A Great October - so far!

Saturday, October 1, was a really gorgeous day. Mr. R and I decided to spend most of the day outside. After dropping a carload of electronics off at the Super Recycle Fair, we headed to Galena. It took a while to find a parking spot and then we enjoyed shopping and had lunch at Benjamin's in our favorite window seat - just love to watch the people go by.

We hiked across the river to Oktoberfest. Our goal was to see the Wiener Dog Races. Our neighbor Jack was racing. That's him in the airplane outfit - cute goggles! He undoubtedly had the best outfit in the wiener dog parade!

We sat in the bleachers for almost 2 hours before Jack's heat came up. There were about 120 dogs - all wieners! Anyway Jack decided to race diagonally on the course instead of straight. He came in second and didn't advance. ;(


While we were at the races, our North Carolina son and his family arrived at our other son's home. So we headed that way shortly after Jack was eliminated. We were able to meet our newest granddaughter at last! (Of course, she is adorable!) This week we are enjoying some time with our children and grandchildren. 


It's been a great October so far!

A Christmas wallhanging

A while back, I showed you a project. It is now finished. A tiny twister tree. The quilt is about 21 inches wide and 27 inches high.

A friend, Katie, made this and shared it at Quilt Camp. My little squares are 1-1/2 inches whereas Katie's were about 3 inches. So this is about 1/4 the size of her quilt and I like both of them! Mine is done totally from fabric scraps. Oh, I love using just my stash sometimes!

The Witch Is In

I saw the pattern for this wallhanging and just had to make it.

The spider is rather cute. I followed the pattern but I do think he is missing a couple of legs!

A pincushion and a project

I don't think I have ever made a pin cushion until now. I wanted a large, thick one so the pins would not push through and scratch the surface under the cushion. I bought a small kit last week at Quilt Camp and made the cushion today. 

The pincushion is about 6 inches in diameter. It was super east to make - no lining since I used iron-on tricot on both the top and the bottom pieces. That was a nice and useful tip!


I've spent part of the day on another project also - this is what my cutting table looks like right now:

I sewed some 2 1/2 inch squares together. Now I'm cutting them up. One of these days I'll show the finished project. Oh, yes, I am using that glove as I cut - the pieces are small and I need all of my fingers!

2011 Quilt Camp Projects

These are the projects I began at Quilt Camp. I have completed them since returning home!

The 10-Minute Table Runner

This really was fast to make and I completed it at camp. It took me a little longer than 10 minutes because I squared off both ends rather than making points.

Small Table Mat

I bought the fabric and pattern a while ago - Ray really liked the colors and design. I pieced the mat when I was at the motel. After returning home, I free-motion quilted it and did a horrendous job but it is my first real attempt at free-motion quilting and I guess you have to start someplace!

Cobblestones

This is the small quilt that I worked on most of the time at camp. The whole thing is about 20" by 20". It has lots of small pieces and I really enjoyed making it. I machine quilted it in a cross-hatch pattern.

Halloween Table Runner

I saw this made at the quilt shop in Forest City, Iowa. I bought some fabric and pieced it at the motel. When we got home, I machine quilted it with unmarked straight lines - a first for me. It actually turned out pretty good!

and I like the striped back!

All the projects I began at camp are finished! 

Wow!

A few things came home that aren't started.

 Oh, I would hate to have nothing to do!

PT is done!

I received great news at physical therapy today. I'm done! I no longer have to go to PT! Yes! I still have daily exercises for 8 months. Then a year of every other day exercises. After that, I will do exercises some - probably a 2 or 3 times a week. I am making progress and am settling into my new lifestyle!


Ray and I went out to lunch and splurged - we even had dessert. It was a real celebration!

Quilt Camp 2011

I honestly didn't think I'd get to go to Quilt Camp this year but I did! and it was great!

9/4 Sunday – We drove to Iowa early so I had a day to rest. We stayed at The Lodge in Forest City, Iowa. 

 

Our suite had a bedroom including a sink, table, chairs, TV, and a kitchenette living area with table, chairs, pull out sofa, chair, TV.  This place is really an Inn. It has a nice restaurant and a small continental breakfast for Lodge guests. We ate dinner here and it was very good! We are in the middle of a grove of oak trees. 

