Quilting Brings us together....

Just finished loading the retreat pictures and I've got tons to share.  Seems like my last few posts have been about friends.  I thought I'd start on the same note with the retreat pictures.

Retreats are fun.  You eat too much, usually sleep too little, some of us get a project or two further along in the process. But the absolute best part of retreats I have found to be spending time with the important people in your lives.  Just take a look at these pictures that I have today...

 Sisters Nancy and Eileen

 Had to take a couple...they were out of control.

 Sisters Nina and Suellen

 Sisters Anne and Mary

 Mom and daughter...Ruth and Gisela

Cousins Peggy and Penny

 

Friends Terry, Pat and Judy

 

Friends Linda, Josie, Betsy and Joyce

 

Friends Barb and Jane

This is what it's about....family and friends spending time together. This was my second retreat with this group and learning the stories behind the friendships was time well spent. I hope in the years to come I can learn more about these amazing women and their stories. 

To quote a line from the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding "The men may be the head of the house but the women are the neck and they can turn the head anyway they want."  Yep, the men may have the illusion of being in charge but it is truly the strenght of women and their bonds that keep the world going. 

  It was a fabulous weekend thanks to everyone who attended.  More pictures and stories to come this week.  Hope you all had a fantastic weekend, I certainly did....

Thanks for checking on me,

hugs,

joanne

love to hear what you've got to say....................

Where do I begin???

Hello Friend!!

If you are still with me you are definitely a friend.  I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted, yet I can believe it.  Checking my calendar I have been away from home 10 of the 19 days this month and that is not counting the grocery shopping.  Now remember I live in the boonies, so when I go to the grocery store it's at least a 2 hour event and those 10 things rated an entry on my date book.  I knew it was a bad sign when I plugged the camera in and the last day I unloaded the pictures were October 5th. OH MY!!!

I've got so much to share and today so little time to do it.  Today I headed to Henniker to an absolutely wonderful quilt shop named Quilted Threads.  I'm doing their BOM with a friend and it's a 42 miles or a 45 minutes drive.  Now that might seem like a haul for some of you, but for around here's that's nothing!!  When Lynn said she wanted to do it and asked if I wanted to join her I thought she was out of her mind!! I asked if she would do it without me, and when she said she would, boy was I relieved!!  I didn't want to say yes and have her do it just because I said yes.  Did you get all of that??  Well, I just didn't want to be her green light to crazy! We solve all kinds of world problems on this quick drive!

Okay, about the shop Quilted Threads.  Here's a picture of the BOM that we are doing.

Today I am LOVIN' them!!  I am really not surprised, Quilted Threads is a very, very classy shop. They carry the latest in everything!  Fabrics, patterns and gadgets, you really can find it all there.  Take a minute to visit the shop by staying a moment on their home page.  Different pictures of the shop will appear.  BUT!!!! This is a cleaned up visit to the shop!!  Usually there are beautiful quilts draped over the second floor railing and they are just to die for!!  AND they definitely give you the inspiration that you need!  This is the first time I've seen my BOM's on a design wall, and I LOVE the blues and creams together.  We just picked up block 10 today and will have 2 more after that.  13 blocks set on point...I have a feeling it's going to be a great quilt.  I just need to figure out the sashing, borders and all of the rest of the details. 

Moving on....guess who's packing for a retreat???  ME!! ME!!  ME!!  You know one of those place where to go and eat too much, sleep too little, rub elbows with the local talent and if you are lucky get a little sewing done??  I'm dragging the laptop and camera.  Won't get to upload any pictures until I return but I am hoping to check in with and catch up on my blogging friends.

I have TONS of quilt pictures to share.  Spending so little time at home this month has put me behind again on posting the wonderful quilts that come my way. I also want to share the info about a block swap we are doing with the guild.  It's a "Freddy Moran Style" swap, and I've really got the gals stepping out of their boxes and scratching their heads.  I'm already keeping very close tabs on November, I don't want it to get out of hand like October did. Hope all of my blogging buddies are doing well!!

That's it for today, thanks everyone for checking in.

hugs,

joanne

love to hear what you've got to say...........

Blogging Friends.....Make me smile!

Everyday I am reminded of how lucky I am to have met some of the greatest women on the net.  Yesterday my post was about just three of my blogging friends. A couple more today.....

This little guy just makes me smile....

