop hopped on the way up and back, which I always love.These are my purchases. The poinsettia fabric is for the backing for the Christmas quilt. I got it at 60% off and I finished the bolt!!
My "big" purchase was this thimble for hand quilting:
After using on Sunday night, I decided it was too big, so Celia and I stopped at Millhouse Quilts in Waunakee on the way home for me to exchange it for a smaller size.

On Saturday, Jenet, Celia and I took a break from sewing and went to Reedsburg to Quintessential Quilts. It has traditionally been the "destination" shop, but it has severely declined since we were last there. The shop samples are exactly the same as a year ago and there is absolutely no new fabric. So, to kill time while Jenet was shopping, Celia and I had an ugliest fabric contest in the "blue and green" room and Jenet was the judge. As you can plainly see from the picture, I definitely won!! I am reminding Celia of this every chance I can!!
I made this cute table topper for Valentine's day:Also, I pieced this top, which has quite a bit more hand work to do before it gets layered and quilted:
Some of the show and tell from the weekend:Pat and Marlene tend to make the same or similar quilts while at retreat. I got this pattern from them, because I love the scrappiness!!
Kathy, aka the General, got a ton done...she pieced two tops and quilted the above top for a wedding gift for next weekend.
Deb, aka the Admiral, pieced three tops which were all happy and bright!
Jenet, our first time, but not last time retreater worked on some little projects and showed this incredible Grandmother's Flower Garden that she has pieced from actual feed sacks that she bought at antique shops and flea markets. Enid worked on a very complicated Batik quilt the whole weekend and showed this cute snowman wall hanging.
Celia paper pieced this stunner! Aren't the colors incredible?
Ann only quilts at retreat and this king size quilt has been in progress for a year. She finished the top on Sunday morning. She is true artist.
Patsy has been able to give up the Saturday cooking to someone else, so she sat and sewed with us on Saturday. She made these cute aprons for her sister and her sister's niece.
Denise on the left is the owner of "The Quilt Basket" in Downer's Grove. She was so much fun and came up both mornings in some of the clothes that Patsy uses for decor. In the same spirit of silliness, I found these vintage hats and the five of us wore them on Sunday night. We also sang along with Celia's Ipod and some great 70's tunes.
Celia and I left on Monday morning and shopped on the way home, but were kind of ready to go. What a great time we had. Sunday night we made a fire and I brought my computer and we watched "Up". A great ending to a great time.

Wednesday, December 30th, Now that's pricey!!!

On my way out of town yesterday, I had to fill the van with gas. I about had a fit as the price was $2.75.9, which is the highest it has been in months.
Then on the way home, we passed by the same gas station, and this was the price:I guess I'm glad that I filled up when I did!!!
Catie and I were up early today, so I could take her to the airport. There was very little traffic and I had her to the door in about 45 minutes. After a work out, I was home again at 8:30. Easy peasy!

Saturday, December 26th, A Tindell Christmas

We left this morning in a snow storm for Christmas in Springfield with Chuck's family.It took us a couple more hours to get there than it usually does and we stopped in Bloomington for lunch.
Most of us exchange names for gift giving, but we usually all get gifts for Vera:
When she was here in November, we went to a new thrift store and she admired this cookie jar. She obsessively collects snowmen. I bought it that day for her. She never knew and was pleasantly surprised.
We had a fun day with the family, even though when these folks get together, the noise level rivals O'Hare!
Chuck, Christine, Tommy, Robert and Vera.

Thursday, December 17th, One down, one to go

Chuck took today off and drove to Holland to move Candice home. She is actually done with her schooling on campus and on January 23rd, starts her Social Work internship in Chicago. Because she didn't come home last summer, she had accumulated quite a bit of "stuff" and it wouldn't fit in her car. I worked last night and tonight, so didn't get to join in on any of the fun.

Monday, November 30th, Very early departure

I was up at 2:30 this morning to take Catie and Steve to meet their ride back to Charleston in Wheaton. We made great time and got there about 5 minutes before their ride did. The little light between their heads is the moon. I was back home at 5:30 and crashed again until about 10. With still more to do around the house, I kept very busy until my nap time before work tonight.

Sunday, October 4th, Another long journey

We didn't leave quite as early as we wanted from Sioux Center today, but still had an enjoyable trip home. Well, as enjoyable as a 550 mile trip can be. Chuck likes to drive and did the whole thing.
When's the last time you saw a Sinclair station in Chicagoland? Brought back childhood memories.
The area is primarily agricultural with acres and acres of corn and beans, and huge cow lots. Sioux Center has a large packing plant just down the road from the hotel. The air was filled with the lovely scent of manure and packing plant smells. Use your imagination as to what that smell is like! The residents must get used to it, but it was slightly disgusting.

Generally, as soon as the tires start turning, I am out. But this trip, I could only cat nap for 10 minute stretches. So, I was able to get quite a bit of hand work done:Catie is reading through the Harry Potter series yet again, and when the rest of us were bored, she read out loud to us:
Candice should have been reading her extremely long book for school, but when she tired of that, we played the states game. We listed them rather quickly, but then tried to list the capitals, which were impossible. So, instead, her list read, "The states and important cities in them or people who have been there or famous people from there". So, Massachusetts was Ted Kennedy, Rhode Island was Bob Audette (my former boss) and Connecticut was Catie Tindell, because she has been there. It helped the time pass. A very fast weekend, but a great time with the family!

Friday, October 2nd, Long drive

Last night, the girls got home at around midnight because Candice had class all day and Catie flew in from South Carolina. Candice unfortunately took a wrong turn to get to Midway to pick Catie up, which delayed their getting home any earlier. I tried to wait up for them, but after quilting all day, not getting any sleep and hosting quilt group, I hit the hay at 10. However, I was up at 4 to finish getting ready to leave. We left a little later than planned, at 6:25.
That meant that the girls basically slept all day, with several potty stops and food breaks sprinkled in. Usually as soon as the wheels start turning, I am out, but today, I could only catnap for 10 minutes at a time. I brought a ton of hand work to do and that kept me alert.
It was a very long drive: clear across the state of Iowa, but it was smooth sailing the whole way on I-80. We got there at around 5:30, in time to greet everyone as they headed to the rehearsal at the church.
That gave us some time to clean up and beautify before we went to the restaurant for the rehearsal dinner that Beryl and Dan hosted.
See how nice they look when awake?
The Freeburg clan. The restaurant, Blue Mountain was very unusual with all kinds of architecture mixed together. We had a lovely room on the second floor and had a buffet of barbecue chicken and beef.
We then headed to Kelly's parent's house so I could give the quilt to them. They loved it! I emphasized that it is a cuddle on the couch quilt, not necessarily an heirloom quilt, so they cuddled it up for a pic.
Candice demonstrated the proper way to wear a bow and thought Kelly should wear it instead of a veil tomorrow. We had a lovely room at the Holiday Inn Express in Sioux Center, which by the way reeks of Cow manure and packing plant smells. I don't know how you would get used to that living there.