At Last, Something to Post About

Earlier this year I had to cancel out of a quilt retreat I had been looking forward to for months.  Life simply decided to happen at the time of the retreat.  So, I was over the moon happy when three friends invited me to join them for a retreat last week.  Did I ever have fun; and I was even productive.

Jeanette brought her collection of zipper bag patterns and gave me some lessons.  She started with bags made of screening.  Then we moved on to a lined, fabric pouch and a cross-body bag, both by Lazy Girl Designs. 

I started this 2018 Simple Whatnots project by Kim Diehl.  No matter how hard I tried, some of my points are cut off.  I finally decided life was too short to keep fussing with it.  I still need to add the remaining borders.

I also managed to complete 15 anti-ouch pouches.

Of course, I had to help the local economy.  There was a the quilt shop attached to the retreat center, and they were having a sale.  This is how I used the Mother’s Day gift from Julia. 

Chocolate was plentiful and the scales were not kind to me upon my return.  I’m working at getting back with the program and hopefully the damage will be reversed before too long.

A Red and White Finish

I appreciate the supportive comments I received after my last post.  Hubby's health has improved and I also am feeling much better.  Gradually I am pulling myself out of the slump I was in.

One red quilt project is complete and another is in the process of being pin basted.   It was late in the day when I took this picture.  The real quilt is not nearly this dark.  I am so happy to be finally moving forward on some of my projects. 

Tuesday was spent with friends cutting anti-ouch pouch kits.  Our total stands at 230 kits from the two giant tubs of fabric we received.  The lady who says she actually enjoys ironing the fabric before we cut it has an injured hand, and will be out of commission for a while.  Since others in our group will be travelling off and on all summer, we are asking the project coordinator to hold off delivering more fabric until the August guild meeting.  I’ve also stitched up 10 pouches.  I had to stand at a weird angle while taking the picture to minimize the glare on the ruler.  It kind of makes me dizzy looking at it.

We’ve had an exceptionally wet spring and the plants, including the cacti, are loving it.

My blackberry bushes are also producing.  The first one I sampled was rather tart, but hopefully others will be sweet.