How was your week?

 

On my way home Thursday (3/18) from quilt retreat I mailed off a quilt that I boxed up and finished right before retreat but just got into the mail.  All the way across the pond. London.  Not sure how long it will take to get there.

Baby Elisabeth May Cliver was born in January but hopefully she doesn't mind the wait for very own quilt made with love and hugs.  Her Momma Hailey was Pam's roommate for year and a half in college and they have remained friends ever since.  Isn't she a beauty?!

I collect Kaffe Fassett fabric it seems and I was able to make this scrappy quilt. 

And with my new Baby Lock Flourish II embroidery machine I was able to make a label for the quilt that won't wash off after multiply washings. And I do hope Elisabeth uses the quilt often. That's what it's made for. Too use and enjoy.

Friday night (3/19) after the retreat David and I had date night.  We met our friends the Prudhommes @ BT Longhorn Saloon in Brehnan and we were joined by more friends, the Porters. Fun Fun.  The Prudhommes were so thoughtful. They gave me birthday gifts and David retirement gifts.   They shouldn't have but they did because their friendship is enough. Couldn't appreciate them more.  Good Food and friends. I even enjoyed a glass of wine.

Monday started off calmly. Finished my blogging about my 16th quilt retreat. Can't believe I've been organizing 2 retreats a year since 2013. It's always so much fun and productive. I see a few of the girls in between retreats but we are all spread out all over Texas.... Houston, Cypress, East Bernard, Clute, Little River,  Chappell Hill, Mauriceville, Clute, Cameron, Caldwell, Temple, Gause. and even Albuquerque, New Mexico. So it's great when retreat time comes around. Some us do talk on the phone and FB but in person at retreat is the best.

David is winding down. He's working a couple more weeks until his replacement can move to the project he is working on. But March 31st he will be officially retired.  YAHOO! No more electronic alarms! LOL I say electronic because we both know Lilley will be his alarm clock. Her tummy says feed me. Of course after she gets her tummy full and potty time she's ready to come back to bed. LOL

This is her nightly ritual when David fixes her supper. She goes round and round.

The morning ritual is nosier. She barks at David to hurry up. She's the boss and she let's him know she's hungry. LOL

Tuesday ( 3/23) was real busy. First on my agenda was getting my 1st Covid shot. Finally. Both appointments they gave me prior were before my 14 days were up after getting the Shingles vaccine. My arm hurt and was tender for a couple days but not bad and I didn't fall on the floor doing the worm so I'm good. Now to wait for #2.  After my shot I went to pick up my prescriptions that Walgreens had called to tell me were ready and if I didn't pick up by Tuesday they would put them back on the shelf. Well guess what they put them back already and I told them I would be there so they regenerated the 4 prescriptions and I could pick them up Wednesday. So I went to pick up Pamela and we headed to my Mom and Joe's for a visit before my appointment to the pain management doctor to schedule a procedure on my knee that has been giving me issues since November.

Now I've never came right out and said much about my mom's health issues because I guess in some ways I don't want to admit it and it hurts.  It's getting more and more clear that the dementia is taking over. It's hard and it's sad. She does not always remember who Pamela and I are when we visit and she gets frustrated. I miss the momma that I could call on the phone to share with and laugh with on all subject matter. Now our conversations might last a minute or 30 seconds on the phone. She may make sense or she may not. A few weeks ago she knew us and gave us big hugs when we arrived. Almost like normal but not. She did seem to recognize us this day. She greeted us at the door with hugs. Her laugh can come easy and she tries to follow the conversation but this last visit she'd smile and suddenly throw her hands in the air and go "I guess y'all know what's going on and what you're talking about". She also gets tired really fast which makes the confusion worse for her. At one point she just laid her head on Pam's shoulder. Didn't get a good picture to share but it was a sweet moment.  I'll take all the smiles and laughter from her I can get and store them. Thanks to Joe she's at home. He's her full time care giver and I know it can't be easy, so lots of hugs to him for keeping her home.

Okay moving on. We left my parents home and to the Pain Management Doctor's office to schedule what I thought was going to be a Nerve Ablation to get me some pain relief for my right knee. Well apparently he and my orthopedic decided to go a different route.  They were worried about the ablation heating up the tissue and bone around the nerve they were trying burn. In the next 20 days I'll be getting something called a Sprint PNS system. I'll wear a patch on the outside of my knee with a fine line inserted in my knee. The line looks like nylon thread. It will send electrical pulses to the nerve that's sending the pain message to my brain. I'll wear it for 2 months and it'll be removed and I should be pain free hopefully for up to 2 years.  A bit Skeptical here but if it works okay. It's an outpatient procedure in the Woodlands.  All scheduled so Pamela and I headed to grab a bite to eat at the Gringo's near by before heading back to College Station. I stayed the night with her since I had PT Wednesday morning.

