retreat, rested and renewed

Does anyone else LOVE retreating as much as I do?
I'm talking quilt retreat here, but any retreat will do it...
you come back SO rested and renewed.
Even if, at the retreat, you don't accomplish much?

During my 3 days of retreat, I pieced together an
ENTIRE baby quilt top.
Yep - a whole 50 inches square.  LOL
Here's a peek of the 70-ish chosen fabrics:

(Better pictures after it's gifted.)

One of my favorite quilts at the retreat was
a friend's little finish...

Isn't it the greatest???
The patterns are by Kathy Schmitz, (My Little Patterns: Little Garden, Little Home, Little Stitches, Little Year)
and Amy hand-embroidery-stitched them at 60% of the original size.
I have the patterns, and already reduced them down to 50%!
Great minds think alike!
Can't wait to get started on another stitchery!!

Hope your Friday is Tony The Tiger Grrrrrreat!!!

more, please...

I've been seeing all the great new "stuff"

that was released at

Quilt Market this Spring...

and I need more, please...

more TIME, that is!!!

Oh me, oh my...

Really, what are they (the designers)

trying to do to us stitchers???!!!

Check out these new things-

in no particular order of preference ---

I'm telling you, I love them all!

These first two are from that bunch of troublemakers   from Crabapple Hill...    I can blame them in great part for my lack of time out of the stitching department!! :)

 Then there's that Kathy Schmitz... too many new things here that I would like to do, also!

Then, lo and behold... the new Need'l Love book comes into the lqs where I work part-time... now one of these has made it home with me!

And, I'm telling you,

that I ALREADY

 take my stitching with me everywhere

(just ask my family and friends - EVERYWHERE)!

Really, I have needle & thread with me at all times -

and most of that time it is on my person...

if not in my hand,

then the needle is stuck in my shirt-front 

& the thimble is in my pocket.

The gals at the market/grocery think something is wrong if I come in without a needle stuck into my clothing somewhere (they are kind and mostly over-look the threads stuck to me everywhere).

If you'd see my project stash, you'd think I was starting to hoard  (OK, past the "starting" stage)!  But if you don't get it when you see it, it's not available at a later date, I've found.

Anyway,

back to the ways I've found

to get some more time:

I've cut waaaaay back

on the time-wasting chores

of cleaning and dusting-

that stuff just comes back

almost as soon as you've done it, anyway.

I've pretty much given up on sleeping

(though that could be an age thing :) coming on)...

but that sure allows some more stitching time.

What's a gal to do?

 Retire?

I know,

maybe I could get a stitching job...

with a designer ...

and just stitch...

all day,

every day,

morning, noon & night.

Doesn't that sound like a dream job, or what?

The only thing that could make it better?

To get paid a little-

paid in flosses and wools!

Do you have any 
"more time, please" 
suggestions??

And, tell me...

what is your favorite new pattern

or fabric that's calling out to you?

another finish - utility quilt stitched

Do you remember me showing you these???

And then this???

(this is the one that I couldn't figure out what it was supposed to be

after I stitched it,

so instead of using it,

I stitched another Schmitz pattern to use instead... 

the bird holding a flag of the year

In fact, the whole group in the Sit & Stitch group at the LQS replaced this one...)

Anyway, I sent my big ole' quilting machine on vacation

for the Christmas and New Year's holidays

(yes, it needed a spa day- it is a year old now),

so I decided I would hand quilt something again. 

And this wall hanging was awaiting quilting,
and was the perfect take-along size for traveling & quilting.

"Ring in the New" by Kathy Schmitz:

(Click on the picture and then click again
and you can see some of the Utility stitches off to the right side in the black.)

I used the Utility Quilt Stitch...

at least that's what I call it. 

It was a stitch lesson from Great-Grandma B...

I think that this is the quilting stitch that I learned first,

that was a long time ago...

The Utility Stitch
is a big, hunking running stitch

using a big, hunking thread - like crochet thread or pearl cotton,

and a needle with a big ole' eye.

It's just like a normal quilting stitch,

where you rock up and down,

top to bottom to top to bottom to top through the layered quilt.

Then pull the thread through and repeat. 

Repeat until you get the whole line of quilting done. 

Then, repeat until you have the entire quilt done.

Normal,
except for the stitch length, anyway...

Instead of the 12 to 20 stitches per inch?

Well, it's only 4 to 10 stitches per inch. 

And because of the size?

Well, you can just whip through

a lap quilt or wall hanging

like it's a bowl of ice cream
on a 90 degree day!

Try it sometime,

I think you'll like it!

I was talking about the stitching,

but you can do the ice cream, too! :)

Ring in the New

No, this is not a post about the New Year - especially not in July!!

Just a couple of pics of my latest, ongoing hand stitching......blackwork...

These are just the cutest little blocks,

a block for each month of the year,

from a pattern by Kathy Schmitz called Ring in the New.

Well......

not the block in the middle -

the one with the year stitched in.....

that is a replacement block.

I didn't care for the June block that Ms. Schmitz had chosen,

I stitched the original June block, though:

What in the world is that????

And it's to symbolize the month of June...

I thought if I stitched it I would figure it out. 

But, no, no clue what this is for June.

Any ideas? 

Maybe a pineapple? 

Maybe a flowering kale? 

Maybe a turkey butt?

Don't know, just know that the butterfly is cute.