Tonight we walked around grounds a little bit and I began sewing a small table runner.

9/5 Monday Labor Day – Ray took a bike ride and I took a walk this morning. There is a bike/walking path that passes by our motel. It was a beautiful morning – cool, still, and sunny. 

There is a Winnebago campground next to us that is only used 4-6 days a year! We drove to Pilot Knob State Park and walked up to the tower – the 2^nd highest spot in Iowa. 

Then we checked out downtown Forest City – everything was closed. We ate lunch at Pizza Ranch in Garner. After lunch and a short nap, other friends arrived. We went to dinner with Sandy, Barb, Polly and Bob at the Mexican restaurant in Garner – good! Mary Ellen from Wisconsin is staying here also. I finished the table runner tonight.

9/6 Tuesday – We began the day at the Quilted Forest, the quilt shop in Forest City. Then a stop at Bill’s Supermarket in Forest City to get lunch for today. On to Country Threads. 

 We had lunch outside and then camp began! I spent the afternoon sewing –

They had us make a camp block (sorry about the bad picture) and

a fourth of a corn and beans block. Tomorrow they will be critiqued! 


A group of us had dinner at The Lodge. I stayed at The Lodge and sewed a little tonight. I began a Halloween table runner.

Ray biked to Pilot Knob this afternoon.

9/7 Wednesday – We (Sandy, Barb, and I) started the day at the Coffee Cabin.  I finished my blocks for critiquing this AM. It’s hard to believe that I twisted a row and didn’t see it! When I fixed it later, one block was still off! Oh well, a project for another day! My blocks were critiqued well – they were especially looking at pressing. Of course, there was a comment or a few(!) about the Amish block with the obviously (?) made error! 


I made a 10-minute table runner changing the pointed end to a square one. I found a few kits that I liked including a pincushion kit. I began a small (20” X 20”) quilt called Cobblestones. It has 25 blocks and I completed 6 today. Everyone from camp ate lunch at Pizza Ranch today. We had dinner at Mat’s Place in Garner. Tonight I finished the Halloween table runner. I am really tired. 

Ray toured the Winnebago Plant today. He said it was pretty incredible.

9/8 Thursday – We again started the day at the Coffee Cabin. When we got to camp, I worked on my Cobblestones quilt. It took me all day but I finished piecing it! I did take a short nap on Mary E.’s couch this afternoon with cat Diane. It helped a lot and I was able to make it through the day much easier. 


Bill's catered lunch to camp today. Tonight Ray and I went to Ventura, Iowa (7 miles from Garner) to Musky’s for dinner (the others wanted a fast dinner and more time to quilt). We had the ‘every night fish fry’. It was very good but a little too much fried food for us.  


Ray biked from our inn in Forest City to Country Threads and back today. He rode back roads with only a mile or so on the main highway – it was almost 30 miles round trip! Later this afternoon, he drove through Union Slough National Wildlife Refuge.

9/9 Friday – How can it be the last day already?!! We began the day at the Coffee Cabin. I think everyone is tired today. I played with Jenny Doan’s (Missouri Star Quilt Company) fast HST from charm squares and also random 4-patches from charm squares. Both were easy to do. I did some shopping, picked up our new barn quilt, and packed up. We had the group show and tell – 

lots of pretty quilts and projects - these are just a few. It was time to say goodbye to some old and some new friends. Many plan to be back next year – hope so! We were on the road shortly after 11. We enjoyed a good lunch at the 3C Bistro in Charles City, Iowa. Then we took an afternoon break in Dyersville, Iowa – Ray had pecan pie and I had oatmeal cake. Stopped to do a couple of errands on the way home. I am very tired tonight but happy to be home.

It’s been a good week. I missed being at camp in the evenings but I was plenty tired just from the days. I did minimal exercises and am looking forward(!) to my usual routine. I’m very thankful that Ray was willing to go so I could. I wish I had more time to enjoy the area – I think I’d enjoy seeing and hiking some of the state parks and wildlife areas. We have enjoyed incredible weather this week. Next year, I think we’ll return to The Lodge. 


I'll show my projects soon...