Five Shadows

Last month I attended a 5 day quilting retreat. There are 12 of us who rent a local camp lodge , cabin, and dorm, in a pretty setting out in the country. We sew in the lodge, setting up tables around a lovely, huge rustic fireplace. We take turns preparing meals. I provided the first evening meal of chicken tortellini soup, veggie crab soup, deli wraps, and black bottom cake. Then I was free of kitchen duty for the rest of the days! Uninterrupted sewing time! I think the ladies try to out do each other in the meals they provide! We had such good ‘eats’ all the time. We only do two meals a day. A brunch and a supper. And then snack in between if you can’t wait for supper! tee hee I snacked too much on yummy chocolates! We had one gal that prepared two classes which I opted to not participate in. My goal was to complete several tops in progress. Here is how I did - - -

Union Star using Civil War reproduction fabrics

Union Star

Turtle Quilt

River City 9-Patch from 9-Patch Reunion quilt book

Today I am celebrating my birthday with family and friends. I’ll be meeting some of my girlfriends for lunch. And then, those who can, well join me to take in a local quilt show. Sisters of the Cloth are displaying quilts at the Jeffrey R. Krull Gallery - located in our public library, with a reception from 2-4 p.m. The show runs today thru April 5 - if anyone happens to be in the Fort Wayne area.

Pictured here are several fabrics I plan on using in making this cute Ashley purse.

You might remember from an earlier post that I am participating in a canvas bag round robin. We each started with the same size 13″ x 15″ x 7″ canvas tote bag. We each picked a theme for our bag and included fabric and items in that theme to pass along with the bag - for using in decorating/altering the bag. This is the third of twelve bags to which I will contribute. The theme for this bag is “Mary Engelbreit.” The owner of this bag included yards and yards of Mary Engelbreit (ME) fabric, along with a ME magazine and several ME books. The first picture shows the bag as I received it. A beautiful cross-stitch with a small border of yellow fabric. The second picture shows what I added - in a fabric collage style. First I purchased and attached a wide yellow rick-rack. Then I fused ME fabric to fusible web. I cut out several motifs and fused them around the cross-stitch. Then I stitched around the motifs in black thread. The cherries above the bowl on the left side are fused to a red fabric and stitched only at the top of the stem so they are three-dimensional. The cherries on the right side I hope look like they are pouring out of the teapot and into the teacup.

fabric collage I added

This past fall, Daily Window announced a sale on their demo bags. I bought two, with the plan on giving one to a dear friend for her November birthday. She loooooves purses just about more than any other possession! To create a card and tag, I used fabric with butterflies, the color purple, and the theme of love, all of which are her favorite things. Searching for a quote for the card, “Love is like a butterfly. It goes where it pleases, and it pleases wherever it goes.” (author unknown) seemed appropriate. The card was placed in the clear pocket and the tag was attached to the bag with ribbon. My friend is still using the bag as I decorated it. I have encouraged her to create her own art to display in the window pocket - and I’m sure she will! If you have not seen these clear pocket bags - they come in a variety of styles - for displaying your own creations, I encourage you to check out their website and blog!

Wishing you a wonderful New Year! I’ve been reading my favorite blogs and the topic of New Year’s resolutions are popping up all over. Not uncommon for this time of the year! I particularly like what Calamity Kim had to say about shutting the door on 2008 and getting on with 2009! I guess she has done just that (thank you Kim!) because 2009 did appear right on time, just like we hoped for! And I read Pokey’s blog (Clothe Paper Scissors & Quilting Arts editor - my two fav magazines!) and entered her giveaway. Her resolution is to “keep it simple.” My dear husband and I talked a bit about resolutions and he thought he’d go with the “lose 25 pounds” type. I suggested he change that to “go for walks several times a week with my wife” and he would not have the guilt of NOT losing weight, but would actually see a weight loss because we are out walking together. Both of us would benefit! My resolution is to “live guilt free” this year. I tend to let myself get involved in things because of the guilt factor. Things I don’t want to do, but do anyway, because of what I think people expect from me. THAT is a silly way to live one’s life! I want to create more and see where that leads. I ran across the Creative Everyday blog and thought that was such a good idea! It is a challenge to create something everyday but in a way that sounded like no pressure. Creating could include cooking, singing, doodling, etc. I got to thinking, by Leah’s definition, I do create every day. Bye-bye guilt for thinking it has to be some form of art or craft! I cook from scratch, I lite candles, I like simple center pieces, I often sing in the shower, and I do even make it to my sewing table to create. I enjoy a walk in our backyard garden and I occasionally will sketch something I see. I guess I do more creating than I thought! So “living guilt free” will be my 2009 catch phrase!

What about you? Do you have a word or phrase, or resolution to live by for 2009?

