Santa On The Move-Day 13

When I saw these panels at the craft fair I knew I needed to get them for someone on my list. Maybe someone’s mother who has been really good this year!

Can you believe the beautiful embroidery on these panels? Diane really knows how to work that sewing machine and then make the designs into some really great pieces.

If you believe, you receive!

Santa On The Move–Day 12

So many of my elves are sitting on shelves this year that I didn’t know how weI’d get enough presents for all the girls and boys made.

So….what did I do?

I went to the craft sale and bought these really cute coin purses for 4 of the good girls on my list.

When things get tough, the tough think outside the box!

A Girls Got To Do What A Girl’s Got To Do–SHOP and support the economy!

Yesterday Suzie and I decided her trip to Florida would not be complete without a visit to our favorite shop at Lake Sumter Landing in The Villages.

We headed over there in the middle of the afternoon.We found a parking space almost directly in front of the store and that was a good omen. If you have ever visited these areas in The Villages you know even finding a parking space near the square is a good omen!

Although neither of us was in the market for a hat, they sure had some cute ones. This is just a small portion of what they had.

Suzie found a really cute shirt that looked great on her.

I found one that was perfect for me too.

We had a light supper at Panera and walked across the square to head home.

This was a visiting group playing for the crowd and the dancers. People really were enjoying them.

We drove back to the house and spent the rest of the evening relaxing.

We weren’t home long when John and Lynn stopped to visit. We were so busy talking I forgot to take a picture.

Suzie and I had a great visit as usual. She had to be ready to be picked up to head to the airport at 5:45 this morning. She is somewhere in the air now heading for home.

Rolling Toward the Dye Buckets!

You never know what direction our projects will take.

Yesterday was not really a project day.

We visited the Yarn Lady and Suzie was introduced to the glorious yarns in the shop. Her suitcases will be a little fuller on the trip home.

Then we went to lunch at B D Beans in Belleview. They always add something new to “the décor”!

We sat at my favorite table in front of the fireplace and I took this photo of what was currently in the fireplace. Eat your heart out as I know you’ll be jealous when you see this!!!!!!!

After we came home we both finished our slice quilts and packages them to mail today. The mail lady just picked up the package 10 minutes ago so they are on their way to Tommy Fitzsimmons.

Our evening agenda consisted of wrapping poles for today’s mini shibori dyeing session.

These are our poles ready for the dye buckets. There are also two scrunchies – one for each bucket so we will have a sample of the colors of the dye we used.

The poles are currently in the buckets and have been for 1/2 hour. Only 45 minutes to go until rinse out and wash out.

Color, Colour, COLOR!!! Lucious Gorgeous Yarn

I think my car has been reading the email messages on my computer.
I got in the car this morning and it took me right to The Yarn Lady to shop her March Madness 1 day sale!


I headed right for the Malabrigo Rasta and found these 4 skeins of some more of their luscious colors.


Then I headed to the Malabrigo Arroyo sport weight yarn. This will make great socks or other items. I just can't get enough of these colors.


Next I headed to the back of the store where the odd balls and closeouts are further reduced. I found these 6 skeins of Paintbox. They are all different. I find using odd balls is a great way for to make my creative juices flow to create unique projects.


I also found 4 odd balls of Noro Kureyon, one of my favorite yarns.


Lastly some odd skeins with colors that attracted me.

32nd Anniversary Of The First Jinny Beyer Quilt Seminar At Hilton Head Island!

Around noon today Kaye Rhodes, Mary Nolan and I were reminiscing about the Jinny Beyer Seminar at Hilton Head Island.
The last seminar was held in 2009.

We each have wonderful happy memories from the years we attended.
Mary participated for 25 consecutive years - what a great record.
I now live in the same county Mary lived in many years ago!
Yes, it is a small world.

Of course Kay and I share a first name - even though she has an "e" at the end - I added an "e" when I was in junior high for a while!


One can not think Hilton Head Island without thinking of the iconic light house at Harbour Town.