  It was sent to me by the super, super sweet Laurie.  I was following her blog and noticed that she was gathering some blocks for another gal who was going through a bad time. This is just Laurie's style, thinking of others.  I had a pet project of my own at that point and couldn't help out.  But later I discovered some quilting still needed to be done so I offered to do it.  Well....so that lead into doing a wonderful quilt for Laurie you can see the posting here and I found this little cutie in the box when it arrived!!  My blog posting that day is Smiles and this little guy definitely brings out smiles.  Laurie moved from Maine to Texas and many of us followed her in the journey.  She's been a little lax about the blogging lately we need to send her some blogging love to get her going again.  So hop on over and say hello here's the link:

West Texas Threads

Another sweetie.....is Terry and you all know her from her blog:

Terry's Treasures

This gal is amazing!!  I just finished a quilt for her, it was a beautiful Irish Chain, done with WHITE!! I don't do white, and am in awe of the gals who do.  I've worked on a few of quilts for Terry and they are wonderful!!  Perfectly trimmed on the back, I'm thinking she's a perfectionist!!  If you don't know Terry pop on over to her blog and check her out.  Her hand work is amazing  and she does some of the cutest little projects.  Want to know how I know?  WELL....THIS came in my mail yesterday.....

How amazingly cool is that???  See!!!  I told you blogging friends are the best!!!  Here's a link to Terry's blog where she blogs about working on this project.  AND gosh darn it!!  While I was capturing that link I saw some really cute little chicken things that I need to go back and read.  I get behind but ALWAYS go back and read all of the post that I missed on the blogs listed on my side bar. 

Okay, now I need to show you pictures of the last quilt that I worked on for Terry....

I've posted more pictures of this amazing quilt on my other blog:
Insanely Cheap Quilting

Now didn't I tell you that blogging friends are the best???

thanks for checking on me,
hugs,
joanne

love to hear what you've got to say.......

Blogging Friends are the BEST!!!

Dictionary.com has this to say about blog, blogging......

blog

  Show Spelled [blawg, blog] Show IPA noun, verb, blogged, blog·ging.

noun

1. a Web site containing the writer's or group of writers' own experiences, observations, opinions, etc., and often having images and links to other Web sites.

verb (used without object)

2. to maintain or add new entries to a blog.

Here's what it means to me:

Blog:

1. Great place to meet wonderful people.

2. Valuable source for new ideas and project.

3. Enabler - ;) (you know what I'm talking about!)

4. HUGE responsibility!

5. All of this and much more.....

So today I'm going to share a couple of quilts that recently came my way.  The first one is from a very famous blogger.  This gal is a hoot!  Everyone absolutely LOVES her and she has the best little shop on the net.  Know who it is yet?  Well, if you guessed.....

Kelly at I Have A Notion

you were correct.  She is one of my very, very favorite bloggers!  I know when Kelly writes a post it's going to be filled with valuable information and loads of fun.  I'm sure most of you already know and follow her blog, but if you don't...it's a MUST DO in the blogging world.  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Kelly and I Have a Notion shopping.

A little info about the quilt before the pictures.  Kelly needed this quilt done ASAP and asked if I could do a quick turnaround.  Not a problem.  I can and will do quick turnarounds for special people when the pressure is on.  I've been there myself, pushed it out till I was stressed because of the deadline. Now, I don't think this little quilt was that critical, but it was a cute little quilt that took me no time at all.  The flip side to that for me, is I didn't take as many pictures as I should have.  So I only have 3 pictures to share.  Here's one....

Got it in, got it out.  No problem.  Very easy design. Fastforward a little and I get an email from Kelly.  She has a friend who is in need of something done quick. It's a signature piece for a wedding.....ha!! who hasn't been there?  Yep, a week (or less) before the event and we're still plugging away.  Totally insane isn't it?  Anyway, sure I can do it. It was another small piece so I could get it on and off in one evening. Here's what Kelly's friend Diane's piece looked like.....

It is a beautiful little quilt/wall hanging that I know the bride is going to cherish for years to come.  I did have the opportunity to chat with Diane after she got the piece back and she's was so easy to chat with and a real doll. 

Okay, so I've got one more blogger to chat about this morning. 

Sandi over at.....

Crazy 'Bout Quilts

has listed me on her list for the Versitle Blogger Award. Look for a posting from me in the next couple of days to see where I take this one.  Sandi's blog is fun place to hang out as she post about all of the fun stuff that she's working on.  Head over her direction and check out the other bloggers on the list.

I'm thinking that's enough for today...See I told you blogging friends are the best!! AND I only shared about three of them!! I'm thinking I've made up for my last post when I couldn't find anything to rattle on about...other blog of mine for more pictures

But before I go, don't forget to hit the

from Kelly and Diane. Here's the link:

Insanely Cheap Quilting

Thanks for checking on me,

hugs,

joanne

love to hear what you've got to say................