Wednesday (3/24) first thing that happened was taking our girls to have a spa day. It was time to get groomed.. Then I went to Aquatic PT and Pamela headed to a workout. The day was a light day thank goodness after that. I took her to a couple of stops and we went back to her house until our grocery pick up we scheduled close to the time we estimate the girls would be ready to avoid driving back and forth.  Groceries picked up and the girls were ready. Picked them up, dropped Pamela back off at her house with her 2 fur babies and I headed back to the Rock'n K.

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were uneventful I think. I don't remember. LOL  Friday I did have aquatic PT in the morning and that evening we went to the Knights of Columbus Hall and got fried fish dinners. Yum. 

After dinner we actually sat out on the patio for a while. The wind got to be too much and even David got chilly so we went inside. Lilley was a happy girl though.. she got lovin from her furless Dad.

Sunday (3/28) was a fun day. We had a light breakfast so that we could go out for lunch. David's brother Gary and his wife Lynn were in Caldwell which is only 15 miles away from us at an RV rally. They are full time RV'ers. 

So we met up with them on Sunday at their beautiful Motorhome. Pamela and I had stopped by after one of my doctor appointments while they were parked in Tomball down the road from appointment and got a tour, but this was the first time David had seen it and he got the full tour.  It's an impressive tour. After the tour we rode together to a local eating spot. This is one time I won't mention the name because while the food was okay the service sucked. There was only one other couple in the place besides us.. and it took over an hour to get food. They didn't mind rushing us to get the ticket paid. This is strike 2 for this place. They had messed up a reservation a few months back. Anyway don't know that I'll be eating there again for sure.  After our okay lunch we drove out to see 4C Brew Barn that just opened the past week and is part of Harvest Host. The best I can explain Harvest Host is that it's like a club, you pay annual fee and they help provide Rv'ers a place to stay for and they just ask you support the Host like 4C Brew Barn by buying groceries, drinks, novelities, etc from them. 4C is still in develop mode. They're brew barn is full of fresh meat, homemade items, drinks, and craft beer.  It was a cool little place. David and Gary tasted the beer and had a glass. The owners Vernon and Melissa Lange are really nice.  

It was a great day visiting and hanging out with Gary and Lynn. Hope to do it again.  See what happens when I let Gary take pictures with my phone... He takes a selfie and I now share it in my blog.  HA HA HA 

David and I will be going back to 4C Brew Barn with our friends Kelli and John this Friday (4/2). The Kennedy's from another momma.    LOL

That's it for now.

Until next blog..You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them.   ~ Desmond Tutu

Gone Quilting - Part II

And the fun continues... Diana here worked on getting this one together without a pattern if I remember right. She bought the blocks and fabric at an estate sale. Could be wrong, since there was so much happening. She had many blocks and WIP she inherited from a dear friend. 

Kim E. was on a roll this retreat. She finished her carousel quilt top and sew many pillow cases. 

 

 And this one was sew cool.  The big fish is on one side and on the back was the man fishing. Nice job  

Kathy here was a former co-worker from a freight forwarding company and we're still part of the same book club for over 20+ years. She's not a quilting but she  crocheted up a storm.

    

Picture doesn't do it justice. It is really pretty and she finished just before retreat was officially over.

Aren't these two quilts adorable?! Both these belong to Anna. I'll be corrected eventually if I'm wrong. LOL

St Patty's Day was on Wednesday (3/17) and some came very prepared. Note Jane's leggings. She loves holidays. Her sister had the same t-shirt on.
And then Donna Lynn and Kim brought their green St patty's hats. We all had green on somehow but these girls showed spirit. LOL

  

At the retreat in October Denise made this awesome row by row quilt but she had all these scraps of fabric left and she didn't want them to go to waste so what does she do..... She starts piecing the scraps together to make a scrappy back. Too Cool.

She had this much put together before we left our last day of retreat.

Some of my girls really get behind their work.  LOL. It turned out so adorable.

      Here's one of my projects. I sewed up the background for my Petal Garden quilt.  Now I need to trace my petals to applique. Here's a close up of blocks

This is the pattern and the other picture is of a quilt hanging in Lone Star QuiltWorks

           

I hope mine looks that good when finished.

Vicki made this cute cute wall hanging. Awesome job. Before retreat was over she was working on a potting shed one.  She appliqued the scenery and used buttons for embellishment.

     This was made by Connie. My winner of the FQ's. She hasn't been sewing much until she came to retreat and look at what she's working on. Wow.

And this is my "What was I thinking"! I was thinking this pattern doesn't look bad and it says it's level is EASY.  Really

Sew many pieces to make these triangles and sew not easy to match the sews but as long as you driving by at 20mph you'll never notice. Here's one triangle along with the pattern. 

                     Check out this cool Apron that Becky made. I love it!

And here's Donna Marie with her finished quilt top. Not her normal colors but this is sew pretty.

I couldn't put all the pictures on here but if you want to can click here and it will take you to the photo album for this retreat. I did get most of them in this most. We had sew much fun. I couldn't do it without my retreaters. Thanks to each one of them for their contribution and friendship. 

