Author: Wanda

Well since I went to the retreat I have gotten nothing done.  I was exhausted after staying up late the whole time.  Then, I developed a reaction to my blood pressure medication.  I have been on it for 6 months, but I still got a reaction.  I have been going crazy with a terrible generalized itching, nausea, and other GI symptoms.  I have already completed one course of steroids and have just started my second.  Needless to say I never got my quilts turned in for the quilt show this weekend.  I am not even sure I will be able to attend the show.  Gary is vending this year and I don’t even think I can help him.  Unbelievable.  Anyway, I thought I should just pop on here and let the whole world know what a mess I’m in.  🙂

My oldest grandson Andrew sent me an invitation to join him in playing the Facebook game Car Town.  Well I put it off as long as I could, but I finally gave in and have started playing it with him.  It’s something we can do together while he is still 600 miles away from me.  While he was here in April, he introduced Gary to the game. Well, needless to say we have both become addicted to it.  It’s a cute game.  But clearly I need to set limits.  Before I know it an hour has passed and as much fun as playing the game is, I’m not getting much accomplished  here at the house.  Of course it does give me the opportunity to sit here and listen to the birds outside the window.  And if you add this game time to my blog hop time I could be sitting here at the computer for the entire day.  Right?  But you gotta love the blog hops.  Especially when they are giving something away.  I never win anything, but the idea that I may keeps me hopping along.  Right now I am doing Pat Sloan’s Focus On The Center Book Tour blog hop.  I guess I’m a sucker for anything quilty!  Join me why don’t you?

I got home Sunday late afternoon.  What a wonderful time I had quilting with my friends.  Got a lot accomplished too.  Our condo was right on the ocean and it was beautiful.  We could walk the beach, take a dip in any of 7 pools or unwind in one of the hot tubs.  Wednesday night we just had cheese, crackers, bread and wine for dinner.  Thursday night Gary made us a delicious meat loaf and we made baked sweet potatoes and steamed broccoli and Jan made a delicious fruit salad for desert.  There wasn’t much left of that meal.  Friday night the girls in the other condo cooked.  We had Italian pot roast, brown rice and salad.  No one was hungry after that meal.  And it was topped off with key lime pie.   We went out for dinner Saturday night to Joe’s Crab Shack.  Yummy is all I can say about the dinner.  The margaritas were not bad either.  🙂  I am still recovering from being up late each night sewing.  We did a little fabric shopping too.  We went to two quilt shops, Sewing At The Beach and North Beach Fabric.  I picked up some civil war fabrics at Sewing At The Beach  

and a perfect green fabric for a border for my ‘Sue’s Bags” quilt at North Beach Fabric.  

Hopefully I’ll get that top done today so I can get it quilted.   I have a quilt on the frame to be done first.   

Yesterday was my bag class at BQ.  I didn’t get mine finished, but I think it’s really going to be cute.  Most of the girls left with more done than me.  I guess I did too much talking and not enough sewing.  🙂  It’s always nice to visit with the girls at the meetings.  Anyway, I will finish it on my retreat that starts today.  I am so excited about going away for a few days with good friends and just sewing till my hearts content.  I just love going on retreats.  BQ used to have one yearly and it was a lot of fun.  Unfortunately where we had the retreat there are no elevators and since most of the membership have trouble with stairs we have had to stop having it.  I am looking for a place that has a large community room where we can sew and rooms with elevator access.  Where I am going today might fill the bill.  Well I got my paperwork turned in for the quilts I am entering in the quilt show in May.  I am teaching a class for Christmas In July this year.  A cute candle mat.  I will make the sample at retreat.  It should be perfect for a half day class.  Our program should be really good this year.  Well I am off to the quilting room to finish a couple of quilts before I leave for my retreat.  “Quilting with friends will keep you in stitches.”

