Friday - Retreat Day 7

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I feel like I've had a very successful retreat. Today will be my last day. I've still spent time on the computer, but it hasn't been the main focus of my week. I feel this week has helped me to re-prioritize what it is I do with my time. And at the end of the day, how I spend my time and what I do with it is up to me. I can't allow myself to waste it on things that in the end don't give me the satisfaction I'm looking for or fulfill me in the ways I need and want to be fulfilled.

I do still spend time on the computer daily. I now belong to a couple of groups on Yahoo and communicate daily with other members, but I am limiting my time on Facebook. It's not really that Facebook is taking all that much time, but I waste my time playing the games. And if you've ever played computer games, you know how quickly time gets away from you when you want to play "just one more round" . . .

So, here's what I've managed to accomplish this week:

Made Christmas 9 patches.

Worked on Block 10 of Bethlehem.

 

Finished a birthday gift for BFF.

 

Started two baby quilts.

Made some bookmarks.

Organized some patterns for new quilts.

Finished turning the vegetable garden.

 

Helped sandwich two quilts.

Re-upholstered a chair.

I'd say a very productive week.

Thanks so much for stopping by,

Wishing you a creative day.

Thursday - Retreat Day 6

Unfortunately, retreats don't necessarily mean you get away from your chores. This morning started out with lawn care.

I don't have an oak tree, but I sure do get more than my fair share of leaves to clean up.

This time of year it become mulch for the flower garderns. They are all tucked in for the winter.

 

My miniature and orange roses have graced me with November blooms. Amongst the rain drops and dropping temperatures they offer a respite from the dreariness of the season.

After some shopping and errands, I finally made it to the post office to mail my swap packages, I made some time to work on my Bethlehem sheep. They are slow going, but we are getting them knocked out. Making good progress for the first week of the month.

One more project for the day - this one is a finish :)

Here's where I'm starting . . .

This is a seat from a chair that my sweet friend, BFF, gave me a couple of months ago. I dug around in my stash until I found the fabric I knew, without any other consideration, I wanted to cover it with.

And my finish !!!

I absolutely LOVE it :)

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Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a creative day.

Wednesday - Retreat Day 5

Today is the "Quilt Sandwiching Party" with BFF, her mom and a new guilty friend :) So in anticipation of that, dinner is in the crock pot . . .

laundry is started . . .

supplies and gifts are packed and ready to go.

Nina checked it twice to make sure :)

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Five of us, including BFF's dad, worked on two quilts sandwiching and basting.

 

 

The first one is about a king size the BFF machine pieced, hand appliqued and will hand quilt. She will put it on the quilting frame by the end of the week and is hoping to have the quilting done by January. In the meantime, she will finish another quilt that can be sandwiched and put on the frame when this one comes off.

The second quilt is mine :)

The Tilda quilt has been sandwiched and basted. Now I have to decide how I'm going to quilt it and move on to the step. So very excited to have it this far.

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There is almost nothing better than coming home to gifts in your mail box :)

 

I received not only Christmas 9s, but two new blocks to add to my "love blocks" stash. Thank you, KTJ. These sweet ladies have taken it upon themselves to send me extra blocks they have because I haven't done this long enough to have my own. I've decided theey should be called "love blocks" because you have to love the person you are sending them too or you would keep them for yourself. I love this group of women that I get to talk to daily and share all these fun projects with.

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And on that note, I am off to stitch on Bethlehem.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a creative day.

Tuesday - Retreat Day 4

I am really liking this retreat business :) I feel like I'm getting so much done and looking for more :) I highly recommend it for everyone. I'm thinking I might need to do this at least once a month. And honestly, my biggest time bandit is Facebook and I'm not really even missing it that much.

Tuesday morning is Bible study, which means I usually get my daily chores done before I leave. I spend Monday preparing for any appointments during the week, so the big chores like cleaning house and laundry are done then to make Tuesday easier.

I take advantage of being out and run any errands that need done and stop at the library for any books or copies. When I get home, the first thing I do is take the dogs out.

While they played with the neighbor dog, I finished turning my garden. It's done for the season. I put away all the gardening tools, planted the mums and a vine I got for mother's day from Newton and my sister. The vine didn't say on the tag whether it was perennial or not, so I thought I would take a chance. I haven't done any research on it. I'm hoping to be surprised in the spring with a new, flowering vine for the trellis my father-in-law suggested we put up. I planted the vine at the entrance gate to our backyard.

