Safe At MJ's

I took refuge at MJ's on Sunday afternoon.... just...in case the pending ice storm made it impossible to get off the mountain.  Didn't want to take any unnecessary risks with my sewing machine you know.

I realized I never posted photos of some of my favorite things at Ann's house....so let me digress a wee bit.  The bed I slept in made me feel like a cherished 7 or 8 year old little girl.  Check out the sheets, pillowcases and the bedspread:

The  sun was streaming in the windows at Ann's farm house, so many of my photos have the bright sun washing out some of the details. 

Chickens greeting me at the door....now I must say that is the first time in my life I've been greeted by such feathery friends.

A real bathtub too!  My grandmother had a claw footed bathtub....I thought I was in heaven the entire weekend.

Ok, back to MJ's Sunday and Monday:

We took a little nap and then got straight to "work."  I wanted to get the borders on my Hugs and Kisses quilt.   Typically it takes another person to help when you measure borders.  Not any more....

 MJ taught me one of her tricks....use a real Iron....the Iron Irons to hold down one end of the measuring tape.

 It worked perfectly and I got all my borders measured correctly so they would not be waving at the long arm quilter....yikes!

 

  I even got to sew the borders on using her 820.....ohhhhh ahhhhh....you know I loved that.

 

 The top is finally finished!  Hooray!  Hooray!  Hooray!

I also put the binding on this little piece:

 It is an Anita Goodesign that I fell in love with.  There is a series and I'll be making the others for one of my co-workers.  He wants to be an Oceanographer when he grows up...I think he'll love this series.

MJ and I made microwave oven bowels.

 No silly, you don't pour soup into them...... :)

You put the bowl into the liner so when you get it out of the microwave you don't burn your hands.  They also soak up anything that just so happens to boil over.

MJ put the borders on this baby quilt she is making for her Great-Grand Daughter.  We were very busy indeed!

We also made 5 pillowcases!  Here are the two I made for my co-workers:

 I used 3-D fabrics by Hoffman....the boys loved the pillow cases.

 Tuesday morning came way too fast.  MJ packed this little basket full of food for my trip home.  Am I loved or what?

 We hugged and said our good byes....it is always difficult leaving.

 There was fog but no ice or snow.

I hit the Ohio border in plenty of time to get home before the boys got off the school bus.

And that was the end of my 2012 Retreat.....back home to see those little monkey's :)

 

Thanks for going along with me......I can hardly wait until next January!

 

Smiles,

Kelly

 

 

Due To Circumstances Beyond My Control

The  National Weather Alert issued on Sunday scared the tar out of me so I didn't dare consider of leaving my retreat in PA to drive home. You know it just wouldn't be safe....and since I was had my sewing machine with me....I just could not take any chances.

 (Photo Credit)  Added note: the first three photos are not mine....I just used them to be funny!

When I peaked out the window and saw this......I had to call Mr. McSteamy and give him the "bad" news....I would be delayed at least another day with MJ.

OK, the real truth was that the ice had come down and melted early in the day....but heck....that might have meant I would have had to drive in the dark.....who would take that chance?

You just never know what lurks in the dark!

 Do you know what I mean?  Who wants to be eaten by a wolf?  And what if that wolf wanted my sewing machine?  NOPE....I wasn't taking any risks....I stayed put :)

Because I lived through all of the possible catastrophes....I can now share the rest of the pix from retreat :)

Marje worked on a frog quilt for her grandson.  (I'm a frog lover so it was very difficult for me to not cut off  piece of that fabric to sneak home.)

Kay is right back at it .....she is making a hand pieced cathedral window quilt using batiks.  Each piece will be different.

We all donated some of our batiks so Kay will have a nice variety to choose from....and it will also make this quilt very special....bits and pieces of love from all of her friends.

When I say, "Kay is back at it", this is what I'm referring to:

Yep, all hand pieced and hand quilted.  Can you even imagine such a treasure?  

Marg was working on a needle turn applique border.  I wish I would have gotten a photo of the front of her piece.

 

Naturally we took time to eat....we needed our sustenance to continue "working."

Ann made several upcycled tote bags.  I've always wanted one of these bags and now I"m fortunate enough to have one.  Kim....well....she was being the Carol Merrill  for Ann....we're always having fun. 

 

My gift from Ann :)

 

  Kim was working on this "quiet" applique quilt.  I say quiet because most everything I've ever seen Kim do has been bold, bright and a bit "wild."  I asked why the quilt was so quiet and she said because her children are off to college.  Guess things are very quiet at her house these days.  (My days are coming.)

We do have a mother and daughter's team too.  Phyllis (Philly) is in the center and Bonnie is on the left and Brenda is on the right.  It was Brenda's car that I hit....we're over it now....giggles.

Brenda was working on a project from Scraps and Shirttails.  She had stacks and stacks of very neatly piled squares and rectangles.

 Bonnie had a very well oiled system going the entire weekend. 

Joyce had another finish....two in one weekend!!

OH YES....June came to visit.  June came and gave us chair massages.  Honest truth, June gives the best massages I've ever had in my entire life.  She is a retired OR Nurse and she knows the body, inside and out.  Her whole body massages last 2 hours.  Yes, I've had several over the years....ahhhhhhhhh.

Leona brought this quilt that she just got back from Pat Loux (Morris PA), a fabulous long arm quilter in the area. 

I know this post is getting long....guess you could always take a break and come back later...

Did I mention there was a birth over the weekend?  Yes indeed....Marge Harris "gave birth" to Florence over the weekend.  Isn't she beautiful?

 Apparently Florence was born without eyes....so a little sneaky elf (not me) gave her the gift of sight.

Florence can now look out the window on her way home.

I brought some UFO's with me to work on.  I got the Mandala top finished.

I like the red Mandala much better than the orange one I had made (see this post).  Now I'm going to trapunto the birds and outline the Mandala with decorative threads. 

MJ took over quilting for Marge while breakfast was being made.  MJ was glowing....I think she loves her quilting time.

Breakfast.   It was a egg, cheese, and ham casserole with corn flakes on top.  It sure was good......but I'm not thinking eating this more than once a year can be good for the heart.  We did have fresh fruit ...in our defense!

Always something beautiful to look at while in the mountains of PA.  Natures Paradise!

Somehow, a wee bit of nature found its way into the house too.

 

Ann has fresh eggs daily....and some of them are actually blue.  Can you see the blue hue to the eggs on the right of the photo?

The view as I drove away from Ann's house on Sunday afternoon.

I drove down this road with a depth of gratitude that filled my heart and soul.  Friends...one of life's greatest treasures.

The frightening ice storm had not hit yet....so I took cover at MJ's Sunday and Monday.  Those pix next.

Smiles,

Kelly