October was sure a busy month - it started with retreat, my 20th college reunion, a family vacation to Florida, a camping trip with my Girl Scouts, a trip back to Florida for work, and a full day field trip with my Girl Scouts. It's amazing I had time in there to breathe!
The start of the month was the time of the most sewing, given that it was my retreat. I started the month by doing some prepping so I would have my projects ready to sew, and then headed to Shipshewana, Indiana for our annual trek to Amish country with about 90 other quilters. I bought a few things along the way there, while there, and on the way back, which you can see in my last post. While there, I made great progress on my projects:
- Bound and labeled the QOV that I quilted last month, and then gifted it to my friend at the college reunion.
- Made up the snuggle scarf from the kit I purchased a couple years ago while on a day shopping trip with my bee.
- Pieced a panel into a quilt top (no picture until after Christmas!)
- Started and finished Martin's pennies, a project that is in my UFO Challenge list for this year.
- Made two purses - one for me and one for my mom.
- Finished a table runner that has been my leader/ender project that I only work on when away from home.
After all that, and given my schedule for the remainder of the month, I didn't touch my sewing room again until the 31st. I worked on some QOV blocks that will be heading to Dar of Dar's Patchwork Garden. I ended the month with 21 1/2 hours of sewing.
All in all, I am very happy with all I got done at retreat, and the rest of the month was quite enjoyable too!
Oh, and before I let you go, I have to make your mouth water a little. We start each retreat by having dinner at an Amish farm the night before and the food is unbelieveable - noodles, mashed potatoes, pies, bread, roast beef...it all adds about 5 pounds, but it is really worth it. I took pictures of that a few years ago and didn't think to take any this year (and they ask us not to take pictures that might include any of them). Then, throughout the next few days, we have a couple places we always make sure we go. One is JoJo's Pretzels - and I have to tell you, I look forward to this all year! They sell about a dozen varieties of pretzel, plain or with toppings. My favorite is the plain, regular pretzel, but this year I also tried a whole wheat pretzel. It was great - still smothered in butter :)
JoJo's is on the first floor of this great building called the Davis Mercantile, while also happens to have a fantastic quilt shop in it. Up on the top floor of the building is a lunch place that we also love to visit during our retreat. I've had great salads, burgers, and sandwiches there over the years, but the pie there is....just yummy. It is also made by an Amish lady, and she usually turns out to be our waitress too. This year, I tried the pumpkin cream pie and it was really, really good!
Hope you've had your lunch already! I'll be back in a few days with the recipes we've tried in the last few weeks.
Oh, I was about to post this when I realized I forgot to include my stitching finishes! I didn't spend much time stitching this month, but I did finish two ornaments from my year of Just Cross Stitch Ornaments. Here are the ornaments for October and December (I am a little out of order!).
Okay, now I think I'm done!
The start of the month was the time of the most sewing, given that it was my retreat. I started the month by doing some prepping so I would have my projects ready to sew, and then headed to Shipshewana, Indiana for our annual trek to Amish country with about 90 other quilters. I bought a few things along the way there, while there, and on the way back, which you can see in my last post. While there, I made great progress on my projects:
- Bound and labeled the QOV that I quilted last month, and then gifted it to my friend at the college reunion.
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| QOV at Show and Tell |
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| QOV with my friend Adam who served in Afghanistan. He teared up when I gave it to him. |
- Started and finished Martin's pennies, a project that is in my UFO Challenge list for this year.
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| Martin's Pennies at Show and Tell |
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| Mom's purse (left) and mine (right) |
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| Interior of my purse with a little pop of orange |
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| Interior of Mom's purse - lots of pockets and areas to store stuff |
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| Leader/Ender Christmas Table Runner |
All in all, I am very happy with all I got done at retreat, and the rest of the month was quite enjoyable too!
Oh, and before I let you go, I have to make your mouth water a little. We start each retreat by having dinner at an Amish farm the night before and the food is unbelieveable - noodles, mashed potatoes, pies, bread, roast beef...it all adds about 5 pounds, but it is really worth it. I took pictures of that a few years ago and didn't think to take any this year (and they ask us not to take pictures that might include any of them). Then, throughout the next few days, we have a couple places we always make sure we go. One is JoJo's Pretzels - and I have to tell you, I look forward to this all year! They sell about a dozen varieties of pretzel, plain or with toppings. My favorite is the plain, regular pretzel, but this year I also tried a whole wheat pretzel. It was great - still smothered in butter :)
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| JoJo's Whole Wheat Pretzel |
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| Pumpkin Cream Pie |
Oh, I was about to post this when I realized I forgot to include my stitching finishes! I didn't spend much time stitching this month, but I did finish two ornaments from my year of Just Cross Stitch Ornaments. Here are the ornaments for October and December (I am a little out of order!).
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| Merry Christmas - October ornament |
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| Olde-Time Christmas - December ornament |
Comments
Everything looks great and the quilt for Adam is so very special--what a treasure it will be for him! The purses you made your mom are so cute and I love the bright colors in Martin's pennies... Whew!
Hope you and your family have a lovely Thanksgiving together :)