What? A completed project?!!!

Yes, it's true.  I have completed a knitted purse that I started last summer.  I am happy with the results :-)
I don't like not being able to close it, so after I sew the snaps on I purchased yesterday we'll be good to go.

  I am STILL working on my Trips X 2 blocks.  This is the last time I make a KING sized quilt.  You can quote me on that!!!

I woke up to LOTS of snow.  I didn't even know they were predicting snow.  It's lovely, yes, but I am so ready to be done with it.  Perhaps it will force me to stay home and work on the trips blocks???? Nah!

   

College Tour of Indiana University

Indiana University was AWESOME!  It was very old and had a lot of character. It is getting really difficult choosing which university is the best for Christie.  We are touring University of Iowa this coming weekend and hopefully will have a decision by the end of the month.

Christie's boyfriend goes to school here.  Trouble????  He is a very sweet guy but there's always the issue of what if they break up?  Grades go down the tubes.  Drama.   What to do, what to do.....                                

The drive to Bloomington, Indiana is approximately 5 1/2 hours long.  This gave me time to get some knitting done!  This is a Kaffe Fassett vest I am working on.  Very putzy, but it will look great when it's finished.

Procrastination..............

It's been a while since I've updated my blog. (I think I need to make another New Year's resolution!  Ya, like
that will make a difference :-)  I have been sewing up a storm, even before the blizzard struck, and feel very productive.  I've also taken photos from flowers I received for my birthday.

Last Sunday David and I went out to Holy Hill to attend mass.  The church is breathtaking!

If you get a chance to visit there....GO!  You won't be disappointed.

The Thanksgiving Day Feast of 2010

Our day started out with a brunch at my brother Mike's house (pictured here with his wife Anita).  We feasted on
egg bake, spiral ham, blueberry muffins, chocolate chip pumpkin bread sent to us by Ashley all the way from California, waffles, and the list goes on.....













This is my mom and my daughter Christie. Mike and Anita painted their kitchen purple. Isn't it great!

"Turkey Cupcakes"

After brunch, we headed over to Beth (David's sister) and Tom's house for the traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmings (and I do mean ALL the trimmings) 

Annual Lakelawn Quilt Retreat

 We got a bit of a warm spell over the weekend and it created the perfect mood for this photo.

 This annual retreat has been going on for 27+ years of which I have participated in 24 of them.  There are usually one or two options of quilts to make or you can do "Independent Study".  I am trying to finish a Trips X2 quilt for my king size bed so that is what I worked on.  The picture above shows part of the sewing area.

                                   This is the quilt that was taught.  It is a variation of Log Cabin.

 Sue (in the orange T-shirt) and I met at this retreat many years ago and have become close friends.  She is quite the wine expert and often treats me to some very tasty wines.

 Robin is also a close friend of Sues and is a ton of fun to be around.  Last year she spent the entire 4 days putting together a tote.  She's come a long way since then and accomplished a lot more this time around.

This is my 4th retreat spent with my dear friend Karen, two through WQI and two spent at Lakelawn.  We also went to Paducah last year and had a blast.  It's nice finding someone you travel well with.  She tends to like the more traditional quilts and I lean towards the art quilts and yet we are very compatible.

Fall Hike with Peg

Peggy and I both long to be fantastic photographers.  We spent a day in the woods looking for photo opportunities and enjoying each others company.    

The light in here is fantastic.

This is a retreat center where Peggy holds her Non Violent Communication classes along with providing other classes, workshops, overnight/weekend retreats.  It is a peaceful place with lots of outdoor spaces and paths that take you all over the property.  I could see myself living there!

It is a Frank Lloyd Wright design that blends in with the land.

Did you notice the carvings in the columns? Gorgeous!!

One Door Closes and Another One Opens

 

For the last 4 years, I have belonged to a wonderful group called Wisconsin Quilters Inc. (WQI). It used to be one of the only organizations that brought in big time quilters from all around the nation.  Now we have quilt shops, guilds and Quilt Shows filling that need as well and the market has been a bit saturated.  The economy taking a nose-dive hasn't helped either.  Last weekend, Oct 2 & 3, we had our very last :-(  WQI meeting and it featured two wonderful teachers, Maxine Rosenthal(above) and Nancy Prince (below). They both spoke on Saturday and then each of them taught a class on Sunday.

 I took Nancy's class on thread painting and absolutely loved it! I like the flexibility I have when doing my own
embroidery rather then just using the embroidery unit on my sewing machine.

    This is one of the reasons WQI disbanded.  We only had three people in our thread painting class.
It was very nice for me, as one of the students, but not very good for WQI's budget.

           We had a wonderful banquet Saturday evening where we had the pleasure of Diane Gaudinski
being a speaker.  Not only is she an AMAZING quilter, but she is witty and outgoing as well.  We are very lucky to have such talented quilters/teachers from right here in Wisconsin.

  This was taken Monday at my Antique Ladies birthday luncheon for Laura. There are 16 women in this group and we having both an antique outing each month and a birthday celebration for the women having a birthday during that month.