Friends

We all need friends.  It is the way we were made.  There are many different friends in my life that make it rich and meaningful with many different interests and talents.  There are those that make us laugh, those that cry with us, those that are there when you need someone, that go shopping with you or sit and talk for hours, etc.

This weekend I was fortunate enough to spend time away with two very special women.  We drove to Northern Michigan for a weekend get away and stopped at every quilt store along the way.  I believe we stopped at 7 or 8.  What fun to see the variety of styles and shops there are.  Some delighted, some made us feel welcomed, others inspired and a few left us wanting something more but all seemed very happy to take our money and we were very happy with our purchases.

We had two separate rooms so the other two enjoyed early morning talks and relax time in their room and I enjoyed my late night reading and pattern copying that I wanted and needed to get done.  It worked out great.  Each of us like many of the same kinds of quilts and quilting and each of us get excited over very different things.  I was working on a modern style quilt, one was working on a Jo Morton project and the other worked on an embroidery project and we were all able to help each other out as needed.  Great camaraderie and conversation which also included another round of shop hopping in the area so our total rose to 11 shops by then and  added two more on the way home.  I really don't think I need to go to another store for a long while.

May you think of your friends fondly today and that you find time to spend together as often as possible because we all do need friends.

Fondly,
Dee

Where we stayed

A future project I bought fabrics for

The project I was working on.

Sampler Sew-a-Long Block #13

Step 1:  You will need one light, one medium and one dark fabric.

Cutting instructions:  From the light fabric cut four 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" rectangles. From the medium print cut eight 2 1/2" squares and from the dark fabric cut four 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" rectangles.

Step 2:  Mark a diagonal line on each of the squares. 

Sew a square on one side of each of the dark rectangles. Trim the excess from each square and press to the corner.  Silly me, I put the pieces in the wrong order. The bottom one should be in the middle.  Sorry.

Step 3:  Sew remaining squares to the other side of the rectangle units to  make the flying geese units  and press.

Step 4:  Sew a flying geese unit to the light rectangles and arrange as the picture shows.

It's Coming!

It is wonderful to hear birds singing again.  I think Spring may come after all to this frozen place.

It was an honor to speak/teach at a local quilt guild today.  The ladies were so wonderful and gracious.  It also truly warms the heart to see how much these women do for charitable organizations.  They have donated 100's of quilts per year to Linus, Veterans, soldiers and children's organizations.

It has been a lot of crazy days for me lately with my teaching schedule.  It is wonderful to have the opportunity to teach and be busy.  Everything is coming together for my April retreat in MI as well.  I'm ready to spend time with another great group of women.

Next weekend three women and I are going to northern MI for a few days to sew, relax and shop.  I cannot wait to go.  It will be fun to see and experience another part of this state I have not been to before.  The most  difficult thing will be deciding what to bring to work on.

May you find wonderful activities to fill your days along with family and good friends.

Blessings,
Dee

It’s Alive!!! (Modern Quilt Perspectives edition)…

It’s Alive!!! (Modern Quilt Perspectives edition)…

Sampler Sew-A-Long Block #12

Step 1:  You will need three fabrics; one light, one medium and one dark.

Step 2:  Cutting instructions:

From light fabric cut one 5 1/4" square, cut diagonally twice.

From medium fabric cut two 4 7/8" squares cut diagonally

From dark fabric cut one 5 1/4" square, cut diagonally twice.

Step 3:  Sew the light and dark quarter square triangles together.  Press to the dark side and remove bunny ears.  Refer to the picture below.

Step 4:  Sew a medium triangle to the quarter square units to form four blocks.  Refer to picture  below.

Step 5:  Refer to the block at the top of the page and sew the four above units together to form the double pinwheel block.

Easy peezy! :)

Dee

New Appreciation

For those who work on the computer for the better part of the work day I have a new appreciation for what you do.

Being a teacher most of my career there was very little time for sitting down and would often go home with achy feet.  They hurt more until I learned to wear sensible shoes. :)  As many of you know I am working on a project for "The Quilt Show" which requires being on the computer for long periods of time.  I must get up and run around the house and/or do something where I am moving every little bit or I kind of go stir crazy.  So to all of you computer people my hat is tipped and I say thank you.

Tomorrow is a full day of teaching and am already looking forward to the weekend and getting a little bit of sewing time in.  I just haven't been getting much of that done lately.  For those of you working on the sampler sew-a-long you know I need to get those last four blocks completed and the quilt top sewn together.  That is my weekend plan.  Yeah!!!

May you be blessed and be a blessing.

Dee

In Like a Lion

There was a saying I learned as a kid that went something like this;  If March comes in like a lion it will go out like a lamb.  I sure hope that holds true.  As we recently witnessed with the Olympics, it is quite exciting to set records and be a part of that kind of excitement.  Someday it may be fun to say I survived the winter of 2013-14 that set all kinds of records and wreaked not a little havoc.  Today with another vortex and sub zero temperatures on the way is not that day.

I returned this week from the retreat I hold in Tuolumne, CA every February.  The weather was exceptionally beautiful and I drank in as much sunshine as I could.  The women who attended were wonderful to be with and were working on many beautiful projects.  What a joy to be with them.  I have returned to begin working on my retreat I will be holding in Michigan in April.  I look forward to this time as well and starting new traditions and making new friends.

One of the best parts of my trip was staying with my son and his roommates.  They were lovely to their momma in residence.  A trip with my future daughter-in-law to the flower mart in San Francisco was a delight.  The smells and beauty were intoxicating and the time with Stephanie was a joy.  If you ever get the chance to visit the mart I highly recommend it.

My goals for this week are to get started on the demo's and welcome gifts for the April retreat.  I will be sending out forms for the July Retreat in San Juan Bautista, CA and watching more shows for my project with "The Quilt Show".  There are a few classes to teach as well.  It's good to be busy.

May your days be filled with joy and inspiration!

Dee

Friendship is a long sweet prayer....