Roses are Red, So Are My Quilt Blocks

It’s been two weeks since I posted. As I had mentioned, I flew to Kansas City and spent a week in Missouri at a Crazy Quilting retreat. Yes, we did get a couple hours to visit Missouri Star Quilt Company, but the weather was terrible. The clouds were dark and ominous and It was pouring rain. We got drenched going from car to storefront and back.

However, we did manage to visit the newly-remodeled main store and then a couple of the specialty stores. My haul included three lengths of fabrics that I'll use for backings (2) and borders (1). The Doans have done a great job of moving the shops so that many are together and connected to each other (side by side) or on the first or second floor with stairs/elevator access between floors. The town of Hamilton got some new sidewalks and looks better than ever.

It was great to see my friends again at the retreat; we make it a point to get together at least yearly. Here is a picture of (L-R: Colleen Anderson, Carol Kramer and me).  Colleen lives in Nebraska. Her husband Mark went to high school with (and knew)  my husband Bruce in Bountiful, UT. It was a total coinkydink that we discovered about 6 years ago! Carol and I met ten years ago when she and her hubby Woody attended the John Campbell School in NC at the same time Bruce and I did. Carol and I shared a CQ class, and we became fast friends. Carol and Woody have visited us in UT and we have visited them in Florida - or at retreats in between.

So, in the intervening two weeks since my last blog post, I’ve done a lot of stitching for my Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks/quilts.  I finished all three red litters of cats; one mama and 12 kittens each.  Two red litters are still just blocks.....

...but one has been pieced into a quilt top. A Kitty Flimsy (or a Kitten Kaboodle) (or whatever) has been born!  It needs an ironing terribly, as it somehow went from hanging on the design board to decorating the floor in a rumpled heap while I was gone. Alfie and Darla aren’t talking....

And then there are the ten monthly 16-patch blocks. They are just randomly adhered to the design board - not pinned nor even trimmed..... I think after doing the gold/yellow blocks next month (which will total 90 blocks), they will be used as alternate blocks with some other style block that I`ll do next year. After that there will be enough to separate the blocks into color stories (like blue-green-purple or orange-yellow-brown) and make 2-3 quilts.

I made one red Dresden on a pink background this month, as seen below. I have not been feeling the love with these blocks all year. But when I finished this one yesterday, I trimmed all the blocks down to 19” and began pinning them up on the design board.

And surprisingly, I loved it! The final block will be stitched next month; a yellow-gold wheel on a pink background.  The quilt will finish at about 74x74”. I decided against flip corner triangles, sashing or borders. But that may change, too. Right now I think there is enough color and interest going on as it is, but.....  Not sure if this is the final layout.

And I have managed to keep up the pace with the Cozy Christmas Sew-Along. The first six (of 12) blocks are done and sashed. They look a bit wonky pinned up on the design board, but they’re actually pretty accurate.  :-)

The living room remodel has begun, with some demolition scheduled for this weekend. We were not able to match the exact shade of engineered wood from our kitchen floor, so we went a couple shades darker and found a gorgeous hardwood (not engineered, just regular ol’ hardwood) for the living room. We are also carrying the hardwood up the short stairs (3 half risers) down the hallway and into the back bedroom, which serves as our library/music room/exercise room/guest room. It will be ordered next week so it can get here and acclimatize itself for a couple weeks before installation.

The fireplace insert contractor is coming out later this week to do the firebox measurements once the existing brick hearth and facia is demolished. The placement of the new, smaller box will not utilize all the existing firebox space in order to finally make it centered on the wall (don’t know if that description makes sense). Installation will be two weeks after measurements/ordering. In the meantime, the carpenter will be out to take measurements and begin the design drawing of the shelving units, mantel, etc.. The projection is that it all will be done mid-Novemberish. As long as it’s done by early December, I’ll be happy. It appears I won’t be decorating for fall this year, but I definitely want to decorate (and have new furniture) by Christmas!!

Join us over at So Scrappy for a wonderful stroll through some creative uses of red scraps!!

Crazy Retreat - er, Crazy Quilting Retreat

We had our 5th annual Crazy Quilting International Retreat in northern Utah last month.  I was the official organizer (since I am one of the owner/moderators of the group), and our hostess was my friend Bev Forsling, who lives in West Point, UT.  Her home is a large acreage with a barn (whose loft area is a glorious, light-filled sewing area).  Thirteen of us gathered there from Wednesday, September 12 - Sunday, September 16.

On Thursday morning, our first official outing was to visit two wonderful needlework stores in downtown historic Ogden. This first shop is called Shepherd’s Bush, and it is a refurbished building that is over a hundred years old.

