MISSY LOVES HER MINKY QUILT

Good news: Missy likes her new Minky quilt. It's one of the things I made while away at Retreat last weekend. I am so done sewing with Minky fabrics, though. Sheesh. . . fiddely, slippery, stretchy... you name it. Oh well, it is finished and kitty loves it!

Uh oh... when I snapped the pic, it woke her up. . . but not for long.

Below is the completed quilt - - tiny, but just right for a 6 pound kitty.

This is a really short post as I'm off to root for DD Laura as she plays her very first softball game**. So, that's all for now. More pictures of retreat to follow soon.

Quilty hugs,

** I had to leave for the game [yesterday] so am posting this today.

R-E-T-R-E-A-T SPELLS "FUN" & "TIRED"... here are a few pics

Hello Everyone,
Retreat was totally FUN, but golly it feels good to be home! Do you feel that way when you travel or take a trip -- long or short?

During Retreat, the squares for my Twister experiment were sewn together, sub-cut with the special Twister ruler, and sewed back together. OMGoodness but it does shrink a lot with this process. BTW, I threw in a striped fabric just for the heck of it to see what would happen.

Hopefully, I can trim up the "waste" bits and use them to add a pieced border. Right now it is just too small for anything. Fingers crossed.

Also made another SnapItBag. This one is in Lime Green for DD's boss who loves lime green. Hope she likes her "911 Bag". That's what I call them as they hold "necessitites" safely and cleanly in the girls' desks at work. Ooopsy, got a tad wrinkly in the suitcase.

The Quick Project at Retreat was a cute bag: Super quick and easy even with a zipper. Will probably use it inside my Featherweight machine case to hold cords, the foot, and so forth. It will protect my machine.  Right now I am using old socks - not very attractive! lol

The Retreat Center is lovely, very quiet and soothing. Below is a pic of just one of the many lovely areas we walked past on our way to the dinning room -- sewing requires sustenance! lol. This was a nice place to spend a weekend. All we did was sew sew sew, eat, chat, sleep, repeat! lol.

That's all for now... more later when I've caught my breath.  I hope where ever you are that you have the time to create something for yourself or someone you love.
Quilty hugs,

HOME. . . It's Great To Be Home!

Travel is nice, but it is wonderful to be home. Things have been a bit hectic here. The next day after returning from Hawaii -- which was wonderful! -- my DD, her Hubby, and my Great Grandson came to visit for a few days. It was a whirl-wind visit, but it was great just the same. We managed to visit, camp, BBQ, shop, hit a few restaurants; also, Auntie and Andy even took a small trip around the Harbor in a Paddle Boat!

I caught the girls "being girls" in a candid shot at the Harbor.

Here is evidence of our BBQ necessities! LOL

Roasting marshmellos for Sa-Mores -- what a great way to finish up a lovely evening!

Tuesday was Friendship Group Meeting and several members shared their current projects:

Suzanne shared a quilt made by kids. They 'rubbed' crayons over leaves. Wonderful!

Deb's batik Star Quilt... Deb does amazing and beautiful work!

Another of Deb's beauties: A mini DJ -- the blocks are half-size. . . that's only 2 inches, folks! Wow.

Some of Susan's "10 Minute Blocks" made from 5inch batik charm squares. Nice! [Click on 10 Minute Blocks and you will see a U-tube vid on how to make these cute and easy blocks.]

The Southern California Quilt Run is on this weekend and next weekend. Many shops are participating and they are spread out over 3 or 4 counties. This means a lot of driving! I will be volunteering at a LQS. It's been a lot of work, but Thursday and Friday were fun days. Had the opportunity to meet many wonderful quilters who drove long distances to visit with us in San Diego County.

My current goal is to get busy on the big pile of UFOs that are stretching to the sky! It is time to get going on some of these many projects and not begin any new ones until some of the WIPs are finished! Yes... I'll hold my breath. LOL

Thanks for stopping by. . . I hope where ever you are that you can visit with those you love, and of course find some time to stitch!

Hugs,

Hawaii ... Blowin It @ Pali Lookout, the Byoto-In Temple & A "FrozenForrest". . .

Yesterday was fun. We visited the world famous Byoto-In Temple and grounds. Took some nice photos as we walked around -- I put a small album on FB. It was fun to feed the Koi and the Black Swans. As soon as we approached the edge of the stream the Koi swam over to meet us. We hand-fed the black swans - one even nibbled Sid's fingers! Ouch.

Then we visited Pali Lookout on the way home. It is VERY windy there! We had a ton of fun. Sid was really 'hamming' it up for the camera... but the strong winds are no joke. I nearly got blown off my feet. lol

Recently, while finishing up the EQ7 Lessons [EQ Mystery, Yahoo Group], I designed a fun little quilt to represent Sid's time here in Hawaii. If you haven't had time to read the 22 lessons in the manual, check it out -- great info! I had a lot of fun with these lessons.

If the weather cooperates, we hope to visit the Giant Swap Meet and then Pearl Harbor today. We might even go to the Exchange -- we are looking for MuuMuus to wear to the Luau tomorrow night.

Following our BBQ feast on Memorial Day, Sunday, Bill created what he calls a Frozen Forrest: Coffee, coffee Ice Cream, Kalua, Vodka... whirl in blender, swirl chocolate syrup into cup and pour drink inside! Wowzer... these are delish! As you can tell from the cup, I drank a few sips before remembering to take a photo. LOL

All for now. Where ever you are I hope you can be with those you love,

Hugs & Aloha,

A Little Friendship Bird AND... Hello from Hawaii!!

Aloha!Audie and I safely landed in Hulaland about 5:30 pm yesterday, Hawaiian time. Flight long and a little bumpy with turbulence, but we are thrilled to be here!

Above:  a little quilt I made and donated to my Quild in about 2004. My DDIL Donna held the winning ticket! She still has it hanging in her house -- love this girl!  "The Friendship Bird" has always been a favorite design -- I should make another someday. *g*

Below: Audie and Sidney on a small beach in Lanikai. Yes, the water IS this color! It is beautiful.

,

Bill takes a pic of me on the same beach 'cove' in Lanikai... 29May11. We had just come from a yummy breakfast at Cinnamon's! Long wait, but excellent food. Yummo.

We parked the large truck the only place that was open... under a coconut tree! Yikes... some of the nuts were falling and we drove off just in time. Couldn't resist this picture, of Audie and Chris, though!

That's all for now... ALOHA ... will post more pictures later. Tonight we're headed for Waikkiki to walk the Boardwalk and listen to the bands... maybe even stay for sunset on the beach. I haven't been to Waikkiki since 2003, but I remember that it's lovely there.

Thank you for stopping by to visit -- I hope where ever you are that you have the time and inclination to make something that makes you or someone you love happy!

Hugs,