Virtual Retreat - Ongoing (started January 2019)

[Eileen K.]

Geneva, thanks for the shout out to lefties. :cheer: :cheer:
So sorry about your thumb! Did the dr. say how long for recovery? Those aprons are adorable-I'm sure the grandies will love them. I like that quilting design-are the dots French knots?
For everyone in the US, Happy Thanksgiving!

[Sharon E.]

Hi all. Somehow I missed posting on the 13th, so here goes.

I was fortunate to attend the Houston festival for the week. It was wonderful to catch up with TQS members and see the unveiling of the 2020 BOM. It’s beautiful! I took a full day class and 2 half day class and got inspired from those. Of course, it was also the World Series next door which made downtown challenging and entertaining. Just an aside, they were charging $65 for parking during the games.

The quilts, of course, were amazing and I was honored to have my quilt hanging with the big girls. The Bob Ross quilts were wonderful and creative.

My cousin drove in to spend one day with me. We don’t see each other enough. She just recently retired.



This was my favorite quilt and it was a Judges Choice. In 1980 there was a fire on my in-laws mountain property and this quilt touched home. It’s hard to see, but there are animals quilted in the gray/black fabric.



Geneva, you have my sympathy with spraining your thumb after the same thing happened to me.

It is always great to hear from all of you on this site.

Happy Thanksgiving one and all.

Sharon in, supposed to snow today, Colorado

[Terry K.]

Eileen, I will be gifting the Good Fortune mystery which is why I think it needs to be more bed sized. . .the recipient is unknown at this point so there is no hurry. . . LOL. . .in the next step!

Geneva, yes, I'm planning to "Frolic" along with Bonnie this year too. I did do some shopping the last couple of days because aqua is not a fabric that I have in my stash. I will probably need to buy more fabric as the project progresses; but, I've enough to start! I have a few pieces left to press!

Such a bummer about your thumb. Isn't it amazing how much you use your thumb? I hope yours is healing ahead of schedule! I once picked up a casserole dish to wash it. It broke cutting my thumb. I am left handed. I had fourteen stitches. At the time, I was cutting out flannel robes for our daughters to make for Christmas presents. My husband helped me cut the curved pieced shapes as my dexterity was definitely that of a pre-schooler! I was glad when my thumb healed.

Your projects are wonderful! I love where you are going with the compasses and the grandchildren are going to love their special aprons!

Sharon, I'm glad you had a great time in Houston. Seeing your quilt hang in the show must have been an event in itself! How fun to share the experience with your cousin.

[Geneva C.]

Hello all!

I was supposed write yesterday, but here I am today.

This month has been busy! For Thanksgiving week our entire family, less one daughter, met at our son's home in Texas. There were 14 of us! It was a wonderful time and I had so much fun hanging out with my kids, their spouses and the 6 grandchildren. I hated for the week to end. While there I was able to give the 3 families their Christmas quilt I made for them. I had sent my oldest daughter hers earlier with a promise not to tell her siblings about it. Well, they loved the quilts! Even more than I thought they would.



Here's a photo my friend took of all 4 quilts. (Sorry if I posted this already!)



And here is proof that the quilts are already being used, just as I hoped!



In other news... my thumb is better, but still not as good as I'd like, (pain free!). I've learned to sew with the brace on, which allowed me to finish one little quilt I made. This was a completely unplanned quilt, made from scraps from the Galaxy quilt that I am still trying to complete. "Balancing Act."



And I've embroidered toilet paper swirls on the Galaxy quilt and still don't like it. So, I stopped to think about it and realized I am on the wrong path. I have no idea where the correct path is, but I will get my binoculars out and see if I can find the new path. :blink:

The weather is gray and gloomy, which is unusual for our area. So, that means more quilting time!

I sent 4 Ring Circus out to Road to California. Maybe it will bring back the sun!

I am sending each of you holiday good wishes. Please know that you bring me such joy. Your friendship is wonderful! And your quilting is great!

geneva

[Sharon E.]

Hi All, Well I'm only a day late this month, so maybe I'm getting better, ha! Geneva the quilts are wonderful!!! I wanted to tell you that Aspercreme is now a roll-on and I used it liberally on my thumb and it really helped (along with Aleve) for the pain.

I made Christmas ornaments for the kids for Christmas, but didn't take any photos. I seem to be in a quilting funk, or some kind of funk. We still have snow on the ground from the BIG storm 2 days before Thanksgiving. Our mountains are getting pounded this weekend.

I do have a top on the design wall for about 6 months and have been designing the quilting. I believe I have the quilting narrowed down, but... I purchased the pattern in 2012 and quickly made the quilt. I love this quilt. I have noticed at shows there isn't another one, so I made a new quilt and want to add some bling and do creative quilting and enter it into shows. It is called Summer Sunset.





The backing is snow dyed and is even brighter in person. I don't know if I will do that for this quilt. But I do have plenty of snow for that, hehe.

