Friday, March 14, 2014

Retreatin'


I can’t say enough wonderful things about my Whistlestop Quilt Retreat in Sweetwater, Tennessee.  Jodi – the owner, visited several retreats before opening her own business.  I must say, she’s got it down!  Accommodations were great, food was wonderful and the other local retreaters were very warm and friendly.  Being from the northwest part of Missouri and driving to east Tennessee meant we were the farthest group (so far) to visit the Whistlestop.  My rear end can vouch for that - I enjoyed the drive, but I was feelin’ it. 
This is our room.  My pics do not do the retreat justice, you should
really click the link for a better look.

Jen, Jodi (Retreat Queen) and me
 

 
If you ever get to western Kentucky, a MUST stop is Paula’s Quilting Pantry in East Bernstadt – it’s an itty bitty town off of I-75.  Every yard of fabric is $6.  New fabric, not seconds or old stuff but the latest fabrics - 30’s repros, Civil War, Moda, RJR…..EVERYTHING!  Paula is located in a farmhouse (1 mile) right outside of town.  GPS took us all over town so we finally stopped at the post office – they pointed us in the right direction.

 
The south is big on Barn Quilt Blocks – I think I’ve found a new summer project for my shed out back.




 
Ok, so this might be a Purina manufacturing plant –
but I’m seeing a Nine-Patch.

This would be our drive home through the ice packed highways of Tennessee.  We from Kansas and Missouri, aren’t used to ice/snow packed highways.  Oh sure, we get tons of snow and ice, but within a few hours KDot and MoDot are strapped in the big trucks, scrapping and salting like nobody’s business.  We sat in the hotel for 2 1/2 days waiting to see such action in Clarksville.  Didn’t happen, so we took a chance and tried to make our way home. 



Don’t think for a minute 3 inches of sleet kept us from stopping in Paducah.  What were we to do?….we were in the neighborhood!  We had lunch at d.Starnes Restaurant downtown and then visited the Quilt Museum gift shop. 

 
 
 

Monday, March 10, 2014

The Fussy catch-up


Just getting back from my retreat -but I thought I’d catch-up on my Fussy Friday Stars before posting my retreat quilt and other fabulous memories. 

Week 9

 
As you can see, the grands could hardly wait for me get back in town.  I no more had my bags unpacked and they showed up for a sleepover.   
 
Week 10  
 
 


 
Only one Fussy star and one additional scrappy hexie to add to the mix.

Friday, March 7, 2014

It’s Go Time….


I’ve picked my pattern and fabrics for the quilt retreat.  Since this is an “open retreat”, the participants bring whatever project they want to work on.  I wanted a new project I could start and complete for this retreat (good excuse to justify a new project, right?) 

Even though Jenny Doan’s 15 minute bag took me 2 days, I’m willing to try another JDoan speed-of-lightening-tutorial/patterns.  After Jenny visited one of our Quilt Guild meetings, I bow down to her mad quilt skills.  But seriously, I need to shave a little time off of my projects, I’m embarrassing myself.

Instead of using the white background, I’ve chose a 30’s green to go along with my 30’s reproduction fabric.