My friends and I always arrived the weekend before the seminar began and spent our time shopping.


When we found this sign at a store we knew it was meant for us!


Even the coldest day ever on Hilton Head Island did not deter these us from our pursuit of 50% or more off!


This scene was repeated many times in the days before the seminar began!


Once the seminar began we were all business. Sally thought outside the box to create a "design wall".


I created this Violet pin in a class I took from Andrea Perkins.


This is the beginning of a Medallion style quilt from one of the first seminars.


This was the beginning of a King Size medallion quilt also started in an early seminar. I have scaled back my expectations and this will finish to be smaller than bed size.


This circular design created in a John Flynn class became the yoke area on a jacket. I finished the jacket and wore it to the Saturday banquet that year.



Each year on Friday there was a Beach Walk/Run and many of us created special garments to wear for it.


For many years we were privileged to see the Fairfield Fashion Show brought to us by none other than Donna Wilder. This was always one of my favorite parts of the seminar.


This was an outfit I created for the Fairfield Fashion Show and wore it for the banquet a few years later.


We had this photo taken of our group with Jinny Beyer at the closing of the 1985 seminar.

The banquet concluded the seminar each year and it was always bitter sweet.

The memories linger on, long after the last and final seminar in 2009.

The Villages Quilt Market - A Great Adventure

The Villages hosted a Quilt Market yesterday and today. This was their off year for their quilt show and they came up with this great idea. There were over 50 vendors there with quilt and other fiber related items.
What a great idea.
You may know I collect "tasteful" flamingo things! I found all of these items and they came from several different vendors. I have no idea how I will use them, but I will enjoy looking at them and coming up with ways to use them.


I bought this Dovo scissors from Debbie Jones.
Debbie invented an original technique she teaches called "Fabric Decollage". You would swear you are looking at a fine art painting when you see her work. She uses these scissors for the cleanest sharpest cuts.
You can find her store on line and get your own scissors at:
http://www.debbiejones.com/Store.html
Take some time and enjoy looking around her site so you can see her art and her hand painted and hand dyed fabrics which also are art.
YES, she does offer items for sale online and also is a great teacher if your guild is looking for something unique and wonderful.

I also purchased this kit from Lily Ann Stitches.

Lori Kabat came all the way from Wisconsin to be a vendor at the market. She creates felted wool projects and sells them either as a pattern or a kit.
Fall is my favorite season and I love wool so that is why I chose this project. Having it as a kit is a big time saver as I have everything I needed. I also bought the threads to complete it from her.
You can visit her website at:
http://lilyannastitches.com/
You can order either her kits or patterns online and you might also be lucky enough to find them in your local quilt shop. You just might be lucky enough to see one of her trunk shows at your local quilt shop or show.

Her projects are something even a novice can complete and are so appealing. A kit is a great travel project as the size is packable and the materials are all there for you. Most of us don't have time to hunt down the materials we need for a project when we are in the frenzy of packing for a trip.

And now........DRUM ROLL PLEASE............
The one thing I coveted but didn't purchase:

It was the most gorgeous metallic magenta machine I have ever seen. It had tasteful sparkles in the paint. I don't know what you call that technique but I have seen it on cars that have been painted with many coats of paint.

If you'd like to buy this machine, a featherweight in any color, have your featherweight painted or need repairs, reconditioning or parts for your featherweight this is the man to get in touch with:
http://theoldsewingmachineman.com/

It was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon and be able to see and shop for such a variety of items all in one place.

On a Clear Day

Sharon, Fred, Suzie and Kerry are enjoying breakfast on the lanai. Today's menu was Door County fried eggs, bacon, juices, homemade wheat bread, fruit bread, cherry and black raspberry preserves and coffee.



This is my plate and I chose black raspberry preserves for my bread - delicious.

After breakfast Fred and Sharon had to leave as they had obligations at home later in the day. We were sorry to see them go and hope it won't be as long before we all are together again.