I am sending much love for a wonderful Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I can't believe another year, let alone another decade is leaving us.

Sharon in Cooolllldd Colorado!!

[Terry K.]

Geneva and Sharon, Awesome posts today! It is nice to see your quilts being used as was the intention! Geneva, I hope your thumb continues to heal so that you have no pain and can continue quilting as you want. Beautiful quilt, Sharon. Making ornaments with the kids had to be so much fun!

[Eileen K.]

Wow! I totally forgot to come here on my birthday! I apologize for that.
Geneva, I am so happy that your family had the chance to get together for Thanksgiving. We all know how much that meant to you. Of course, they love their quilts! How could they not?
Sharon, I understand your funk-I've been in one since my mother died. I keep my quilting spark alive by coming here, going to my guild, and reading about everything quilting.

In my defense, I had my right knee replaced on the 3rd. That has kind of taken over my world, but it makes me want to sew again. Once I can sit at the sewing machine, I plan on getting back to my Halo medallion which I left undone.
Are we going to start a new thread on January 1st?

I wish you all a very Merry and Blessed Christmas and the happiest of New Years!

[wendy w.]

Eileen hope you have a good recovery and get that knee and leg strong again. Lotti has just had a knee op too last week she's still on crutches. It'll be good to see you sewing again.

Love all the finishes you've all posted and it's lovely to see your quilts in use Geneva. Wow the photography was so good.

Apologies for not posting much recently, I'll get in the swing in the new year. I'm still sewing and making a couple of journal competition quilts that I'll get round to sharing. Can't remember what I got up to.
I've been doing some needlefelting as well which is really calming if the results aren't.

I'm just cooking up a turkey rather early as my dear husband bought one too big for the freezer!! It'll be bread and point at Christmas :lol:

[Eileen K.]

Wendy, what is bread and point? I've never heard of it!

[Terry K.]

I missed posting on my day which was the 16th. . .I had a finish. . .it was the project that my youngest granddaughter helped me draw.
I started a new project with some heavily petted fabrics from my stash. Post 1, post 2, post 3, post 4

I decided to play along with Bonnie Hunter and her "Frolic" mystery. I even started a group so I could play with more friends. It has been such a fun experience! Post 1, post 2

I documented one of the first quilt projects I stitched. I'm going to try to do more of this documenting in 2020.

I wish you all a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

[wendy w.]

Terry love all your posts and work especially the 3 sisters and your early quilt. All made me smile.

Eileen my mum used the phrase when she hadn't got anything ready for a meal or not been shopping. It means she gives you a slice of bread and you point in the cupboard for what you want on it :cheer:

[Geneva C.]

Hello my friends!

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a lovely Christmas. We had a nice time with family.

Last Thursday my husband started wearing a heart monitor for 30 days. He had blacked out the week before and luckily fell against me, not being injured. Last time he blacked out he fell and broke 2 ribs. Anyway, he wore the monitor for 5 hours when the Cardiologist called and told me to take him to ER immediately. Long story short he got a pacemaker and is doing so well! Though it was scary, we are so relived to know that it was a relatively easy fix. It's a happy new year for us!

Luann, I read your blog post today. I like getting them in my email inbox. You've been busy! I miss seeing you around here.

All the best to all the lounge lizards in 2020!

geneva

[Geneva C.]

Geneva so glad to hear your husband is doing well after getting a pacemaker! It’s surely a Happy New Year for your family!

Barb

[Geneva C.]

Hello! It's sure been quiet here. I hope all is well.

Our local guild was asked to hang quilts at a local Art Gallery "Allied Arts" in Richland, WA for the month of January. My friend Cheryl Garrison and I have been wanting to hang our Sue Garman 2009 Stars for a New Day quilts together. (Mine is called "June Cleaver on Acid.") Today we hung them together! The amazing thing is that these were made in 2009 when I lived in California and Cheryl lived in Michigan. We did not know each other until we both moved here and met at the guild a few years ago. We had been talking about our quilts and realized that hers was a study in black and white and mine was a riot of every color possible. We are so pleased to see them hanging together. It's interesting that by using Sue's pattern and instructions one quilt came out a little larger than the other. But that's why Sue taught us to measure and cut our borders to match our sizes. Sue was a wonderful teacher. She is missed.




And this also goes to show that TQS can and does bring people together from all over the world. I like that.

Take care my friends! geneva

[Geneva C.]

Geneva,
Those quilts are both beautiful.

My day of the month was yesterday. I have had a few other things that have to be taken care of but,,, I did get 2 blog posts done. One for a recap of the year and the one that is for ‘finishing my Leap Year’ on the 5th of January. No spoiler coming, you’ll have to go read the blog to know what the heck I’m talking about, LOL

https://letscreatetoday.blogspot.com/2020/01/luanns-first-leap-year-finishes-well.html

And off I go to the next meeting of this day,,,,