Update! I found the book of puzzles and games for quilting retreats that I was gifted. YAY! Looked one more time in the bag I knew I put it in and viola' there it was tucked low in a side pocket.

Well that's it for retreat news.

Until next post...

 

Gone Quilting - Part 1

 Had such a fun time last week. (3/14 - 3/18).  Got together with several of my quilty friends and went to retreat in Kountz, TX at Stone Creek Lodge.  What an awesome place. The ladies there are awesome and the food......! We didn't go hungry and it was sew darn tasty. Be prepared for photo overload.

Donna Marie made me a really cute room assignment chart that we hung up so the gals would be reminded what room they were in.

After we got there around 1ish and all settled in I made a few announcements, welcomed our 3 new ladies that joined us and eventually told everyone to look under their chair to see who was the first winner of the retreat. Couldn't believe it... Donna Marie won a Gift certificate from the quilt shop there at the venue. She won at the October retreat. Everyone figures they need to sit across from me to win. One of the ladies that own the retreat put the "Winner" sticker under the chair before we got there so I didn't even know who was gonna be the winner. Donna Marie you better go buy a lotto ticket.

I had asked the retreat owner for a restaurant with good margaritas and she said it was a Cajun place. Really I ask and especially after she told be the name was Tia Juanita's. LOL. Okay so it's seafood and Mexican food. The food was really good and the girls said the margarita's were awesome. I refrained since the last time I had one in October 2020 I went into Afib. I did order some crawfish. Hadn't had any since I retired in 2018 and left Houston.  Awesome!

When we get back to retreat one of the ladies realizes she left her medication at home. It sounded like a drug deal going down. 2 of us ladies were able to provide her a pill for 2 of 3 or 4 pills she needed. LOL. She was able to call the next morning to the doctor to prescribe a sample doseage of her medications. And another gal forgot her CPAP. There goes her restful night. Ear plugs for everyone else.

Then gifts were exchanged. It was funny. At this retreat it seemed several of us decided to share something we made or received and was able to share with everyone.

Jane walked up to me and said "Jerry called"  LOL And she gave me a donkey cookie cutter. Love it and I was told to go look on my bed and I found a cup and saucer gift with a donkey on it from Donna Lynn and Kim. So sweet. Love these ladies.  Donna Marie made Owl pincushions for everyone, Diana made smelly good soap, and Donna Karen and Vicki made soup bowl holders and a jar mix to make soup. I was able to give each of the ladies a couple rulers and scissors that I was gifted. 

Trust me this don't usual happen like this. I think we were all glad to be together again.  Our 3 newest ladies thought maybe they missed the memo about bringing a gift to share but they didn't. Oh and I walked away from my sewing table and came back to find a Bunny Mug Rug from Donna Lynn.  It's sew cute.

Donna Lynn, Kim and I went in together to buy special cookies from Donna Lynn's friend for retreat. These not only looked cute they tasted good. There were buttons, spools, scissors, sewing machines and pin cushions.

We played a couple of games for other door prizes before retreat was over. 

• Word find was won by Donna Marie. I tell you she should buy a lottery ticket. 
• Word call. pick 20 words out of 60 on sheet. Then I randomly call out words off the sheet and the first one who has all their 20 words called out is the winner and that was Diana. 

Didn't get their pictures at that time. Oops.  Where was my photographer Elly. We missed her this retreat.

• Last game we play was Left Right Center. You start out rolling 3 dice. If you get an L you pass one of your FQ's to the left and if you get a C then it gets tossed into the bucket in the center. The last one holding a FQ plus wins. And that was Connie this retreat. She won a total of 85 Tula Pink FQ's and the bucket.
  

  
  
  I do believe she was a happy winner. YAY!

Everyone got right to work on their projects that have been in closets waiting or something new.

Becky is working on a block. Oh in case you noticed the names .... I have 2 Becky's. One is spelled Bekki, I have 2 Kim's, and 3 Donna's. You could call Donna and they all would look up.  LOL I added their middle names to make it easier.

This is Bekki working on this beautiful WIP and it looks really intricate. Can't wait to see the finished project. She's using Kaffe Fasset fabric.  Correction it's Tula Pink.                                     Most of us had 8' tables to work on so we were spaced out for social distancing.  About 4-5 people had 6' tables but still spread out.

Bekki worked away on this one and finished before retreat was over.

               

Then there was this Apple core pattern one that Pat grumbled and cussed but she won the fight and finished.

This one was titled "How many quilters does it take to thread a needle"  LOL

Actually Bekki was helping Kim and Donna Lynn fix the featherweight machine. It was making a funny noise.    So as not to totally overload you I'll stop for now.

Watch for Part II coming soon with more quilts.

I surround myself with talented and skilled people hoping some of it will rub off on me.

Until next blog "People come into our lives for a purpose"