4 + 4 + 1 = FUN

Well, I have been busy getting the last of my Lost Sock blocks appliqued. I can now say that they are done and ready to be trimmed and assembled. I know, I keep talking about these blocks and I don't have any pictures posted of them. I will have to remedy that.

So ... 4 + 4 + 1 = FUN ... what does it all mean anyway ...

It started with 4 days in the country ...

Followed by 4 days on the coast ...

and then today I came home ...

to this!! Not the best quality, but you get the idea.

Have a Happy 4th!

Strange Looking Ruler ...

Have you seen this specialty ruler by Creative Grids? Kim blogged about it and I have to say I was intrigued. It is for cutting Half Square Triangles out of 2½ strips (or Jelly Rolls). I have not seen one in person yet. I checked out the Creative Grids website and they have several specialty rulers. They even have instructions that can be Downloaded.

Kim really seemed to like hers and I can see why. Do you have one? How do you like it? Inquiring bloggers want to know.

... And Other Times Life is Great

So last weekend was a quiet one at home. Just a bit of yardwork (never ending) and some hand applique.

But the weekend before ... a Sew Day with friends!! Now that's my kinda weekend!!! We all gathered at Debbie's again. Pam was going to help us struggling machine applique-ers and give us some much needed pointers. And we were going to have a potluck lunch.



And check out what Pam brought for each of us - OMG!!! The towels are so neat. Pam brought the towels all prepped and ready to stitch. Having never done machine applique before I didn't want to ruin my towel, so first I practiced on another block I had. After my practicing I felt confident enough to tackle my towel. But this whole machine applique stuff might make me start thinking about a sewing machine upgrade. hmmmm



So our potluck lunch was very good. Pam brought a cheese ball w/crackers, veggies and dip, and the most delicious (and cute, I might add) mini bear claws.

I brought all the fixins for a 'build your own" taco salad. Debbie supplied all the beverages and of course opened up her home to us once again. And Deanna brought some out of this world Apple Dumplings (recipe courtesy of The Pioneer Woman).

Well, we had an absolutely fun day. We sewed, we laughed, and of course we ate.



I finished up my towel. Yipee!

So here is a pic of my goodies. Pam brought the towels and Deanna brought each of us some homemade Raspberry Jam. YUM!



Elizabeth sent a copy of her Words on Quilts book for a giveaway. Deanna already had a copy, so the drawing was going to be between Debbie and me. Pam had Deanna choose a number between 1 and 25. You know, I would have never guessed 34. LOL Debbie wouldn't have either, so we had to have a giveaway do-over. We laughed so hard. It was too funny. Debbie won the book.

Needless to say we had a wonderful day.

Honest Scrap Award

I have been given this award by Gizmo over at Gizmo Quilts.

Thank you for including me.

Here are the rules:

First: You have to tell your readers 10 things about you they may not already know, but are true.

Second: You have to tag 10 people with the award.

Third: You have to let the people you've given the award to, know that they've received this award from you.

Finally: Make sure you link back to the person who awarded you.

So, 10 things … here goes …

• I am the youngest of 3 but the only one that quilts.
• I do not wear makeup.
• I don’t like tapioca pudding or soggy bread or soggy cereal.
• I still live in the same town where I was born.
• I have never broken any bones.
• I love stream fishing, but haven’t been in years.
• I have only driven in the snow once in my life.
• I don’t like to fly.
• I have never been on a roller coaster.
• I saw Stevie Ray Vaughan in concert 3 times before his untimely death.

In random order, these are 10 bloggers I enjoy reading. Some you may know … others might be new to you. Hope you enjoy their reading their blogs too.

1. PamKittyMorning
2. Brown Quilts
3. Living Life at Lee Haven
4. Log Cabin Quilter
5. Quilting Down the Stairs
6. Cottons ‘n Wool
7. Bits and Pieces
8. Magnolia Bay Quilts
9. Quilting Daze
10. All Stitched Up

Have fun!

Sometimes life doesn't cooperate ...

As I have said before … I love Sew Days with friends.

Last weekend Helen had a gathering at her place and I so wished I could have gone, but I had to work. I know from past experience that they had a great time. Helen if you are reading this – I was thinkin’ about you guys all day! Hopefully next time work won’t conflict with her get together.

The first 11 days of June have shown a little quilty progress. I have continued to work on my Lost Sock blocks off and on in the evening. The weather has been on the cooler side so I have also been trying to get some much needed yard work done.

