Buggy Barns Quilt Classes-picture heavy

I was off to Reardan, WA  last Monday for three days of classes sponsored by the Buggy Barn quilt shop.  If you have never been there, the store is located over 1 mile down a gravel road!

 

 

I couldn't pass up the chance to attend a class by Gail Pan.  She designs beautiful embroidery work AND flew all the way here from Australia!

 

Our  Monday class was held in this quaint, traditional church. Very typical of small town USA.  The sanctuary inside had stained glass windows and a hand-painted mural.

 

I love the wooden pews. And you can see a peek of our classroom.

Here is Gail working away on last minute class preparations.

 

Here is some of Gail's work that she brought with her on display.

This is our project for the day-

Here is my packet.  And I brought Gail's new book and another magazine which she graciously signed.

 

 

 Here we are at the end of a happy, busy day.  From l-r: Jennifer, me, Gail, Debbie and Becky.

You can see more beautiful quilt work on the walls.  The bright quilt behind Jennifer was by Pat Wys who was teaching on Tuesday in our classroom.

Tuesday and Wednesday was a 2 day class by Crabapple Hill Studio's Meg Hawkey.  This makes my 4th class with her this year. (I'm afraid she will think I'm a groupie! :)

 

Here is our class in the Reardan community center.

 

 

This was my place at the table.  It was a complete kit.

And here is our project for the day. 

 Here is what I had finished at the end of the day.

 

On Wednesday we got two extra projects.  One is a needlebook and the other is a bracelet.

 Guess who won the wonderful door prize? 

 Here are all the goodies I got.  Meg is a very generous and talented lady.  Thanks again, Meg!

 

The fat quarters, threads and one of the patterns in the door prize were for the quilt below.  And I already have one of the blocks finished (upper right).  It was the project at the summer Crabapple Hill retreat I attended.  Woo, hoo, I love having a head start!

 

 

Lastly I want to share a photo of GD#2 who celebrated her first birthday on Thursday.  Where does the time go?  Here she is with Grandma.

 

And here she is with her sister and her cousin.  The other two had been in the swimming pool.

 

 

Have a great week all!

Summer Weekend in Leavenworth, WA

I'm sorry that there is no stitching to report.  I have been a little busy and here is one reason why-

 

Yes, 4 month old little GS#2.  His mom just went back to work and I am helping out with his daycare.  Just one day a week but it is an exhausting day.  When my 9 year old GS#1 was a baby I had a lot more energy. 

By the way GS#2 has red hair.  DH and I are tickled about it.  DH had a full head of red hair when we married 35 years ago.  Now he has only a brown fringe around the sides :)

 

I wanted to tell you a little about this past weekend we spent in Leavenworth, WA.  It is NOT the home of the federal prison! 

It is a Bavarian-themed village in the mountains of WA state.  Since DH is German and plays the accordion, it is the perfect getaway for us.  DD#1 and her family came along as well.

This is a look down one end of the main street with a view of a mountain in the background.  Do you see the haze?  That is smoke from some forest fires in the area. We watched helicopters carrying water back and forth in the mountains all weekend.

 

We ate lots of good German fare.  Schnitzel, spaetzle, red cabbage, bratwurst, etc.

And after our Saturday evening meal we were walking back to our car and what did our ears hear??

Yes, is was a German band called Alpen Folk playing music in the town gazebo.  There were polkas and various other songs like Edelweiss from Sound of Music, and a cute little diddy about a famous Austrian actor turned governor :)  We stopped and listened until they took a break. DH bought both of their CD's and the music is quite good.  We really appreciate the hammer dulcimer because DH's mother used to play one.

There was also an art show going on. And there was a farmer's market on Thursday evening. Horse-drawn carriage rides, too.

And on Sunday morning just before we left for home, out came the "beer wagon"

 

One other place we visited was a large antique mall in Cashmere, WA  called Apple Annies. It was about 12 miles from Leavenworth.  Next door in the same building was a restaurant called the 59er Diner.  This kitchen vignette was part of the diner décor.  Isn't it lovely?  Oh, it takes me back.

But this is my favorite photo of the weekend.  GS#1 sitting on a stool with a milkshake in his hand.  He was great fun and took the store full of "old stuff"  in stride.  His reward was time in the swimming pool back at our bed and breakfast.

I didn't get a photo of the new Leavenworth Quilt Company quilt store. It just opened in Nov 2013.  I spent Friday morning there while the others went horseback riding.  Oh, I had more fun than they did!

 

Now it is back to real life and I put up 16 pints of bread and butter pickles today.  I'm also picking out a theme, fabric and threads for a round robin band sampler that will be starting soon with the NW Sampler Guild.

And trying to kit up several of the pincushion dolls.

 

I have another exciting weekend coming up later this month.  I'll keep you posted!

Summer Update

 

Summer is moving along at a fast pace. And I am not getting as much stitching done as I would like. 

My ebay consignment business is keeping me busy.  My latest client just filled my car up twice with items to sell.  She is a quilter (that's how I met her) but she is a collector of many things.  And I'm expecting more stitching items from NY.

 

Here is another  reason why I'm not stitching as much as I'd like to-

 

 

This is today's haul from my garden.  The strawberries, lettuce, tomatoes  and zucchini are not included here.  I have canned 62 quarts of green beans, 14 pints of zucchini relish and pickles are next .

 

I do have one finish to report.  This is the biscornu that goes with the American Patchwork Shaker box top and scissor fob I showed in my last post.

 

Or maybe I should say "kinda" finished as I have to design my own bottom to the biscornu.  The photo below shows the extra canvas for me to use.  I have a couple of ideas.

Good News!

 I finally got the fabric this week to start Elizabeth the Pincushion doll!  OK, Annette, count me in on your SAL. Here is a photo of all the items I have been able to put together for her.

 Are you thinking that I have enough stitching on my plate right now?  You would be absolutely right!  But whenever did that stop me????  I got the pincushion doll bit between my teeth and this is what happened.

 

When I ordered the doll body for Elizabeth, I reminded myself that I had another pincushion doll pattern by Guilia Punti Antichi.  Here it is below!

 

I ordered the little Dutch girl body to go with this pattern and the windmill box with smalls pattern that I already had in my stash.  Yes, I have the fabric, hornbook and box too!  Doll #2

 

Oh my, what about the GPA doll pattern that I had in my stash from the Gift of Stitching magazine?   Yes, it needed a doll body and a chatelaine (even though she has a thimble holder).  Doll #3

 

Did you know that Elaine at Brier Rose also sells Guilia's pincushion doll patterns?  So I got this pattern and doll body along with my order too!   Doll #4

 

And last but certainly not least,  Guila has a new pattern out for another gorgeous pincushion doll so here is the doll body and chatelaine for her.  No, I don't have the pattern yet, but I MIGHT find something else to work on while I wait!!! :)  Doll #5

What else have I been doing?   Babysitting grandchildren, working my real estate job, and I went to a local quilt show yesterday.  This is what I came home with.  A pincushion & ort bag that sits on the ironing board (or couch).   I have been planning to make myself one for ages, but why bother for $15? It is stuffed with walnut shells, my favorite.

I also got a few little kits at the stash enhancement stall.

I  spent a day working on beading and came up with some scissor fobs.  These are the only two I could find at picture time. 

Yes, I made myself a Snooty parrots scissor fob as I plan to start the sampler this year (not sure when though).  The other scissor fob is a gift to my secret pal in EGA.

 That's it for now.  I'll try to post more often.  It is only a few more posts and I will be at 400 posts on my blog!  Then it will be time for a giveaway!