bye bye to retreat

it's my last night--for now--at the lovely amishview inn and suites, a stellar lodging place where much fun took place over the past week.  i hope you can stand one more fabric photo.  found these blues/yellows at the old country store.  i've been eyeing this line for some time but shipping costs always held me back, so took the opportunity to pick up a few.  and on the left, 4 more jo morton fabrics.  i also got to see her quilts up pretty close at the museum upstairs from the fabric store.  there were others as well and all were spectacular examples of fine quilting.  i am not keen on returning to maine but that is where i hang my hat for now.  i'll be competing with hurricane sandy hoping there isn't much conflict.  driving in the rain, especially highway and for long distances, is so not my ideal, but not much i can do.  hoping my guardian angel is on high alert.  

birthday boy

if you see this tow-headed tyke today, be sure and wish him a happy birthday.  and yes, that's me holding him with older brother beside.  we were all blondies once.  that includes dear sister who arrived about 3 years after this was taken.  *** thought this would be a respite from fabric photos....LOL....but more tomorrow, i promise!

beautiful batiks!

these are the few i simply had to have as some have color combos i've never seen before.  the bottom is just a pretty print that i am adding to my stash, 2 yards worth.  there is just so dang much fabric within a 10 mile radius, the only way to avoid temptation is to not even go look.  **** retreat is flying by with much fun, laughter, sewing and sharing.  i really needed this, and in this location?  priceless!  today i finished the little batik square-in-a-square top using half the scraps in my bag.  i'll save the rest and add to them for another one at some point.  next up?  the civil war diary quilt with one block completed already.  mapping out my route home hoping i can avoid hurricane sandy!

retail therapy?

it's absolutely mandatory when visiting Penn Dutch country.  you know how gaga i am for solids, so i took advantage of the humongous choice and picked some up to finish my ocean waves project.  bottom left is a piece of indigo paisley....on sale too!  and the bottom right shows 2 christmas prints at a whopping 35% off.  christmas lights and those adorable angels could not be resisted.  we hit sauder's and burkholder's in one day.  and oh, the batiks at burkholder's--the choices were endless.  after careful perusing, i did manage to find a few i couldn't leave behind that i'll save for another post!

retreat fun

if you follow on a regular basis, you might recall a bag of batik scraps posted some time ago.  well, this is what i am doing with them.  little paper-pieced blocks in progress.  a total of 25 will be made.  doubt that will use up ALL the scraps in the bag but might come close.  so far so good i think.  **** and what can i say about retreat?  so far, everything i had imagined...and more.  the venue is perfect, the location couldn't be better, wonderful retreat mates, great shopping and delicious food!  and all the sewing one can stand; it doesn't get much better than that.  so without further delay......

room with a view

no sunshine yet but not a big deal at all.  i'll be in the sewing room for the morning working on one of my sewing projects.  a delish buffet breakfast was thoroughly enjoyed!  pinch me, am i dreaming?  yeah, it's THAT good!

i'm heeere!

no photos, way too tired tonight.  it was a very long day partly due to a very short night.  just too excited to sleep, i guess.  anyway, after stopping for a few "eye rests" not to mention some slow traffic areas and rain, i finally arrived.  have a case of nearly terminal white line fever, so no sewing tonight.  instead, had my shower, in my jammies and de-stressing with an oh-so comfy bed and pillows....also rehydrating as i tend not to drink much on long trips for, ahem, obvious reasons. i stopped at one convenience store today in a terrible rush and was horrified to find it occupied.  it was a tense moment and the clerk even asked me if i had to go THAT bad...i said i did because, well, i did.  a gen-x-er guy of course!  finally averted a near liquid disaster.  anyway, watch this space!

last square!

today's the day the last block gets quilted on this scrappy project.  how good is that?  then i can start sewing on the binding, which i think is going to be navy blue.  i had some binding left over from another project but it's a washed out peach color and i just didn't see that on this quilt.  closing in on a finish....finally!   who's next?

bit of a stretch

as anyone who has cable TV knows, they are in the business to sign you up and sell as many channels as they can.  we do have a cable package, albeit not a premium package, but for our 2nd TV, MY TV, time warner has been systematically removing channels from the package if you don't have a box.  enter the adapter.  while there are still some channels i can't get on the 2nd....my....TV, there are a few that are now available like LMN, OWN, TRAV and a few others i occasionally watch.  magnanimously provided free by TWC, i had to call on all my techno skills to get it working....and i did!  talk about slaying the dragon...i am woman hear me roar!  gotta have the TV on while quilting, if just for the background chatter.  **** and today i also got the VCR hooked up AND programmed...how good is that?  and i didn't even have an erector set when i was a kid either. 

a minor slip

while mom was at the hairdresser, i peeked into cyndi's shop for a look and these found me!  some were on sale so it was a minor attack on the budget.  it is not a good idea to go here without a list or at least some idea of what one seeks.  it's wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling mostly civil war reproduction fabrics, some a bit earlier and some a bit later.  there were empty boxes on the porch so i knew there would be some brand new stuff inside and not yet unwrapped even!  i don't know how she keeps up with them all or how she keeps from sewing nonstop, never mind cooking, cleaning and shopping for food.  **** in the background on the left is my change bank, now empty, its contents ready for PA.   however i did set aside all pennies minted before 1984 as i read someplace that when the mint stops making them, they can be sold for their copper content like any other precious metal.  just don't try it before they are no longer minted or it's a fast trip to leavenworth.