Travel Time Minus 2 Hours

Yes! Thursday has arrived and I'm almost ready to travel north.  In a remarkable situation all of my sewing gear is packed and staged in the kitchen nook.  Its unheard of that I would be this far along and it was done last night.  Of course that doesn't mean I won't get there and say "oh no, I forgot ...."  I'll be leaving this morning sometime after 9 am in an attempt to miss rush hour on I 95.  

Here's what I've gotten done over the last few days. 

Here's my addition to the current Brown Bag Swap.  Remember the requirement was have a tool for us to use.  This one used Marti Michell's kaleidoscope ruler.  Very strange shape and lots of information on it that was very confusing at first but once I figured the lines out it was pretty easy to make this block.  Then I made a second one which I didn't photograph.  Below is everyone's blocks on the design wall. My second one would fill that hole really well.  Looks pretty good! 

I finally finished 26 thread catchers.  I'll be giving these to the gals who are on the retreat with me.  The pattern I used is from Robin Quilts, etc.  But I noticed today that another version is available at Needling Things.  I used the 12" size and I like the directions from Robin Quilts better.  She has you sew the flap down before you sew the edges together.  I also didn't like the points so I cut off about 1/2" from each point which meant I had to sew the corners but I liked the finished product better.  I quickly realized that I didn't have the time nor buttons to sew on 78 buttons so I found a solid oval shape from my fancy stitches on Bubbles and used that.  And, that went really fast except for changing threads.  I now have way too many odd colored bobbins. And, I busted about 5 yards of fabric doing this!  Waahoo! 

These blocks are going north with me.  The Bees group is now in the second year.  Heidi picked this block and provided us with 30's fabrics.  I threw a few of mine in also. Jenny and I will be meeting Heidi on Monday for lunch and fabric shopping.  

This one's for Sharon. She mentioned that the last photo of the attic finish was a gaping whole in the roof.  So, here's the shed dormer roof and under the Tyveck the walls are framed with 5, really, 5 windows.  When I get back from retreat I bet a lot more will be done. 

Time for me to pack my suitcase and get ready to travel!  I'm hoping I can post from the retreat center but I'm not holding my breath.  I'm not taking my laptop, just the iPhone and iPad.  

Happy Quilting All!