Within your heart, keep one still, secret spot where dreams may go.
-Louise Driscoll

We packed up the sewing and golfing necessities and headed for the mountains of North Georgia. My BIL and SIL did the same and we arrived at our lovely condo at White Path Lodge and settled in. This is the place a have arranged to have my Silver Thimble Sewing Retreat in February. What a place! It is lovely, picturesque, clean, pristine, relaxing and generally PUURFECTTTTOOO!!! Tricia and I took meals and goodies so the plans were to eat in...sewing for us and golf for the guys. General all around relaxing for everybody.




Here is my sewing buddy and SIL...she is so much fun. Precision sewing is her name!!! She knows her way around a seam that is for sure. I taught her how to quilt over the phone. AND I'M NOT KIDDING. She would drive to work every morning in Atlanta rush HOURS traffic and call me, I would walk her verbally through the quilting process. I don't know how I did it or how she learned it, but she turned out to be one of the best quilters I know....her is smart huh?



The weather didn't cooperate so well. The guys got to golf everyday but they had to work around the rain a bit. Tricia and I were JUST FINE sewing away. Tricia made this gorgeous quilt which took her longer than she had planned but was well worth the effort. She plans to put borders on it soon. Isn't it great?? She loves batiks, I love scrappy...this quilt is a wonderful marriage of both.


I finished another wedding quilt (neutral, disappearing nine patch) and a table runner using the Rapid Fire Ruler to make the Hunters Star block. That was sooo much fun!!! The ruler makes the blocks so easy. I'm going to photograph some of the blocks and the step by step process soon. I'll post about that later. I can't wait to show my Silver Thimble Club how to make these blocks. Now I want to make a whole quilt using the ruler and some killer fabbies...WOW.

I worked on a quilt made from the pattern called "Jelly Roll Diamonds" by Fig Tree designs. I had some problems with the borders and really needed my design wall so I stopped. My brother in law was so disappointed in me. He said I was a quitter...I'm not a quitter I'm design wall dependent remember I have bionic knees that DO NOT crawl on the floor....I'll show him!!!

The guys were going to take a dip in the pool and down came the rain...this was the result. The moral of this story is be careful when you invite your sweetie pies to go with you on a sewing retreat. They tend to get in your face and mess in your business. The moral of this story is, BE CAREFUL WHO YOU INVITE TO GO WITH YOU ON YOUR SEWING RETREATS!



This is Quilt Boy...always at work on behalf of the Silver Thimble Quilt Co. Finishing a quilt, drinkin a beer and waiting for his dip in the pool. I love this man so much, I think I'll marry him again!



And we have here my beloved Brother in Law. He is so diligent with his sewing. Keeping one eye on his accurate 1/4" seams and the other eye on his BEER. He is so precious I'm going to marry his brother just so I can keep him!

I'm off to get some work done and some food in the house. I'm craving a huge salad for dinner so it is off to the farmers market for me.

I'm so glad to be back in blog land, I'll be reading a catching up on my bloggin friends tonight.

Have a quilty day!



Oh BTW on this trip I was introduced to Klondike Bars....big mistake..HUGE.

Puttering is really a time to be alone, to dream and to get in touch with yourself....To putter is to discover.

-Alexandra Stoddard

Do you putter? Boy I sure do. I even set aside a whole day now and then to putter. Today is a putter day, well at least most of the day will be. I have to teach a class tonight at Sweet Home so I won't be able to putter into the evening. Here is my putter list for today...well it's not really a list.

I have been polishing silver this morning...OH MY... I don't know why I decided to start this project but I did!! My mother would be so proud of me for taking care of the family silver (or at least the silver that didn't get buried in the back yard when the Yankees came to visit during the civil war..secretly I wish it was all buried in the backyard they should never have unearthed the stuff... It is a dang responsibility)

I puttered around my flower pots and watered them somethin good. Those plants were so happy to see me, I know they were afraid for their lives, I tend to get neglectful around this time during the summer months. So sorry to all the gardeners reading this...

Striped the bed and tonight is clean sheets night...don't cha love clean sheet night??

Put the binding on a Wedding quilt that I will present to a sweet bride next weekend. I made a disappearing nine patch from all neutral fabbies... I think these quilts go with any decor. It is hard to decide what to do when you don't know the precipitants tastes...well who knows when it comes to brides, they need time to figure out what their tastes are right? (like 30 years to figure it out)



I am packing because I will be going out of town with my sweetie for 3.5 days. We are going to the mountains with my BIL and SIL. The guys are going to play golf and Tricia and I are going to sew and swim and relax by the pool. (well I will be in the sun for 3 minutes..tops!) I'm so excited to have a get a way weekend...CHILLIN AND SEWING AND READING...don't worry about me okay.

Sophie is getting a bath today. (She hates it when I putter)

Dusting...that's good on putter days. Why is it that when we go out of town we feel the need to clean prior to departure? I think it is either we want to come home to a pristine home...or most probably we are afraid someone will come into the house and find a mess. Fear of dust police ratting us out. Fear is a powerful thing.

I packed up my sewing projects for the trip...I'll never get all this done..maybe I'll go repack. Yes that is it, then I will putter in my sewing room for a while.