Bud left for Miami and Kelly arrived from PA with my grand-babies last Sunday. Oh what a wonderful week it was. The kids are getting so big. We had Legos and dolls all over the house. I always forget how noisy the house gets with them here. They went back to PA on Friday afternoon. The house is so quiet now. I can’t wait until mid June when they move down here close to me. I’ll get to spoil them more often then. :). They did wear me out though, I had to bail on my Hawaiian Appliqué Class yesterday. I get so frustrated sometimes. The Fibromyalgia isn’t fatal, but it can surely play havoc with your life.

Brunswick Quilters guild’s quilt show is May 19th and 20th so I am working on the quilts I want to enter. Two need to be quilted and my small whole cloth piece needs to be bound. Have to get the paperwork turned in by Tuesday.

Tomorrow is Quilters By The Sea’s meeting. Not sure what the program is. Then Tuesday is Brunswick Quilters meeting. We’re having a class to make a charm square bag. Have to get my prep work done. I have several quilts to get done before the meeting. They are baby quilts and shouldn’t take too long to do. Then off to Retreat with my dear friend Sue. Busy week ahead of me for sure.

Yesterday was Guild Day.  It was our business meeting.  I took this doll quilt for show & tell.  It was the March Challenge in Kathleen Tracy’s smallquilttalk yahoo group.  I loved making this one.  I even appliqued all of the handles without using a sewing machine!  I am getting better.  I am in the middle of hand quilting it.  We also had the Guild Challenge vote too.  Here’s what I made.

Had to run to Fran’s Sewing Circle today.  Picked up fabric to make a baby quilt for my daughter-in-law.  One of the girls in the wedding last year is expecting a baby.  I went by the pattern when I bought the fabric, but the amount it called for the backing was wrong.  I needed more fabric.  So, of course they were out of what I had, but I got the same fabric I used for the small border and binding to piece the backing.  Phew!  Dodged another bullet.

I still have my son here until sometime on Sunday.  He then flies to Miami to meet his wife at conference for work and then they both will go to Toronto to visit with Renee’s family.  He spent today golfing.  Came home and he and his dad dug into the baseball cards.  The Phillies game is coming on now.  Go Phillies.  

What a weekend I had.  Saturday I spent the day with my dear friend Sue in Cary.  She met me at the Fair Grounds in Raleigh and she took me to a fabulous new quilt shop, Lone Star Mercantile.  Oh my what a wonderful place it is.  Her fabrics are beautiful.  After drooling over bolt after bolt I did take a few little treasures home with me. 🙂  Then we treated ourselves to a delicious Mexican lunch.  My husband and son were spending the day at a Baseball Card Show so Sue and I got to spend lots of time catching up.  She cleaned out one of her fabric closets and I brought home some lovely scraps to use in my guild’s baby quilt program.  Sue’s vertically challenged so I helped her reach those high shelves.  We just had a great time together.  I’ll see her at the end of the month at our little retreat at the beach.  Gary and Bud picked me up at Sue’s and we headed back to Wilmington where we met Sam (my youngest daughter) for a late supper at Olive Garden.  Then Bud and Sam headed to her place and Gary and I came home.  We had a quiet Easter just the two of us.  I worked on my challenge for guild on Tuesday.  Heard from Kelly and the kids.  Called my sister-in-law to wish her a happy birthday and we called Gary’s mother.  All in all a great weekend.

Do you like fabric Give-Aways? I just entered to win an 8 Fat Quarter Pack of Solids from the KoolBeenz blog. The Give-Away is sponsored by Wish Upon A Quilt in Raleigh. It’s being offered in two colorways. Click on the KoolBeenz button and hop on over to enter.

Well I know that February is a short month, but gee, it really flew through here like a tornado.  I just don’t know what I even did the whole month.  Anyway, I have been working on quilting baby quilts for my guild, catching up on several projects I have in various stages of completion.  Or should I say in-completion. Went to a quilt show in South Carolina and did a little quilt shop hopping on the way home.  I guess that sums it up.  Now as I read over what I have been up to, it seems as if I haven’t done much at all.  Will have some pictures to post in a couple of days of what I have been working on.  But now, I am off to bed.  Didn’t sleep very well last night and I am actually feeling tired now, so am going to take advantage of the tired feeling and hit the hay.