Stick to it!

I'm back home after two wonderful days sewing with friends! There was so much chatter going on that I was in grave danger of not accomplishing a single thing!!

And I wasn't alone. I saw this at Colleen's sewing machine at the end of the day. A partial seam that had been that way for most of the day!

A half-finished seam!

I'm always amazed at the amount of stuff that gets shuffled from one person to another whenever we meet. I delivered three quilts that had been quilted, and I brought home three more that need to be quilted. Now, how did that happen? I knew about two of them! It's all good. 

The day started off with a geocache. I didn't have a lot of time, but there were several close to the hotel. Oh boy -- there's one in the tree. It wasn't so much the tree that was the problem, it was all the water surrounding the tree, and my boots were at home! 

Geocache in a tree

My feet got slightly damp in the process. Then I didn't have a pen to sign the book, but I got it down, opened it up so I could at least say I got it! I need a small pouch to carry essential geocaching tools that will always be at the ready -- like a pen! 

I wandered down to the next one. Hmm -- this one was hard to get to because of the small brambles in front of it. No worries -- I'm getting good at bushwhacking! But it was a small cache on a tree branch. Hmmm  --- which branch? I didn't have time to do a thorough search, so I had to abandon this one. Next time!!!

A small cache on a branch?

Oh yes -- there will be a next time. This was so much fun and so great to see everyone and just catch up. Don't be jealous! As long as you find a place, anyone can have a sewing retreat. I organized it - I don't mind, and it was loads of fun. I've got to look at the calendar to see what will work for the next one. And then there are a few longer ones coming up. Oh yes -- retreats! You can never have enough retreats!

Although I will say that it's sometimes hard to get any work done with more people, and EVERYONE wants to chat. But I was OK with that. 

I took my UFO applique project to work on. The LAST one from the 2018 list. I may have to put another UFO project on the list for 2022. That way, it's easy to carry to events like this, and I don't have to take a sewing machine. BUT I must remember to check the fabrics! This is a fall-themed project, and I had all kinds of yellow/gold and leaf colors, but there was nothing for blue, silver, and several other colors that I needed. So I plowed on and did what I could. 

I don't remember how many blocks are in the quilt, but I worked on most of them and did what I could with the colors I had. 

One of the applique blocks

Each of the blocks was in a stack with the shapes traced onto the fusible. I had done that at the last retreat. The shapes were in a Ziploc bag and inserted between the pages of the pattern. 

The second block I worked on 

Here's one of the other blocks that I worked on. 

And one more block

BUT - wouldn't it have been much nicer to take those blocks in these fabulous project bags that Ruth was working on. They are flat and have a piece of vinyl in the front, so you can see what's inside. I LOVE them and will have to make a few of them. 

Super project bag

Here's one with fabric around the vinyl window. A super fast and easy project! And a way to use up some of my zippers! These are so simple  -- you do NOT need a pattern for them. Just get creative and use the back as a place to practice those free-motion quilting techniques. Or use your embroidery machine?? 

A different style of project bag

Here's one of the fabrics I bought the previous day. It's from a different dye lot, so not quite the same, but close enough! Yep -- it's grey and pretty boring, but I needed it for that barn quilt.

My barn quilt fabric

Here's the other one I bought to fill in the gaps on Urbanologie. It's not a perfect match, but it's close enough. 

The second background fabric for Urbanologie

The one I was trying to match is on the bottom, and it's almost like it has a grey cast to it? This is not rocket science! But here's a good lesson: the more background fabrics you use, the easier it is to match them up! It'll work.

Of course, we had a yummy dessert, thanks to Colleen. Her friend made these, and they were very delicious. 

Yummy desserts

Here's the company name in case you want to know. 

And thanks to Shelly -- the fabric mule, I got my Cherrywood challenge kit. It's gorgeous. Helen Anne's was also part of that pony express delivery, and she will get hers this coming week. The theme is graffiti!!! Bring it on!!!

Cherrywood challenge

Speaking of Pony Express, I had to laugh when I got home. There was a box sitting in the front hall, and it had a sticky note on it. It says Box for Canada. No label - just that sticky. Hmmm  -- OH, the label is on the side! I don't know what brand of sticky note that is, but I'd say it's pretty good advertising. This box was in transit for 5 days from the US, and the sticky note was still intact!! 

A very sticky sticky note!

I didn't have too much to unpack from the car, but it took more than one trip. It all got dumped at the cutting table, and I'm in the process of putting it away. I needed to cut some stuff last night, so it's looking much better than this. 

The aftermath of unpacking

I felt like I didn't get enough done at the retreat, and after we went out for dinner, I was motivated to keep working. I'm going to share what I did tomorrow. 

Applique prep

OK -- so here's the reason I kept working. Oh - did I mention that I ran into some rain and freezing rain (or pellets) on the way home? Not a lot, but still a reminder that those silly tires need to be changed on the car. 

So it was about one hour and a half both ways to the retreat. A perfect distance. I decided to listen to the current audiobook. It's called The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty. OK -- so if you have NOT read her books - you need to. They are mostly character books, but honestly, they are so good. They are funny and sad, but you are cheering for all the characters, and there are always some silly shenanigans. The narrator is Australian, which is excellent as the author, and the books are set in Australia. 

After dinner, I wanted to keep going on the audiobook, and seriously??? I couldn't put it down. It was well into the wee hours when I finally threw in the towel, only to lay in bed with my giant headphones on to get in a few minutes more. I have one and a half hours left to finish the book. I do not generally use my earbuds when walking the girls, but this morning? I should be finished the book by the time I'm done walking them. What happens? And what happens to the baby? 

Liane's books are a super read if you haven't read any of her stuff!

On that note, I'm ready for my two classes this morning. Then the afternoon is free. But I've got some embroidery to do, and there's a quilt waiting to be quilted. 

Have a great day!!!

Ciao!!