Twirl and Feeling Special

At my retreat, the weekend before last, I had a friend in the

group making Twirl. I loved her version so much...

but I got to thinking about it and remembered starting 

that project last year after the pattern

came out. I had seen Carol of Carol's Crafty Creations and loved her

quilt also... she made hers with just 9 blocks instead of the 21 blocks 

called for in the pattern. So, where was mine???

After some looking, I found it.

The units had been sewn. 

It was just a matter of putting the blocks together.

So, I did!

I still like Sally's full version of the pattern.

She used  

Somewhere Over the Rainbow fabrics by Edyta Sitar.

So... since this one was so fun... and

so fast to put together (I know, I had a head start)...

I might just go ahead and make it again in the batik fabrics!

Yesterday 

I took the day off from work and went wedding dress shopping

with "my girls"...

my DIL, my soon to be DIL and her sister.

They are all the sweetest group of women!

She had a specific place in mind to shop at.

It was definitely a road trip!

We went to the Bay Area... it was a 12 hour excursion!

(largely due to traffic on our way back home)

This is not THE dress

But it's the only one I have to show you. 

When you are talking a 3 1/2 hr drive one way...

we encouraged her to try on several...

which was fun, yet serious business! ha

There are factors come into play when you have

 a spring wedding

that will be outdoors... in the mountains.

For instance:

A train on the dress is a bad idea.

But everything said and done...

the one that made her feel extra special

was the right choice. 

The first dress she tried on was the one she decided on.

It was such a nice day!

(I wish that I would have brought champagne though... a little toast would have been nice)

Something Wicked

I am looking forward to this weekend. It has taken me all week to rest-up from the retreat last weekend. But now I still have cleaning to do. 

I have absolutely no photos to share with you of the retreat.  I am so bad!

We had a great time though... and everyone seemed happy and ready to sign up for next year too!

Roger's Garden in a nursery in Newport Beach. It's amazing... it's huge... and they out-do themselves each year on their Halloween Boutique. So I thought I would share their You Tube video!

Someday when I am down in that area I will stop by there. I haven't been there for years... so I am long over due!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-_W2kzXkOg

Sorry... I'm just going to have to share the link. It keeps
wanting to post it to my Bees Knees group blog.

Enjoy the weekend!

I am going to work hard on cleaning so I have some sewing time... 

and hopefully something fun to share on Monday!

Bass Lake... Get Ready, Here We Come!

I have been pretty quiet over here on the blog!

I can assure you that I have been busy....

I have been getting prepared for the upcoming annual retreat

I host.

This is Pine Needles Quilt Camp 10th year!

My partner Virginia and I have a lot of fun putting this together 

each year. 

It's held at Bass Lake, CA.

We start on Friday morning and go through until Sunday evening!

Do you want to see some of the fun things that have

made up for this years' quilt camp?

Party Favors galore!

Trail mix deluxe!

This comes with a discount coupon for long arm quilting!

Next we will be channeling our inner Girl Scout with 

S'more kits...

perhaps to enjoy after Show and Tell aka "campfire stories".

I put together party poppers...

which are filled with a fun little project.

Our local quilt shop put together little fabric bits of

Pam Kitty Morning fabrics that include a $5 off coupon.

The store owner will also be hosting a "after hours"

shopping with cookies for the campers over the weekend.

I also made lanyards for everyone.

Ouch Pouch kit

(tutorial found on A Spoon Full of Sugar)

This little camper block will make a great label for 

a project... but I made mine into a make-up bag.

(because I need make-up when I go camping)!

This quilt is my inspiration for our main project at the retreat.

I found the instructions for making individual sprout blocks on

Tracey Jay blog. It was a must after I saw that Homespun Quilt Magazine

had this quilt in their current issue., called Cutting Garden 

It was made by a friend of Tracey's at Poppy Print blog.

Please go to her blog to read her story!

The color placement was so fun on this scrappy version!

There are a lot of  "stem" quilts out there... 

by Fig Tree and Co. and also

Cluck Cluck Sew... but the scrappy look 

of this one is just so fun.

Since Tracey Jay has a free tutorial/instructions, 

I thought it would

be a fun project for our retreat. 

It reminds me of the flora and fauna 

I would see when hiking.

More photos of Sprouts...

There will also be instructions for making a "camping pillowcase".

A friend of mine embroidered this 

Camping Rules project.

This is in a 20 x 24 frame. It's pretty big!

The first rule is... take time to relax!

Which we will be doing also!

Maybe.

What Did I Do in September?

I haven't taken a look back to see what I accomplished in the previous month in

a while, so I thought today would be a good time to do that.

This is a sew along... that got staled. 

I plan on returning to it this month.

The pattern is Viola, and I am anxious to return to

this project... I am working with such fun bright Kaffe fabrics.

It's different for me, but I am liking it so far.

My Welded quilt got completed.

I love these fabrics and it was a fun pattern to make.

This is one of three mini projects that I am working on to "share" at my retreat coming 

up this month.

This is also a project that I had started to "share" at my retreat. I am 

happy to say that I am much farther along with it... I just need a little

bit of time to do the last bit, and hopefully I will get to it this weekend.

More fussing for the retreat: I did make 45 lanyards

and put together prizes.

This next month I have some Bee keeping to do!

As in... catching up with my sewing Bee, the Bees Knees, 

on the blocks I haven't gotten off my table yet!

I will feel better when that gets done.

I also have some Farm Girl blocks to make... 

how about you?

But before any of that... I have some birthday celebrating to do!

Yesterday was the day... but tonight is the birthday bash and

the rest of the weekend I have house guests... so 

I am looking forward to it all!

What they don't know tonight....

I have a pop quiz for them.

I have a list of 10 questions...

"about me".

The person who gets the most correct answers gets a gift from me!

It's all friends and family... it shouldn't be too hard for them!

Or could it???