Some CQ work....and a blast from the past....

Here is Ing's fall swap block. I did the pine bough down the center (mainly because I wanted to try cast-on stitch pine cones), the SRE bouquet, the leafy vine, two seams, and added some beads.

This is Wendy's block from the Fantasy Landscape round robin. Her theme is "Undersea Dragon's Lair", and she asked that all creatures added be fantasy creatures, so I made her a sea unicorn daddy and his babies (click on the pic for a larger view to see the babies; they are glorified, modified lazy daisy stitches!). I also did the kelp seam above his head and the seam that goes to the left of him and behind his head.

I'm not entirely sure when this picture was taken. Probably about 1972 or '73. That's me on the left, my sister Barbara kneeling, and sister Gayle on the right. The dog is Gayle's St. Bernard, Shannon. She was a lovely dog, very well trained. She had actually been trained not to drool, though she could still slime you pretty well after a drink of water.

Thinking of Halloween

I got this cute image from a sample sent by Dover Publishing. It's got all my favorite Halloween elements; witches, bats, owls, jack-o-lanterns, black cats....


While shopping at Target today, we found this card (I scanned it front and back, to give credit to the company that made it):

Inside:

It's a sad story, but one that happens all too often this time of year.

Cute boy alert!

While I was at the retreat, my favorite cowboys were at a local fall festival. They got to buy red hats and ride ponies.


Here is a pin I made from a kit. It is silk ribbon embroidery; took about 20 minutes to stitch it and put it together! I like instant gratification.

We have a new baby in the family! Hannah was born to Travis and Bridget (and big sister MacKenzie) on September 30th. Her nursery is done in pink and brown John Deere fabric, so I found this brown onesie for her and stitched some pink roses on it. Working on it made me hungry for chocolate cake with pink frosting roses....but then I could always be hungry for chocolate cake....with or without roses of any color....

And this is my second block for the Making Memories Breast Cancer fundraiser. At the retreat, Leslie had two blocks that someone had offered to do, then didn't, so I took one of them. The butterfly is 3D, like my previous block. What I really like about this block though is the SRE bouquet. Click on the pic for a larger view.

One last post from the retreat

Here's what happens when crazy quilters get to drinking and try to stitch:

They accidentally make a "sane" quilt! So remember, "Friends don't let friends stitch drunk!"

Left to right: Ingrid, Janet (me!), Theresa, Caroline, Leslie, Claudina, Debbie, Cathy, Gerry K, Gerry H, Diane, Kerry, and Connnie. Lauri hates to have her picture taken, so she graciously (and gratefully, I think) offered to take the pictures with everyone's cameras.

Retreat: Show and tell, part 2

This is the lovely Ingrid from California (on the right, left is Diane from Ontario). She happens to live near the Piecemaker's store there and is a frequent student in their classes. They know her so well that they allowed her to bring one of the Piecemaker Quilts, titled "Out of the Darkness" to our retreat. This quilt is the star of the 2009 calendar, one of 3 that were made (one was sold to a private collection) and it is just breath-taking. I thought so when I saw the picture of it on the calendar, but in person you can see the details and the subtle colors that were used so sparingly and so effectively on the black and white blocks. I took a picture of each block, so prepare to be amazed (click on the pics for a larger view).


In the block below, the butterfly on the upper right is all done in silk ribbon embroidery. You may not even realize it's a butterfly at first, as it looks like a grouping of flowers.










And the center block:

Retreat: Dashing through the stash....

(sing to the tune of Jingle Bells)
....scissors at our side...


...fabric flying 'round...

...there's no place to hide!

Dig into the bin, sharing what we find,

Oh what fun it is to dash with 14 crazy minds!


As you can see, this is the stash dash. The big yellow bin was brought by Cathy, and we each brought a few pieces of fancy fabric or trims to share as well. The scissors were flying, and we each got a new (to us) pile of stash fabric to bring home at no cost! Recycling at its best!

Retreat: Show and tell

There was lots of show and tell going on at the retreat, but I was lazy about getting the camera out and taking pictures, which I now regret. I do have these to share:
Lauri's under-the-sea quilt, some of my favorite spots.

This octopus is an original design, hand stitched by Lauri.

This fish is completely hand beaded and designed by Lauri.

A close-up of the much-coveted Santa done by Leslie and won by Kerry in the auction.

Leslie's work in progress, a landscape piece (sorry I cut your head off, Leslie).

And Leslie's larger landscape quilt. I love how she manipulates fabric to make her designs so 3 dimensional.

Retreat: The view from the top....

....of the stairs! Look at that mess of stash! It's amazing we didn't have more stuff lost or accidentally mingled or mangled. That's crazy quilters for you; they know their stash and even though it may look like chaos, they usually know where things are.

Retreat shopping

We didn't do nearly as much shopping this year as we did last year, which was fine. We were hoping for more stitching time and less time riding in the car, and that's what we got. We did, however, manage to make a sizable bump in the economy of several Breckenridge stores. I personally did my part in the Breckenridge Bead Gallery, where I bought these little animal beads. They were made in Peru, and just so detailed and cute I couldn't resist them. The little bat (lower left) is pewter, and I don't know where he was made, but he has the cutest little face. Also pictured are the two Czech glass buttons I bought, and on the upper left, two chandelier earrings I got at a consignment shop after I got home. They were $3.49 each pair and they each have numerous charm-like componants that will work on CQs.