Fence Mending and Some Camps

Sounds like an Apology Tour doesn't it!

Actually it was actually fence rebuilding.

Thursday late, Frank and I tore down the old wooden fence that borders the driveway side of my house.  We used pig wire to keep the dogs from getting out, however...........


This idiot immediately found a way to get out and met me on the other side.  TWICE!  So we did what we could and made a rule to only let them out on leashes until we could get the boards and fencing back in place.


While the fence was down I had a chance to see my yard from a different perspective.  It is such a beautiful yard.  If we ever move, it will sell this house.

Early Friday morning we started work.  McGee whined through nearly the whole time we were working.









We finished the last board at 11:15 AM.  And quickly made the decision to go to Middendorf's for lunch!



 I sacrificed calories for art.





I wanted to get some photos of the Cajun Camps on Lake Maurepas, the Tickfaw River and some of the bayous and lumbering canals in the area.

Many of the canals were dug so they could cut the cypress trees and float them out to the waiting trucks.  Now there are few cypress trees left.  Salt water intrusion has killed most of the remaining cypress.



We used to live in Tickfaw.  We would take the boat down the Tickfaw River into the Lake Maurepas and tie up at Middendorf's Restaurant for that thin fried catfish amazement!

But when I got on the scale this morning I was down 16 lbs, so I am sticking to that story!

The Bad Girl Quilters!

You never know how far the conversation will go downhill until you are with a group of women at a quilt retreat!  Men have no upper hand on novel ideas!  Oh My!  I learned so many new things!  I had thought i was pretty savvy about

stuff.

And I think these ornaments will find their way to a lot of Christmas trees this year!  LOL.

Here are some additional things that came out of the retreat.

 Lisa worked on a t-shirt quilt using the grid method.  It was really gorgeous.  I will have to do my next one like that.  So easy and definitely a "why didn't I think of that" method!

The "other" Candy worked on her Card Trick blocks.  Love those colors.

She also did the dachshunds quilt.  I can't wait to see this one completed.

Debbie made this quilt and another one I obviously didn't get a photo of.  She called it her Dead Person's Quilt.  It was the shirts of a friend's father.  She took the pockets and the plackets and made the most beautiful quilt from them.  I know it will be cherished by her friend.

This is not Debby's quilt but isn't it a great idea!

Even more later.

Plaid Bargello From Retreat

Here is one piece I completed on the retreat.  It is the plaid bargello from Bonnie Hunter's stuff.

I have been collecting shirts from everywhere.  Some are Frank's, some are my mom's from when we moved her to the nursing home.  A lot are from the 99 cent rack at Purple Cow.  You know I love that place!

I had collected so many that my pull out drawer in the closet would no longer close.  So I chose this pattern, thinking it would make a nice dent in the pile............HA!

And this thing is huge.  I cut 2 1/2 inch strips 18 inches long from the shirts.

Then I sewed them together into 6 long strips of 37 each.

Then I bargelloed them and sewed them back together.  I did have a problem with one panel.  It went up rather than the necessary down.  So I just turned it around.  You would think it would go down at that point?  It does not.  I don't understand the physics in that.

So I had to use the one I was saving for the back and bargello it CAREFULLY so I would have a down panel in that place to continue the pattern.

I ended up with 1512 squares in this quilt not counting the ones that will be on the back.   I counted them all!  Not really, I did math.

I was not really sure I was going to like it, but I love it.  And it looks like DiNozzo likes it too!

I need to find a suitable backing for it and I think I will use the flannel as batting rather than a heavy bat.

glen:  PS a quick stash report from last week back in the red.  But look at what I have used!



used this week -7.250
used in july -16.25
added this week 14
Add in July 14
Used YTD -120.5
Added YTD 122.18
Stash reduction ++++1.68

glen

Retreat House in Tickfaw

The  Tickfaw Retreat was for 5 wonderful days.  Some stayed until today but the quarterly GSQA meeting was this weekend.  Gulf States Quilting Association which encompasses guilds in the four gulf states.  They brought in Lynn Roddy Brown this time and I love her classes.  She did a fabulous job in presenting her "new" technique for making tons of HSTs very easily and quickly.  You think there is nothing new you can learn?  This is something new!  It is amazing.  So fast and totally accurate.

The food at the retreat was chosen and mostly cooked by Pat.  She is an amazing whiz in the kitchen.  And this was an amazing kitchen!  The group camp holds like 50 people and has a huge industrial kitchen.  The Vulcan Stove is lust-worthy!

The meals were simple yet delicious!  We never wanted for anything.  The snack table was the absolute worst!  Full of cakes, cookies, chips, candy, interesting things we want to try and CHEESEBALLS!  An brought me a container of Cheeseballs that was as big as a moose!

We unpacked in the parking lot and lugged our vast amounts of stuff up the ramp and into the camp.  I don't know why I didn't take a picture of the whole camp......hmmm.  This is a corner of the dorm, the girl's side.  Both the boy's and girl's side had a bath with two showers.  There were lockers for clothes and stuff.  And the beds were actually not too bad.  The AC was working and the place froze us out at night.  But that is good, we had lots of quilts!  What a way to use them!