Above:  Diane and Susan are looking at displays.  Below, Shannon is amazed at all the nooks and crannies filled with stitchy goodness.

From Shepherd’s Bush, we walked a couple city blocks to The Needlepoint Joint, a huge store with amazing threads, silk ribbons, yarns, and books of every needlework type. There were even foreign needlework books, and several ladies dropped a lot of coin there!  (no pictures though).

Back at the house that afternoon, Gerry Krueger, who served as our chef, share a laugh with Carol Kramer.

We celebrated Carol’s birthday with a YUMMY cake from Costco and a round of Happy Birthday!!  Isn’t Carol’s CQ vest lovely?  She made it herself.  

That night we had the Stash Dash.  The Fabric Fairy dropped off lots of goodies earlier, but did not make a special appearance this year as she has in the past.

This is Bev, our Hostess with the Mostest.

Susie Wolfe taught a color theory class to everyone in the barn on Friday.  And she generously shared gifts of color wheels, a workbook and acetate sheets (to view color values) with the students.

We went thrifting on Friday morning, and on Friday night we played a HILARIOUS game of “Who Am I?”   Similar to What’s My Line, everyone bluffed their way through secret facts given by other members.  Ask Connie about how she swooped down on a glider and killed the water mocasins (snakes) with a banjo!!

On Friday evening, we had another wonderful friend visit, Cat Baumgartner.  She is a friend of Gerry K’s and mine, a former member of CQI, and a super quilter with a great Etsy shop.

Below, students Diane, Connie and Shari are working on some of the flowers I taught in the flower class on Saturday.  We ruched, folded, gathered, sewed, and created several wonderful flowers that we can use in crazy quilting - or handbag decoration, brooches, etc.

Below:  Susan, Gayle, Shannon.

Susie Wolfe and Gayle Schipper

On Saturday evening, we had a crazy gift swap.  I am below showing the  box I won. It was handmade by Carol and contained 6 handmade fabric postcards and a wood-turned pen by her husband Woody.

Gerry Hookstra won a lovely vintage sewing basket. 

Bev (and Teddy, her cute doggie) sit with Susan on the couch.  

Carol was always laughing about something! What a great sense of humor!

Colleen hams it up for the camera while Carol and Bev look on.

This was my table at the vendor “mall”. 

Diane buys something from Connie.  This looks like a staged picture, but it’s not.

Colleen and Diane visited at my house for several days after the retreat, and this is a picture of them in the corn (at our community garden) with their tomatoes.

The official portrait, generously taken by Gene Hookstra, husband of Gerry Hookstra.   Gerry will be our hostess in Colorado next year.

Top - bottom, left to right:

Colleen Anderson, Gerry Hookstra

Connie Kalina and Carol Kramer

Gayle Schipper, Cathy Kizerian, Gerry Krueger

Susie Wolf and Shannon Corson

Diane Matheson, Bev Forsling, Susan Bonilla and Shari Jensen

Back from the Retreat

I actually started this post several days ago but got interrupted or sidetracked, or something.  :-)    In the meantime, several ladies have posted pictures of the Crazy Quilting International Retreat, so I will include a link later so you can see theirs, since my pictures are incomplete.

We kicked things off with a Meet and Greet on Wednesday evening, and got to see the quilts that are being put together by Leslie from the blocks donated for Hearts & Hands for Sendai.  They are gorgeous, and you can see some of them here.

On Thursday morning, The Fabric Fairy visited us, filling many tables with fabric, lace, buttons (with the help of several friends).  She was shaking in her boots as she looked at the starting lineup of all those ladies with scissors in their hands, about to run for the stash.  And wouldn’t you know it, they were eyeing her lovely brocade getup costume ensemble, drooling over the fabric!  It was a good thing she had wings on to help her get away….

ahem.  HYDRAULIC wings….

The cabin we stayed in was beautiful, spacious, light and airy, and had everything we needed.  And even with all these ladies, we didn’t come close to running out of toilet paper.  Don’t laugh…. it happened last year.  :-(        So, below are the ladies enjoying the Stash Dash.

L-R: Juli, Sharon, Josie, Connie, Michelle, Martha, Helen, Sandy and Heidi

L-R:  Sarah (my sistah from another mother), Gerry K, Diane, Janet and Laurie

Claudina (in back) and Holly.  Such fun ladies!  and troublemakers

Helen T (in rear).  On the couch:  Heidi and her mother, CQI member Pam Watson, all the way from England!!