Making some food to take with us to the mountains. I think I'll bake some cookies! Tricia and I are splitting the meals...No restaurants for us, just relaxing by the pool and sewing (when the sun goes down anyway). As Suzanne once said..."I want to sleep until I awake up...." hahaha now that is RELAXING!!!

I'll take pictures of my trip, don't know if I will be able to blog yet but I will go prepared with lap top and camera in tow. See I'm always thinking about my blogging buddies, pure dedication right?

Putter days should also be called ADD days, jumping from one putter project to another. One thing leads to another. I really accomplish more when I make a daily list of things that I want to get done (and I really do make a lists almost everyday!) ...but as for today I SHALL PUTTER!

Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun.
-Mary Lou Cook

I know I talk about my Silver Thimble group a lot...if you want to see what a typical weekend with the Silver Thimble ladies is like...take a look at these photos. Friends, Birthdays...and spectacular sewing. I can't get enough of it. I'll shut up and let you enjoy the show!


Tricia and her "new" friend! Welcome Beth!



































Last but certainly not least..Melisa's birthday..she has been celebrating for a whole year!!!!

I don't believe makeup and the right hairstyle alone can make a woman beautiful. The most radiant woman in the room is the one full of life and experience.
-Sharon Stone

I'm rushing out the door...IT IS TIME FOR OUR SILVER THIMBLE CLUB MEETING. Oh boy. Some of the group will be doing this months project made with Glace' fabric line from Moda. I'll take pictures and post them this weekend. We are making the quilt Jelly Roll diamonds from Fig Tree Quilts. A lovely lovely quilt!

I made a disappearing nine patch quilt from neutral fabrics so I spent the last day or so slicing and dicing 9 patches. I think neutral quilts are great for brides...maybe "safe" would be a better description. This will be another wedding quilt. These quilts are fun and fast to make , they make me happy. Hopefully they will make the bride and groom happy. Again I will have a finished quilt to show you after today.. (yes, I packed my camera!!)



While I was in the studio I snapped this picture of my new favorite thingy! Does your ironing cord get on your last nerve?? Have you ever drug the cord over newly ironed fabbies or quilts and wrinkled what you just ironed??? Have you bought a cordless iron only to find out most of them don't get hot enough to melt a piece of velveeta much less a piece of fabric?? Well kids here it is...the CORDMINDER I love it. I just got it and next to my Bernina and design wall it is my favorite thingy..well maybe I'm embellishing this just a bit.... This falls in the category of DUH I could have had a V-8..why didn't I think of that! Getcha one they will make your ironing life a breeze!



Gotta go..I'm picking up donuts for the gang this morning. Might has well get this thing kicked off right. Right???

I have done every craft, stain glass, crochet, macrame', cross stitch! My husband asked me "What makes QUILTING different?" I said, "This time I'm doing it with FRIENDS!"

-Chris J. spoken yesterday at Gwinnett Quilters Guild Meeting.

Well doesn't that just say it all??? From guilds, to small sewing groups, to the fabulous connections through the internet....Quilting brings us together doesn't it??? Oh by the way the quote may not be word for word perfect but it sure stuck in my brain...If you are reading this blog Chris..WELL SAID GIRLFRIEND!!!!

I'm going to finish a wedding quilt today. I love to give neutral quilts as wedding gifts for the little brides and grooms. I have 3 weddings this fall! OH MY! One is done and being quilted and the other two are going to be finished by next weekend. CHECK (that was me checking another project off my list..and yes I'm a list maker!!). I'm pretty sure non of these brides are reading my blog (not the cool young hip thing I guess), so I will post photos ASAP.

I have done my morning chores, early dinner prep, watered the plants (I'm so sick of stinkin hot weather), read some great blogs on my reader (inspiration no doubt) and now it is off to the studio to sew and work on a new design (my brain is about to bust with a new idea!). Oh by the way I have purged the sewing room from all Cheetos...I'm taking carrots up there today..I simply MUST get a grip!!!!

I did manage to take my camera to guild and snap some photos of show and tell! See I do have a functioning brain (sometimes). I'm always amazed at some of the quilts and project this group manages to crank out. Dang I love quilters, Dang I wish I could sew with every quilter in the universe..well I guess I am through this blog right?

I don't understand why my pictures are blurry. I'm confident that it is due to my excellent photography skills. Somebody help me! I deleted some great photos I made for you because I didn't want you to get queezie! Also, I did not include the names of each quilt maker because I could not remember EVERY ONE. I hope I'm not stepping on the toes of any copyright Gods here..if I am I will trust that you all will send Cheetos to me while I'm in prison.














I must comment here...The quilt below was made by Debbie. The quilt is GINORMOUS!!! I MEAN BIG PEOPLE . It could be a tent for Omar the tent maker! Debbie made 6 of these babies for breast cancer events around the country. Each one is a signature quilt that will be hung and participants can sign a block. Can you believe she made six!!! It is like 106" x 106". sumthin like that..

Debbie won the presidents award at guild yesterday..I'm not surprised it is so well deserved. I'm proud she is my friend. CONGRATULATIONS DEB!!!







I think I'll sign up for a photography class.

Love,
Ansel Adams