Somewhere in there is the rabbit.  I can't find him now but he is in there.  A better picture is over here: 

 The sewing area was well lit and open.  There were 11 of us and we all had two tables and a window.  The deck on my side had a fire pit in the middle of some wonderful benches.   Here is my bargello on the railing of the deck.  But more on that later!

 This is one of the room corners where we would discuss a technique or share a finish.  Or just talk.

We laughed and laughed and sewed and sewed and some of us even slept!

It was a wonderful time with my wonderful friends Charlene and Ann.  We all had a blast.   And we want to come back.

But one thing I wanted was a nice HOT tub bath when I got home!  But we are already talking about next time!

glen

Retreat -Day 5

What a treat! Attended a Lynn Roddy Brown class where she displayed quilts from her newest book Scraped to Perfection, or something like that.

And did a fabulous class on how to EASILY make and use half square triangles. They were so easy to make it was incredible.

I am so tired, let me get some sleep and I will set up some retreat pictures and some class pictures for you.

This was the best week a girl could have!

PS the book is actually called Patchwork Play ----- How did I get THAT????

glen

Retreat - Day 4

Hello, my pretties! Did you see that I figured out how to do line breaks????

Here

I

Am

Doing

Them

Just

Because

I

Can

!!!!!!!!!

Retreat - day 3. Chocolate wine breaks out

I finished the scrappy Bargello to the top stage. It looks far better then I thought it would! Everyone loved it!

Then I worked on my churn dash 6.5 blocks for a while and got 15 done.

Then I worked on houses with different things in the windows. Everyone got int finding me things to piece into the tiny windows. So I have 15 new tiny tiny tiny houses! Lots of kitties and pumpkins, some hearts, a pair of fishes that I put in upside down, a giraffe and some spiders tomorrow.

I have so many Halloween things because Harriet is working on a million Halloween aprons for sale at the knights of Columbus sale.

And I cracked open a nice bottle of the chocolate wine that PattyA got me turned on to. Yes, you know you did it! And I suspect that next time I will have to double my order!!! I carefully kept the origin of purchase so they HAVE to invite me if they want more!!!!!

glen

Retreat -Day 2

Whew!!

Got a lot of stuff done today!! Wow! Amazing what I can accomplish uninterrupted!

1. Finished a duffle bag of New Orlans Saints fabrics for Frank to use as a gym bag
2. Assisted in prep,serving and clean up of dinner for the humanity of quilting multitudes.
3. Sashed the tree of life blocks and decided not go any further at this time.
4. worked on the scrappy bargello from Bonnie Hunter. LOOKING GOOD!!!!!

A ton of work done, and I am not finished yet!

I thought that I would be able to add some pictures but I either left it at home or it is in the bedroom that holds three exhausted quilters zzzzzing out!!


glen

Day 1 - Retreat

I was so excited to find I could get internet here! But posting on this iPad has a drawback....no line beaks. So bear with me. <> Franks AC was playing games on him and he got half way to Norco when it went out again. So he decided to tune around and take it to the dealer shop. he calls me to pick him up. I am now going to have to rearrange meeting the girls to drive up to the retreat. I also have to rearrange getting my new brake tag for the CRV since I realized the car was expired from June. A $100 ticket if they catch you. So I grumble a bit E, but go get frank, and we go to my favorite hippie brake tag place. He can't get the vehicle to read on his computer! Aughhhhh! Finally, he changes his cable out and it works and i get a new tag I meet the girls at VooDoo BBQ and we head out to the retreat. I m just exiting when I get a call from frank saying his lifeline to his business was left in the SUV. His schedule, phone numbers, meeting notes, etc. so he says Whenhe gets his van back, he will drive out and get his folder from me. He got carsick riding with Carrie on the way home from picking up his van so hewill come in the morning... Me? Well I have already completed one baby quilt, quilted it and even put the binding on. And I have put borders on the tree of life blocks I won last month and will put them together in the morning. I am having a good time, havent forgotten anything, so far....... glen

Retreat

I have been packing for this retreat for a week now.  And consequently, I have essentially moved my sewing room into the SUV.

I guess I am a bit overzealous here, but I do remember a trip to the retreat center in Clinton, The Feliciana Center.  I arrived there after an hour and a half drive.  The place was so serene and wonderful.  The sewing space was large and open and bright.  The people were so happy and the food was fabulous!

But......and you know the BUT is coming......but I had left the box with all my utensils in it.  My scissors, threads, bobbins, clippers, cutters, rippers, tweezers, pins, needles.  You name it, it was in that box.

So this time, things have gone into the box AND into the SUV the minute I decide I want them.  And, I have loaded more projects into that vehicle than Carter has pills.

I have so many wonderful things to accomplish, if I get half of them done it will be such a productive retreat.

The only thing I can't load is the dogs!

The nose job is healing well, and she walked with us for the first time this morning.  She is bounding around the yard and house and feeling much better.