Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

I’ve been missing in action for awhile.  There has been so much to do in preparation for the Crazy Quilting International annual Retreat in Colorado.

My friend Diane Matheson arrived here in Salt Lake on Tuesday.  We’ve spent a lot of time talking, laughing and stitching.  And my cat Boomer loved her the minute she walked in (and it appears to be mutual, LOL).

And then yesterday, our friend Ingrid Gardiol joined us, and we had a great CQ Girls Day Out!

First we stopped at the LDS Church (Mormon) Humanitarian Center.  Here they put together every type of humanitarian aid package you  can imagine - medical, newborn, schoolkid, etc.  People are sewing and tying quilts, new immigrants are gainfully working, and it’s a great atmosphere. There are big bins of fabric that are used for quilts (cottons), book bags (heavier home dec), etc.  The “throw-aways” are the fancy costume fabrics; after all, you can’t make a quilt or a child’s shirt out of satin, etc. So, we were happy to take some of it off their hands.

Here Ingrid and I sort through the fabric.  There is so much that someone has to get in to get to the bottom of it!  We had two of these to go through.  And we were selective, not greedy.  We ended up with four cloth grocery bagsful, and one of those was for costumes for Wheeler Farm where I work.

Then it was off to the Olive Garden for lunch.  Our waitress was kind enough to take our picture.

Our next stop was Gardner Village.  It’s a restored mill with dozens of relocated and restored cottages (Victorian through 1930’s-style ) remodeled into quaint shops.  Between the shops is a duck-filled pond with covered walking bridges.  It is very festively decorated for Halloween at this time of year.  I was able to snap this picture of Diane and Ing with their new friend....

Ingrid loves orange, and we had to restrain her from cutting into Hazel’s skirt!  (just kidding)

We visited a bead shop, a fabric store, a craft and vintage consignment store (SOOOO well done; I’ll get pictures of that to share sometime soon!) Then it was home to have dinner and sort fabric and continue preparations and packing!

Today we are going to a thrift store and JoAnn’s, and perhaps another place or two.  But we definitely have plans to be back by mid-afternoon to finish packing and loading the cars.  Tomorrow morning we leave at O’dark thirty for our 8-hour ROAD TRIP to Estes Park, Colorado, to meet up with another 12-15 ladies for 4 days of laughter, learning and fun!!