Getting Caught Up

A lot has happened this week … with not much time to blog about most of it.  Which means that it’s time to get caught back up.

I attended a Mastering the Art of Precision Machine Piecing class at The Quilted Fox over in St. Louis Sunday afternoon.  I picked up a lot of pointers that seem to help … and even after having sewn for 50+ years, my piecing accuracy needed help. 

My sister came down Monday to watch the Cardinals home opener.  Here in Cardinal Nation, that’s a pretty big deal.  To celebrate the occasion, DH and I stopped at The Cup to pick up a couple of cupcakes.  The Cardinals won, so it was a good day. 
While we were out at my Dad’s, he gave me a quilt of my Mom’s.  It had been one she’d been using when she passed, so it’s especially precious to me (you might get a better look at it if you click on the picture below).  This is one that will probably not be an everyday quilt … I’d like this to become a family heirloom.

Wednesday I took a freezer paper applique class over in St. Louis.  It was a small class … just another classmate and myself.  I love the technique and am definitely going to make an applique project soon!  Here’s my little classroom project.

For the first time in weeks, I didn’t have something to do or somewhere to go on Thursday.  I have to admit that I just took it easy.  I packed for my one-day retreat, did a little stitching, and just took it easy.  It was a delightful day so we had the doors open … perfect for a lazy day.

I attended the “I Like to Sleep in My Own Bed” retreat hosted by The Quilted Garden Friday.  I attended last fall’s retreat and met a swim mom … who invited me to join her and her quilty friends for breakfast at St. Louis Bread Co. (aka Panera Bread) – their tradition before heading to the retreat.  At the retreat, I shared a table with a couple of her friends … very sweet women that made an enjoyable day even more pleasurable.  After we packed up and headed out last night, my new quilty friends and I headed over to The Cup for a post-retreat cupcake.  They’ve invited me to check out their guild on Monday … it meets in a town about 30 minutes from here, but I’ve been looking so long for a guild that I’m willing to drive a little ways.  Here are some pictures our hostess shared on Facebook (I was too busy sewing to take any pictures).

My retreat plan was to piece together the top for our bed.  I left the instructions for the block at home … thankfully it was a pattern I found online (and even more thankfully, I remembered WHERE I found it ), so I was able to use my iPhone to open the pattern.  Thank goodness for technology!  It is a simple top, and I had already cut my fabric into the 2 1/2” strips.  But it took me a couple of blocks to get into a groove and figure out that the 16” block is constructed of 4 equal 8” mini-blocks.  I was able to piece together several little mini-blocks that are all ready to be sewn into 16” blocks by the time the retreat drew to a close.  I’m going to spend this weekend working on the top … I’d like to get it pieced so I can start on DD’s herringbone quilt next week.  I need to make a total of 42 blocks for the quilt. 
The blue is nowhere that vivid (yikes! ) … it’s definitely a subdued navy blue and the gold isn’t nearly as washed out (they’re Kansas Troubles fabrics after all).  I’m please with how it’s coming together.  My piecing still isn’t 100%, but it’s much improved … and it seemed to improve as the day went on. 

DH and I took a bit of a walkabout around the yard this morning … more of my hostas are coming up, our pear tree is about ready to start blooming, and our cherry tree has started blooming.  While my butterfly bush, hydrangea and azaleas aren’t looking very promising, we ARE seeing signs of spring here at Chez Nana!Look at that gorgeous blue sky! 

Have a marvelous weekend!
Kathy