Tuesday stitching revolves around Bethlehem.

This long, narrow block has the sheep scattering everywhere :)

French knots take quite a bit of time to stitch. I'm still planning on having it done this month.

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Wednesday's plans are to meet BFF for a "quilt sandwiching party". She managed to get a room and tables set up at her church and several of us are getting together to sandwich and baste quilts that we are all working on. My Tilda quilt is being sandwiched.  I'm very excited to see this quilt take the next step.

I'm also, finally, able to give BFF her birthday gifts from last month. We have not had much success making plans and gettin gtogether. Both of us have a lot going on with family.

And finally, the beginnings of the baby quilts.

Thank you for stopping by,

Wishing you a creative day.

Monday - Retreat Day 3

Sunday ended with preparing these adorable little dresses for stitching.

Monday finds them stitched and ready to share.  If you are interested in making your own lovelies, you can find them here.

Mr. Postman brought me a lovely unbirthday gift from Susan.  Thank you so much for the pleasant surprise. Can't wait to put all of these into a new quilt :) Your such a good friend and sweet soul.

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I spent Monday evening getting my swap packages ready for the post office on Tuesday.

Next project, get some of my patterns organized and put in binders.

Next up, Quilter's Garden. The third block instructions and patterns have been recieved.

I chose my fabrics.

Once my fabrics were chosen, I labelled them. Tuesday I will cut the components and get started on assembling this block. I don't want to wait until the end of the month.

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Thanks so much for stopping by,

Wishing you a creative day.

Sunday - Retreat Day 2

My Sunday priorites are going to church and teaching Sunday School.  You already know how much I love my kids and teaching Sunday School if you've followed along. We studied Daniel and the lion's den today and begin Esther next week. I just finished an 8-week study of Esther sponsored by Love God Greatly. So I'm very excited and feel equipped to study this with my third and fourth graders.

Lunch out of the way and it's on to the sewing machine. I'm having a bit of a love affair with 9-patches.

I made nine of the blocks today. 

I will be using the blocks in positions 2, 3 and 4 for a swap. 

Yesterday I shared these cuties with you. I went and got solid colors for opposing blocks.

This is one configuration using those blocks. I have four sets of the 9-patch.

I had enough fabric of the little kids to make four more sets today, using solids. I used up all the floral prints. So there are enough of these to make the same configuration.

Yesterday, I thought I would make a quilt for my great-niece who is four. But today, I was thinking about the differences of the blocks and instead of trying to incorporate them into one quilt, I'm going to take them and make two seperate baby quilts.

Years ago, I volunteered for Big Brothers and Sisters. My "little sister" and I have stayed in touch. This past summer she not only had a baby, but twin girls. So the blocks are just different enough that each can have their own. I'm very excited about the project and can't wait to see it finished for a visit in the next week or so.

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Little dresses . . . ready to stitch.

Bethlehem Block 12 - done !!!

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Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a creative day.

Saturday - Retreat Day 1

Christmas 9s reaady to sew.

And ready for the swap and mail.

 

BFF has a birthday in October. Unfortunately I had an appointment that day that I absolutely could not get out of so we haven't been able to get together. This was a panel at JoAnn's and I walked away from it the first time, but ended up going back and getting it. She loves aprons and I just thought this would be fun for the season. I can't wait to get it to her.

The problem with 9-patches is they are fun and addicting !! I had just a few of these prints leftover from the VBS quilt and wanted to do something with them but didn't know what. Then I joined a group that swaps 9-patches and the creative juices start flowing.  I don't stash solids because I use them as soon as I get them, so I needed to get coordinating solids for this new project. I think it will make an adorable through for my 4 year old great niece using primary colors.

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About 5 p.m. I ran to JoAnn's to get some notions and fabrics to finish/start these projects. It has been cold, rainy and even attempting to snow (which is really early for us). Temperatures didn't get above 40 and the furnace has been turned on. The whole day looked like this. It was perfect timing to start my retreat.

I hope your day was a good one and as productive as mine.

Thank you for stopping by,

Wishing you a creative day.