Fall Retreat 2011 - Going Home

Do you ever pass by a building or particular place that you feel drawn to?  Do you ever wonder about its history, who lived or worked there?  Well, I do.  I took some time going home to stop and take a few photos of some of these places.  I think it would be such a treat to go back in time to when they were first built, to see who designed them, lived in them.  What stories they could tell.  This was a little bit of my drive home....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No Texas town is complete without it's beautiful church steeple, Texas flag painted somewhere on a building, or a street named Pecan, Oak, or Crockett.  I hope you enjoyed the ride.

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Fall Retreat 2011 - Part 3

I wanted to show my Southern Sewin' Sistahs that their friendships are special to me, so I made up these little goody bags with some homemade pattern weights.  I used the tutorial found here, but changed it up a little.  I found some flat washers at the local hardware store that were just a little larger.  I glued two of them together for the added weight and then glued them to a circle of batting of the same size.  These fit perfectly inside the yo-yo.

 

I made five pattern weights for each Sistah using some of my scraps in varying colors.  This is a great project while watching a movie!  I found quotes on friendship, printed them all up pretty-like on card stock and added them to the bags with bakers twine. 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope they get some good use of them and know how special they are loved! Pin It

Fall Retreat 2011- Part 2

We changed up our routine a little bit this past retreat.  Most of us came in on Thursday night this time, but unfortunately I couldn't.  I got there as soon as I could on Friday morning and the road trip was on!  All ten miles of it!  Turns out that there is a "little" quilt shop just down the road.  Literally.  This was  my seventh retreat to Mineola in four years and I never knew what fun was just around the corner!

Stitchin' Heaven is in Quitman, Texas.  Go to their website for all kinds of information - they have everything a quilter needs and retreats, classes, etc.  Ooooh, look at all that fabric!

 

 

 

 

They had another huge room with cutting tables and work tables.  Great space!

Afterward, we grabbed lunch at the Texas Tea Room and Grill.  Lots of fun things there from souveniers to boots, clothes, and jewelry!  I had the chicken and spinach crepe and fried okra which was quite tasty.

So if you ever get a chance to swing through Quitman, Texas, don't forget to check them out! Pin It

Fall Retreat 2011 - Part 1

Wow, where do I begin?  This is the first time in two weeks that I've been able to sit down to post about our fall sewing retreat.  I think I can speak for all of us Southern Sewin' Sistahs - we had a great time!  Here's a recap:

Brenda, Sherrie, Mary Lynn, Janice, and me.  We have lots of room to spread out all our machines and stuff - and we take advantage of every inch.  We get right to work fun!  And, this group of gals never ceases to amaze me with the lovely and creative things they sew.  I learn something from them every trip.  Some of their finished projects:

 

I L.O.V.E. this combination of fabric that Mary Lynn put together! 

  

Janice whipped up some matching doll dresses for her granddaughters.  And I got a pair of those cute little pants that were "messed up".  Pshhhhh.  My daughter thought they were awesome!

  

Janice's "Cuppycake" dresses she made for her grandaughters.

 Pajamas from Janice!

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And a sweet little coat that Sherrie sewed.

Brenda, how did I not get any photos of your projects?  Oh pooh.  I'm sorry!  She made the cutest little jacket that looked so difficult to me.

This was by far my most productive retreat.  I finished three top/skirt sets, a dress for my daughter, and a matching dress for her American Girl doll.  I was a happy lady!  The first one was made using Simplicity's #2171, Indygo Junction's Dolly Dress-up pattern, and Bari J's technique (or my attempt at it) from her book Inpsired to Sew.  I just love this book and can't wait to work on my daughter's quilt using some more of her techniques.

 

I made two sets of this little duo for my daughter and a friend of her's for "Twin Day" at school.  Big hit, big smiles.  I ended up making another shirt for a third friend and my daughter said, "I can't wait for the three of us to be twins!"  Love her.

 

And I finished this set for my daughter's best buddy.  I had promised a skirt with this sweet pink trim for some time and was glad to be able to hand it to her finally!  Can you tell I enjoyed the free-motion technique?  I'm hooked!

 

Of course, besides sewing... we eat ... and eat.  Some of Linda's southern good cookin':

 

Her puffy pancakes were to-die-for with fresh raspberries and blueberries, powdered sugar, and syrup.  She made my favorite - sausage bread, with a frittata and baked fruit.  I don't know how we ever get anything done. After her meals, I just want to go nap.  I'm stuffed and all warm and fuzzy!

In the next post, I'll tell you about a little field trip we took!  Thanks for coming by!

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