Kerry had a tee time and played 18 holes of golf.

Suzie and I went to our local quilt shop and each found some very interesting fabrics. I can't show them to you because some of them are for some secret projects!

We all then watched my niece Madison Richards appearance on C-span that I had recorded earlier. We we all very impressed with Madison and her two friends. These are girls to watch as I am sure they each will go far.



After dinner Kerry took Suzie and me to The Villages for ice cream and then we listened to the music and watched people dancing to a while. We were home before 9 as we all have had a busy most enjoyable visit.

We spent the rest of the evening relaxing. Suzie looked through my 3 books I have had made from my blog and was able to see many pieces of her work as they had been posted on my blog.

Traditional Quilt - final block arrangement

This is the final block arrangement for this quilt.
I clipped coupons last night to go shopping for Black Friday deals. I woke up this morning and decided to go back to sleep and forget it. I still feel I had the experience just by clipping the coupons! It was a good decision since I really don't need anything and my Christmas shopping is taken care of.
I spent the day straightening up the house and changing some of the blocks around on this quilt. There were some similar blocks that were too close together and just stood out too much on the first layout.
My goal was to have a quilt where the colors and values were somewhat evenly distributed so your eye wasn't drawn to any one particular area. I think I accomplished that. As you look at this on the computer your eye may be drawn to an area but it is because of the color and value in specific blocks, not because similar blocks are too close together.
I have taken the blocks off my design wall and they are stacked and labeled row by row. I can now sew them together when Pat and I get together on Tuesday for a sewing day.

Still waiting for seminar to begin - Power shopping today!

This is the back of a special jacket I made for shopping. It is comfortable in a wide range of temperatures. I made it from sand washed rayon. I channel quilted the black fabric to a royal blue sand washed rayon with a light weight batting. I also made a long sleeve shell in red and full trousers in black sand washed rayon.

When the clerks in the stores and the other shoppers see us coming they know we are serious power shoppers! They move out of our way so we can do the job we came to do!
The clerks all know us by name.
Today will be our last full day of power shopping. We have been known to fit in some emergency shopping during lunch hours, before dinner or in any free time we have.

Waiting for Jinny Beyers Quilting Seminar to begin! I'm so tired from shopping for all the bargains on Hilton Head Island!

This is my almost daily post reminiscing about the 20 or more Jinny Beyer Seminars I attended on Hilton Head Island.
That sign is what we learned to recognize from a block away. We also did our research by checking out the ads in the newspaper, the radio and peaking in stores before they opened.


These 2 photos are from the coldest day on record on HHI.
We knew we still had to get out there and shop until we dropped.
It's a tough job, I know but someone has to do it.
We were fortified because we had spent 3-4 hours at brunch on Sunday. We always went to the very best brunch on the island. Over the years we probably had 4 or 5 favorites as things changed.

This photo shows some of the shops and restaurants at Harbour Town. Some of our favorites were here.
Our favorites also changed over the years, but our favorites were the ones with 75% or more off. Since their seasons were ahead of ours they reduced things and we could still wear them for at least 5 months in Wisconsin. I am still wearing some of the things I bought years ago.

This is the lighthouse at Harbour Town which is a well recognized symbol to any one who has heard of HHI.
We stopped here or in one of the many wonderful restaurants before continuing the after lunch shopping.

This was our "Show and Tell" from one of our shopping expeditions.

This is another of our show and tells.
For Jinny's 10th Anniversary Seminar she gave out many achievement awards. I received the Champion Shopper award for knowing where every store on the island was and what their discounts were daily. I thought everyone knew that!
One of the first questions we asked when we entered a store was "Do you ship?".
Fortunately most stores did. If they charged for shipping it was usually less than what we saved on sales tax. If we couldn't squeeze everything left in our suitcases we took the rest to the island pack and ship or post office. We also did a lot of early Christmas and birthday shopping when we were there.
This was just one of our memorable experiences we shared as friends on our annual trips to Hilton Head.