Bee weekend

In my previous post, I said I had worked on purses while we were on retreat over the weekend.
Here is what I got done.
I have done some little pieces of cross stitch, and have wanted to put them into purses.

I do like hedgehogs.  I thought it would be fun using this hedgehog fabric I had in my stash.

I had done the quilting on the drawstring purses, but needed to add the linings, and draw
strings.
Done!

These have a hint of Hawaii.
Time to start using that Hawaiian fabric I have been collecting.

Some of the zipper purses, I had already started.  Piecing some patchwork, and just not finishing.
Time to get them done.

Here is another piece I had cross stitched, and thought it was good with the daffodil fabric.

The pink one was a bunch of flying geese, that I stitched together to finish this one.
The string one was a kit that I had purchased.  It turned out pretty good.

These were a bunch of half square triangles left over from another project.  Time to put them into a purse.

The main sewing on all of these are done.  Now to add a couple of buttons, yo yo's or other dodads
that will complete them.
I really do like making them.
I have one more to complete.  I made another Tammy Bag, but forgot to take lining fabric, to finish it before I add the handles.

Hope everyone is having a good week.
It is still pretty cold here. At least the sun shines. The sun makes it seem a bit warmer.
According to the weatherman, the temperatures are going to start climbing.
Keep your fingers crossed.

Bee sewing weekend

Here is my little corner of the sewing weekend.
One of our bee members arranges that we rent a conference room at one of the hotels in our area to sew.
Several of us also stay at the hotel. Gives us a lot more sewing time.
Got to love Flamingo's!  Marge knows I do, so she brought these lovely Flamingo's to decorate the wall behind me.
I was going to work on a quilt, but zipper purses sounded a lot more fun.

We all bring things to munch on.  I donated a bottle from our local winery, and to add a bit of Spring, picked up a bouquet of daffodils, and a potted hyacinth plant.
You can never have too much chocolate.

Friday night is pizza night from Lou Malnatti's.
It is the best.

Saturday late afternoon we go to one of local restaurants and have lunch.  We make it later so it serves as lunch and dinner.  Then we can snack latter if we want.  Always good

Linda was working on this quilt.  I think she got 8 blocks done.

Marge finished up this cute kids quilt.  That border is fingerprint fabric, I think from Benartex.  I think it works well, especially  for a child.

I still need to take a picture or two of the purses I worked on.
It is always so good to be with friends.
We feed off each other's creativity and inspiration.
There is always new things to learn.
We teach each other, and share ideas.
We did get to stay until later in the afternoon, as the room was not needed for the next day.
We had so much fun.
I wish we did not have to wait a year, until we can do this again.

Hope you all have a great sewing week.
Mary

Bee retreat weekend

What a great time we had.

Friday afternoon 8 of arrived for a fun, sewing weekend.

I think everyone brought enough projects to work on to last us 6 weeks of sewing.

Linda was working on this beautiful 30's basket quilt.

I needed to make 2 of these Michigan quilts.
My nephews wife had asked me at Christmas to make a U of M lap quilt for him.
Not enough time at Christmas, so we agreed I would have it done for his birthday in May.
It just so happens that my son is also a Michigan fan, so if you are going to make one, you might as well make two!
This was the weekend to do it.
I just have to add borders.  I used up all of my royal blues, and this bright yellow.  I don't have enough of either to make thin borders before I add the final one.
Just another excuse to go fabric shopping, as if we need the excuse.

Marita is working on a Kaffe, and solid nine patch.

Christy was working on a baby quilt to a friend.

Marge got out her New York Beauty, she had started a couple of years ago.  Down to one more block to complete.

Sometimes you need a little help in deciding which shade to use with a block.

Finally for me some progress on my Jamestown Landing.
On Saturday we take a late break for our lunch dinner.  We go to one of the many restaurants in the area and eat and chill out for a while. Then back to sewing.
Saturday night I packed up and came home. Time for me to get ready for my next adventure.
Everyone else is still hard at work.
One thing has happened though.  No more sewing until 2:00 am. We are all starting to head for bed or home by 10:00.  Getting older cuts into our sewing time.
Last night there was a storm warning out.  More SNOW!  Will it never end???
When I left, they had not even cleaned the roads yet.  I think they were waiting until it ended.  It was midnight when I arrived home.

Today, I have some handwork to do, and packing a little later.
Monday is our 30th anniversary.  We are going to take a little overnight. We are going to head toward toward Davenport. Ron is great in finding super places to visit, (eagles and white pelicans on the Mississippi) and wonderful food.
More on this later.
Mary

New quilter welcomed

This weekend was our bee retreat!  The one time a year,  we as a bee get together at a local hotel, and take over their conference room and quilt until we drop!

This weekend we had a bit of a celebration. Christy, who joins us each year, had a beautiful baby girl, Felicity Rose.

Felicity is almost 6 months old, and came to visit for a few minutes.

She was taking an interest with her Mom, in our activities.
She seemed to be in awe of all the fabric laying around.
We had fun showing her our fabric and plans for it.
I was teaching her the princess wave.
After all, every quilting princess needs to know how to address her public!

Some of that fabric had been made into this quilt,  for Felicity.
We presented it to Christy, for her very special little girl.
Every baby needs to be wrapped in love.
We need to start our future quilters young.

We so enjoy having Christy come to our bee weekends.
We love to get together to sew and enjoy each others company.
Some stay at the hotel, and a couple of us go home at night, as we live so close.
Everyone has a great time.
My next post will show some of what we are working on.
Have a great day.
Mary

Quilt Bee Weekend

This past weekend the quilt bee I belong to, "Prairie Friends" had a sewing weekend.  We reserve a room at a local hotel to sew in from Friday afternoon until Sunday afternoon.  Several of my friends stay at the hotel, and the rest  of us commute.  We bring snacks, Chocolate, and a little wine to round out the sewing!!  Saturday, we always go to some place wonderful for a late lunch, early dinner and of course the local quilt shop.

Marcia (up above) stayed Friday and until Saturday afternoon.   This is one of the things she was working on.

Here are two of the quilts being worked on.  Marita is working on the green one the left, and Marge is working on the black, white and turquoise.

Above is Marita.  She is the one that arranges for this wonderful weekend.

Here are Marge and Kristie. They were checking out Marges' pattern, the black and white one.

Linda was working on a reproduction basket quilt.

Judy was working on a quilt with half square triangles.

Lyn was trying to get a wedding quilt ready to take to the longarmer for quilting.

Here is my Dresden plate quilt.  I got the centers, and setting triangles done.

This is the wedding quilt Lyn is working on.  She got all but one row done.

Here is the quilt Linda is working on.  She was piecing the first border for this beauty.

When Judy was done sewing, she decided to work on the embroidery for another quilt.

Progress on Marita's quilt.  She is fussy cutting each setting triangle of this quilt.

Here is just one block of the quilt that Kristie is working on.  It is going to be gorgeous.

Everyone had a great time.  We have been having this wonderful weekend for several years.  We all bring projects to work on.  We have so much fun.

Everyone have a great week. Thank you for stopping by.
Happy Quilting.

Mary