I wanted to show the quilties I received from the Shades of Forest Swap hosted by Lenna. But for some reason I can not figure out, I can not get them to load properly in my post. They are all so pretty! You can see all the quilties on Lenna’s blog - follow the above link. Lenna will be hosting new swaps in 2009! Do consider joining! And I’ll try figuring out how to post the pictures.

Greetings faithful readers! And Belated Christmas Wishes to all! I’m still behind on things due to the ice storm that hit here last week. Our power was out for four and a half days. We could still communicate to the world by our cell phones. On the second day we went to my husband’s office to warm up, but then power went out there too! What a surprise to suddenly be sitting in total darkness. We had flashlights with us, as we would be returning to a dark house. So we packed up and headed out. A generator did power a light at the end of the hallway as we headed to the door.

Back at home, my husband was able to hook up a small generator, (Thanks Denny!) lent to us by a friend, to power our gas furnace. For the next three days, we would warm up the house a bit in the morning, cook breakfast on the gas range, and then turn off the generator and head to some warm public place - like the library or mall. Then in the evening we would return home and once again heat up the house, light the antique oil lamps, and play games and drink hot chocolate. Then turn the furnace/generator off again and head to bed with extra blankets and quilts. It would be in the 40s by morning and we started the whole routine over again. By day five, the kids got home around 8 p.m. and sent a text message saying, “Power!”. What a wonderful word! It was so nice to drive home and see the Christmas tree lights on and to step into a warm house!

Even with the inconvenience of no power for a few days, the ice on the trees was beautiful. My daughter took the pic.

When the mice are away the cat gets to play! All my darling children* are out of the house this week. I’m going to use the extra moments to catch up on some sewing and creating. Pictured here is the pumpkin patch I have created and attached to the canvas bag that is to be passed on to the next person in the round robin this Sunday. This is the first of 11 bags to pass through my hands. The theme for this bag was “country” and at this time of year what better says country than a patch of pumpkins!?

*My two youngest darlings left for NE for the National Homeschool Volleyball Tournament this morning. They are two excited young ladies!

I’ve been showing my little quilties I’ve received from Creative Lenna’s swaps to my quilting friends. If you have ever thought of joining a swap, check out Lenna’s blog. She hosts more than just quilt swaps. And even if you don’t participate - it is a very fun look!

My friend, Teresa, has just received four greeting cards from her first ever online swap! She did a web search and found a card swap that interested her. Her husband laughing said to me, “See what you have started!”

That is not the only thing “started”. Teresa thought our quilting group should host our own swap, so she organized an altered canvas bag swap. Actually, it is a Round Robin. There are 12 of us in the group. We each received a canvas bag, with a pocket created by Teresa, sewn on the inside. We each pick our own theme for the bag, tuck items that coordinate with the theme inside the bag, start to embellish if we wish, and then pass it on to the next lady. The items in the bag do not have to be used, but give an idea of what you mean by the theme selected. We have one month per bag and should receive our completed bag in October of 2009.

There are some pretty good themes selected: Cheerful Spring, Autumn, Butterflies, Music, Birds, Raggedy Ann and Andy, Botanical/Herbs, Flowers, Country, Christmas, Mary Englebrite, and Travel.

My bag is ready to go. I have added some patchwork down one side of the bag. My theme is Flowers. Ok, a bit boring, I should have thought a little longer and narrowed it down a bit. But I did put together a nice assortment of buttons, silk flowers, ribbons and fabrics that should help direct the ladies. The fun thing about a Round Robin is the mystery of it all! You never know what you will get back, but I always love the creativity expressed!

Pocket Created by Teresa

Items included in my bag

One of the latest quilts I have been working on is a joint effort with a quilting buddy. We are making a quilt for Sensory Critters, which will be donated to the Autism Speaks spring 2009 silent auction. Our local quilt shop gave us a discount on the fabric for the quilt. And a local long-arm quilter did the spiral quilting at a discount price as well. I’ll show a picture of the whole quilt once I complete the binding. But here are two teasers. 

Such a busy day. A friend was holding a craft day at the lodge at StillWater Retreat. She asked us to bring a salad to share for lunch and she provided desserts.Then for the evening meal she provided homemade soups and breads. I had a doctor’s appt so had to leave soon after lunch. Then I grocery shopped for the concessions for my daughters’ volleyball game that was earlier tonight. Got home and the girls helped me prepare the food. After the games, I headed back out to the retreat and worked on the second of two coordinating twin quilts. I got home soon after midnight and should have gone to bed. But with the fam all sound asleep I’ve been playing around on the internet with no interruptions  :-)  visiting blogs and hopping around. It was a long day, a nice day - minus the prednisone injection into my right ear - through the eardrum! Ouch! I’ll save that story for another post.