L-R: Holly, Leslie, Colleen, Juli, Sharon, Josie

Hazel, Colleen and Josie

Lovely Rick-Rack flowers made by Sandy.  Aren’t they to die for?

The above picture was taken from one of the patios outside the cabin. Isn’t it gorgeous??

When Diane and I drove to Colorado from Utah on Wednesday, Sept. 21, there were no signs of fall colors.  But when I returned home the following Sunday, September 25, these are what the hills around Park City, Utah looked like:

 

Sorry I don’t have much to say about the Retreat.  I was just tired and happy to get home. But Janet gave a great account of the activities and had some great pictures (and thanks, Janet, for letting me use the picture of the Fabric Fairy).  Visit Janet’s Blog  for a complete recap.

More Pre-Retreat Adventures

Things have been so busy here that Diane M and I will be happy to get on the road in the morning for our 7-hour drive to the Crazy Quilting International 4th Annual Retreat in Estes Park, Colorado.  :-)

Yesterday (Monday) we met for lunch with my local (that’s local, not loco, although she’s really both!)  friend Bev.  Bev and I say that we “met in Australia”, because we actually met through Sharon Boggon’s Pin Tangle blog!   After lunch, we headed over the Humanitarian Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon church, which is based in Utah).   Bev volunteered there for 10 years, and I did periodically through one summer.

Last year I took Diane and Ingrid there (see post here) and we hunted through huge bins for fabric.  That was exactly the mission that we were on today!  Fabric for the CQI Stash Dash and/or the Texas fire victims.

Diane climbed into the large cardboard bins

And she had a ball searching for fancy fabric!

Diane, Cathy and Bev

Sorry the picture is blurry, but a volunteer volunteered to take the picture, so we are grateful regardless.

This morning, Tuesday, my granddaughter London arrived for her weekly visit with Grammy and Grandpa (“Dammy and Papa”).  And she had the extra fun of having Auntie Diane here too (and she says that clear as a bell!)

London checks out the “baby cow”, Triton

She even held still for a half second so I snapped this picture

We all went on a wagon ride around the farm, visited all the animals (but missed the new Belgian Draft Horses that arrived last week.  Their fence was being mended and they were in a far pasture).  London loved the cows and all the ducks (every bird was a duck, whether it was a chicken, duck or goose). 

Watching the ducks chickens

Not a great picture, but at least I remembered to use the camera a couple times!

Right now London is napping, and Diane and I are packing our CQ wares and doing laundry - things we cannot seem to get done with a toddler around.  London loves Auntie Diane and sat rapt while she read her Mother Goose stories.  Maybe she is enchanted with Diane’s British accent?  She is, after all, named London!

This is my final post until I get back from the Retreat, and I will probably (hopefully) have lots of pictures and stories to tell.

Until next time,

We Are Having Great Fun!!

Diane arrived safely on Friday night and we all got settled and had a good night’s sleep.  Then on Saturday morning we visited two great estate sales up in the hills of Salt Lake.  Both were in very nice neighborhoods.  On the first one, we ladies hit the jackpot, and on the second one dear Bruce found some treasures.  I will save pictures of the booty for another post.

Anyway, Saturday afternoon we stitched and sorted stash.  Diane wanted to go out and get some grapes from our arbor to munch on, and we ended up harvesting all the green grapes AND the concords.

We had so much (and there are more than half left on the vines) that we went around and shared with neighbors - five other families.  And THEN we decided to juice the concords, and ended up with several quarts of grape juice (which we may bring to the Retreat).

Today, Sunday, we visited JoAnn’s fabric store (BRUCE wanted to go, so we tagged along).  True story - he needed foam paint brushes, a new glue gun and glue sticks.   Diane bought some beads and I got a quarter yard of some lovely embossed velvet.

When we got home in the afternoon, we had a visit from a green thing.

OOOOOOPS………..  wrong picture.  Here is the green thing that visited:

The Fabric Fairy!!!!!!!

She just dropped by for a moment to make sure we had all the stash in order for the CQI Stash Dash at Estes Park Colorado.  She will fly back to officiate at that time.  Anyway, she flew off to help Shari Jensen in Colorado gather stash donations for the needleworking fire victims in Bastrop, TX.  Shari has been very busy!

After Bruce barbecued steak for dinner, Diane and I did some more stitching and gathering supplies.  Now we are off to watch another episode of the Tudors and drool over the costumes.  To say nothing of the actors

We will hopefully be able to check in again after tomorrow.  We are having lunch with my friend Bev and then all going to the Humanitarian Center to find more stash.

Until next report….