Memory Makers Retreat, 2009

At the beginning of April, one of my quilt groups went on a retreat to Amish country. We met for lunch at The Amish Door restaurant in Wilmot, OH. Later, we traveled to Gramma Fannie's Quilt Barn in Berlin, as well as Helping Hands.

I've been wanting to do a 30's quilt for a while and found a really cute bundle at Helping Hands Quilt Shop. Originally I didn't know what I wanted to make with the bundle. I picked up a Turning Twenty booklet and thought about making my 30's quilt with that. Then I really started thinking. The last quilt my great grandmother was working on before she died was a Dresden Plate. Since in May I will be going on a long trip, that would be a perfect hand quilting project. Now I have a plan! Back to shopping!

We also went to Miller's Dry Goods in Charm. Finally, we made it to our retreat location, the Charm Country View Inn. What a beautiful location. Set in the rolling hills of Amish country. We all unloaded our vehicles and set up shop. I think we had the max of people (about 23) that could go because we were packed in like sardines, but we all had enough space to get our projects completed. Since this was my first retreat, I made the newbie mistake of being hopeful about how many projects to bring. I brought a large tub of about 5 projects, with some smaller knick knack type projects too. Way too advanturous. I did get one top completed.


The only thing that I didn't like about the whole trip was that I didn't have cell phone reception. I had to borrow someone else's phone. On my way back home, about 1/2 hour into the ride, I finally got into cell phone range. I could tell because my voicemail and texts were coming in like crazy. LOL! I wish I could keep a couple of the voicemails that my daughter left me, so sweet! All in all, for my first retreat, it was great! I hope that I will be able to make future retreats.

How?

I want to know how single parents can keep it together. My husband travels for his job about 20-25 weeks of the year... yeah, that's a lot. Most of his travels follow the school year because his job has him traveling to colleges and universities. So, needless to say, spring and fall are very busy times of the year. That's also the time I find myself more depressed. I find myself shutting down and doing the bare essentials to keep my daughter and myself going. Feed, bathing, clothing, and sleeping. Work is in there too. This also exaggerates the fact that I can't create a lunch menu and grocery list. My biggest struggle is what to feed that satisfies everyone in the home. My daughter will pretty much eat what I eat (which I can follow along with her food allergies); my husband, on the other hand, is more picky. So, what do we do? Go out to eat... Ugh! I've fallen into such a rut! One of my biggest problems is that I need someone to physically show me, go through my cabinets, help me with my list and coupons and get it all done! So, anyone that knows who I can contact to help me out with such a thing, please let me know. I think once I get that portion of my life figured out, I will be much more stable and personally successful.

I look back and want to blame my mother for this but yet, I can't blame her because she's a wonderful mother. She does everything for us. And, because of this, I never "learned". I want to know, I want to be self sufficient. I want to have a clean home. I want to have meals planned. I want to not eat out. I want to save money (which if eat at home, we'd save a lot of money).

Thanks for "listening" to me ramble. Some day I'll get it figured out. Hopefully it will be soon.

Sorry!

It's been a while since I've posted. Things are doing better since the test results. We've decided to name our angel boy T.J. (Thomas James). That's helped my heart a little more. We're still trying for another baby so keep your fingers crossed.

Lately I've been enthralled with Facebook. It's a great way to get reconnected with people. At my 15 year high school reunion this past summer, we all talked about staying connected and someone mentioned Facebook. It really is addictive. I've also become "friends" with Annie and Kirsten Smith from "Simple Arts" podcasts, Jennifer Ruvalcaba (Patchwork and Pacifiers podcast), and Pat Sloan (lovely appliques). I think I just saw Alex Anderson so I might try to "friend" her too! :) There are quite a few quilting groups on there.

Onto quilty things! I recently finished up a block swap with one of my quilt guilds. We did a fake 9 patch, where only the center was a different color. We did brights with a black center. These all turned out very sharp! I can't wait to put them together.

This weekend I'm taking a workshop on the Lone Star. We bought a kit that included interfacing with the design imprinted and you sew and iron your pattern together that way. Here's what I drafted in my EQ6. My fabrics are a little different so I think the order might change. We'll see. I'll have a picture (I hope) to post next week.




At the beginning of April I'm going on my first quilt retreat. I'm very exited! I have a large bin of quilts that I have WIP that I'm going to take with me. Hopefully I will make some progress on them. It will be fun too, we're going to have a Secret Sister game going, as well as a massage therapist (a husband of one of the other quilters). It will be nice to get away with my quilty friends.

I've been holding off on one of my projects because I think I got myself in a little too deep. It's a really nice wall hanging/table runner of sea shells and the like. I bought it as a thank you for the owners of the company where I work, but it was over a year ago. It's mostly applique and I've never done applique before, but love the look of it. One of my goals this year is to take an applique class. I need to get this one done!

Giveaway!!

There is a wonderful giveaway at $5 Dinners. Take a look and try your luck for the lunch tote. The styles are really cute. See the link at $5 Dinners for the styles.

Good Luck!