meeting blog friends

So...
almost all of the quilt sharing pictures that I took
at the quilting retreat were a big fail!!! 
I didn't have a good location for picture taking -
back many rows and off to the side,
so each of my quilt pictures
featured a head (or four)
between me and the quilt I was photographing.
(I may have to borrow some from a friend who was front and center.)

I do have one good picture from my camera
that a friend took for me -
I got to meet up IN PERSON with a couple of blog friends!
One of the gals that also goes to retreat - Judy -
asked if I was doing the small doll quilt swap
with Lori of Humble Quilts.
I was, but she wasn't this year.
But that got us talking about swaps we'd done before
and she said that someone that I'd swapped with in years prior
lived close to the retreat area...
So we messaged her (facebook has its benefits)
and she was able to come to visit during retreat!!!
Here we are!!:

Judy (left) from blog fame Small Quilts and Doll Quilts,
JoAnne (center) from blog fame The Patriotic Quilter,
and me on the right, standing in front of a beautiful Jane Stickle quilt.
Lunch and chatting and sharing for most of an afternoon...
I love how quilting brought us together!!!

They both have wonderful blogs and do fantastic quilty-work -
if you have some time, check them out and say hi!

I'm back to doing some stitching,
and then after lunch,
some weekend fun with the grands!
Happy Saturday!

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!!!

Last of the missing quilt posts...

I think!!
Finishing up with Patty's quilts from December gifting;
reminder - she used the table-decor bandanas from her
50th wedding anniversary party and made quilts for each of her
grandchildren as memories of their help
in hosting the special party for their grandparents.
She made herself this one -
s small lap quilt with Autumn colors and bittersweet berries:

 

Then after Christmas,
she decided she wanted to use up the rest of the bandanas
and made herself a bed-sized quilt:

So sweet that she made EIGHT memory quilts!! I just love how she used the wedding anniversary bandana decor!

Continuation

of the missing quilted quilt posts.

More from Patty -
These were from mid-December;
she used the Bandanas from the table decor
from her 50th wedding anniversary party,
and incorporated them into quilts for her grandchildren...
She chose fabric to go with the bandanas that fit each of their interests.
Great idea, and I'm sure SO special for each of the grandchildren
for memories of their grandparents' 50th anniversary
that they helped in planning!!!
Pinwheels, bandanas, Republicans, and flowers:

 Rail Fences, Bandanas and Patriotic:

 Rail Fences, bandanas and musical notes:

 Finally, The Stack!:

Are they not just SO sweet??

More of the quilt meandering

that didn't get shared from before Christmas!!
These were for Patty - 
She used her 50th anniversary, table decor - bandanas, 
and incorporated them into quilts for each of her grandchildren.  
First, Ohio State and bandanas:

 Chevron, cherries and bandanas:

 Rail Fence with Star Wars and Bandanas:

 And, the final Stack-o-quilts for the first round of gifts:

 Are they not all ADORABLE???

There are more to come with this 50th Anniversary memories/ bandana theme!!

For some reason or another,

the end of last year
I had some posts set to 'share' automatically,
but they did not.
So, here are some quilts that I got to meander over:
(Sorry gals!  I didn't mean to exclude your great works!!)

From October 2015 -
Janet did this great Attic Window:

I remember the border was snake fabrics.
And, then in early December, 
two more quilts for the twin nephews:

 Race cars!!

 Fun to quilt and nice to go back through pictures!!!