That being said ... there were fun days in my future.

Another Sew Day Gathering ...

I love getting together with friends for Sew Days.

The weekend after the Pirate Quilters Retreat another group of friends gathered for a Sew Day. We were down a couple, PamKittyMorning and Alex were gone to Quilt Market and Holly was suffering (yeah, right) through a vacation in Hawaii. So it was just the “Triple D’s” again, Deanna, Debbie and me. Deanna had a morning commitment, so Debbie and I were on our own until the afternoon. When Deanna arrived we had a wonderful lunch of Veggies w/Dip, Italian Crockpot Beef sandwiches, Macaroni Salad and Chocolate Brownies for dessert and then continued on with our sewing.

Debbie worked on some curtains and then prepped some leaves for an applique border.

Deanna worked on a binding ...

and then some applique.

I brought my sock blocks from the Lost Sock Swap that Marlene had organized. I thought I had mine all finished, but as I went though them I realized that I had mine to do still. So I did hand work instead of block trimming and sock block assembly. The day passed all too quickly.

Another Sew Day has been planned and I am looking forward to it once again – I just love days like these.

I set sail for one of the best weekends ever ...

The call for all hands on deck had arrived and finally it was time to cast off.

The colours had been hoisted.

And we were welcomed with open arms.


Pam had seen to every detail and made certain our quarters were well stocked with supplies.

I had such a great weekend and I just don't know where to begin. We were technically nine, but were a crew of eight, Pam, Kathy, Helen, Kris, Bonnie, Cynthia, Carolyn and me.
A few of us had cameras and took close to 400 pictures all together. Pam copied all of the photos from our disks and is going to compile a CD for everyone.
Pam had everything set up for us and so we were all able to get right in and start working on our projects - it's all about product and none of us wanted to walk the plank (they run a tight ship at the Pirate Quilters Retreat).

So here is where I have to jump ahead, because I don't have all of the photos yet.

Thursday night we had the most wonderful Lasagna dinner prepared by Pam's very own Cap'n Cook. And of course Rum Cake for dessert. It was all delish! And then it was back to work.

Friday morning we found coffee and juice waiting for us. Cap'n Cook was in the galley and prepared a fantastic French Toast breakfast. We had a busy day ahead of us and needed plenty of energy. Cynthia brought a couple of games for us to play and the first was started right after breakfast. We were all given a quilt retreat related charm and then were told that we couldn't say the would QUILT. If you did you had to give up your charm. The person with the most charms at 3pm would then get ALL the charms and a bracelet too. Kathy was the winner in the end, but let me just say that some of these quilting pirates were a bit more cut throat than others - and I am not going to name names ... Kathy and Bonnie!
Promptly at 10am we headed to the Quilter's Cupboard to stock up on supplies and then made a quick trip over to Sew Fun to get anything else we may have overlooked. And then it was back to work, breaking for a lunch of Italian Crockpot Beef sandwiches. Then back to an afternoon of sewing. The Cap'n brought in a round of Strawberry Margaritas late in the afternoon and before we knew it it was time for dinner.
The Cap'n and his 1st mate (Pam) served the crew a Chicken Enchilada dinner. And then it was time for dessert of Olallieberry Pie. The Cap'n pulled the crew together for the pie presentation and here is what was served up.

Cynthia had made pincushions for everyone!

Why that pie looks good enough to eat!

Next we had real Olallieberry Pie for dessert! YUM.

And then we played a game called Left, Right, Center.

The prize was all of these fat quarters! And I won!!! WooHoo!

We got another early start on Saturday and got busy after breakfast. A stop mid day to have a bite of lunch and then back to the fun stuff.

Cap'n Cook prepared a round of Lemon Drops and Pepper Popper appetizers.
We sewed until dinner time and then had the best BBQ Rib dinner.

The time passed quickly, but we did manage to squeeze in quite a bit of sewing. We also had some demos. Helen and Kris both did demos on hand applique. They both do exquisite work - absolutely stunning.
Pam demoed the little baskets from the Pink Penguin.
We all had so much fun. A lot of laughing, we sang the Pirate Song and the group even heard the theme song from the Super Chicken cartoon show.
It was a fantastic 4 days and it was so good seeing everyone again. The crew was absolutely the best and I hated to see it end. We are already looking forward to next time.