Anyway, I stitched up a dated piece for my June block:

I chose another block from another Ms. Schmitz pattern.

This group of stitcheries was also done by a few other gals in the
"Sit & Stitch" group at the LQS. 
(And, yes, they also replaced the June block!) 
The Sit & Stitch group meets on the first Thursday night of the month
for a couple of hours, along with visiting and laughing while we stitch. 
This time, we were all working on the same thing at the same time. 
Sometimes we are all stitching on our own projects. 

Since we are almost finished with this group of stitcheries,

we are trying to decide what to stitch on next.

We have slimmed down the choices to just a handful...

some barns,

some snowmen,
another Ms. Schmitz design, 

or some baskets filled with stitched flowers...

hard choices.

(Maybe I'll share later those pics of future projects, so you can help us choose.)
I do know that we will not be stitching unknown objects -
pineapple/kale/turkey butt objects! 

More flimsies not flimsies anymore

MORE QUILTS QUILTED!

Isn't this a great one?  She asked for little butterfly stitching.  I really like it.


This was a row of the month club.  I really like it too.  The colors are perfect.


This one is a cutie - sorry I couldn't get the picture top side up!  And the one after that is by the same gal.  She is almost ready for gifting now!

 

This one is great; I tried to talk her into gifting it to me. She didn't go for it! Imagine!!






Now some of my stuff: 

"Over the River and Through the Woods", a pattern by Crabapple Hill.  I did all the hand stitching, red-work (black-work?) early this year.  It's awaiting it's turn very patiently for it's time with "DD", the quilting machine.

And, finally, progress on the Kathy Schmitz:  "Ring in the New": 

A few more things off my lists, commissioned and personal.  (I am trying to get things sort of caught up so I can start my Snowball Challenge quilt!!!!!)     Also, I picked up something for my mama's birthday, so that's in the mail for tomorrow.
Happy Birthday, Mom!

All around a good weekend!

conundrum

The puzzle.  The mystery.  The riddle.  The problem.  Conundrum.....
I am not a worrier.  I don't stew over things, usually.  I think I must be just the right amount "naive".  I just don't let "things" bother me. 
So......many tasks probably should come first, but if they don't, the world won't stop spinning. 
Examples:  laundry & dishes & dusting & vacuuming, you know, fun stuff. 
I will tell you in confidence...I did not dust this week.  Nor did I dust last week.  Not even the week before I think.  And cobwebs?  They are around.  Yeah,  if it's a really big cobweb I'll take it down instead of walking through it.  I figure, if it really bothers someone else, I can show them where the duster is! 

I think, from personal experience, that life is too short to be all about worries and making sure things are spotless.
Now, I don't don't want to give the wrong impression.  I am not living in a pig sty.  I always almost always know where things are.  There are socks to wear, and spoons for soup, and I love to cook, so most of the time the shelves in the fridge are full. 
After all of that:  MY CONUNDRUM?
Which quilting project to start/finish first in no particular order: 
A:  I signed up for the "Snowball quilt challenge" (thanks Nicole!) ( http://sisterschoice.typepad.com/sisters_choice_quilts/ ) so fabric washed, pressed, cut and ready to send on to fellow swappers & start making my snowballs.
B:  I have the new line of Rouenneries/French General fabric in my sweaty little paws. I swear it's callin':  "Start me, start me!"
C:  13 quilt tops awaiting my hand-guided meandering -I am keeping close to the two week turn-around :)
D:  "Crazy Christmas" (by Lynette Anderson) quilt applique and piecing
E:  LQS shop sample: Ring in the New" (by Kathy Schmitz)" for sit & stitch this Thursday p.m. (which I am leading)

There, that's not really too many, is it?  I am, of course, leaving off many things that could be on that list, but, hey, not important.
 So.....do you recognize this?

I washed up some fabric. These are color catchers. See all the color caught? Lots of red fabrics!

Then, see the the stuff in the next picture?

These are special  packages for special people.  Ready to stuff into envelopes and drop in the mail tomorrow a.m.

See the note listed above as item A?  Yep, you're right...fabric packages all ready for my exchange group for the snowball quilt challenge!  Here they come: Katy, Julie, Jennifer, Kathy, Christine, & Esther!

Then comes the picture on the right:

EXCITEMENT!!!  These came in the mail today!!!

I received my first two packages from my Snowball Quilt Challenge and fabric exchange!!!  Thanks Kathy and Christine!!! 

I am going to try going to keep them unopened until I receive the packages from all six of my peeps!  Really, I can.  It will be like Christmas if when I save them and open them all at once!!!

Then On To "Item C" on the above list:

This is Mary H's - a Jo Morton pattern.  See the pic on the right, yes, that is cross-hatch stitching every 5/8 inch. 
And yes, it took a while !!

This one was made by Mary M. for a raffle to raise money for Christmas for People In Need in Delaware, Ohio. 
And on the right, a close-up of the "flame' stitching.

This quilt is Bev C's and is about 60" x 70", I love all the colors in the batiks!  And on the right the close-up of the stitching.

And, finally, another block of the month in scarlet and gray.  Don't know how many of these I have quilted so far this fall, but I think I'm getting pretty good at stitching OSU things in the gray "on point" setting squares .

So, I am working on some of  my conundrums......November has started, daylight savings has come, and, and, oh yeah, I like the word Conundrum!

Life is too short, so stitch a little every day!