Completed & gone!

The quilt I worked on at retreat a couple weeks ago is finished and gone! The customer seemed to like it. It was a lot of fun and I am satisfied with the way it turned out.

Another good day

The bake sale was a success, again. This week I netted $60 for my 3-Day account. Here is a picture of what the bake sale looks like:

After work, I went to my friend Janie's house. We put together some gifts to give to our stitch group this weekend at retreat. They are pop-top cans that Janie opened from the bottom, using one of those can openers that leaves clean edges. She cleaned out the cans and we filled them with some quilting goodies -- a fat quarter, some pins, a tube to hold pins and some chocolate! Then we decorated the cans and glued the bottoms back on. Our friends will have to pop the top of the can to open it and see what is inside! we thought they turned out pretty cute.

75 days and counting..

Yesterday was "Expo" day for the Breast Cancer 3-Day. It is kind of the "opening kick-off" for the event. They had vendors there selling clothing and other items. They also had demonstrations on tent set-up and packing. That was pretty interesting. You are limited to 35 pounds and that includes your sleeping bag and duffle bag. You really don't want to take anything "extra" along. But, there are a lot of "extras" that you need, like plastic tarps for over and under the tent in case of rain, two pairs of shoes, lots of socks, blister care, etc. So packing is kind of an art form.

Before the Expo they had a 12 mile training walk. I was not able to do that because I had to go directly from Expo to teach a hand quilting class. I didn't think my students would appreciate me coming to teach them after walking 12 miles in the heat! I really need to step up my training. I have not been walking as much as I should. This past week I only walked one day. I am planning on hiring a personal trainer starting in September. I plan on training with her two times a month and have her write me up a training schedule for the rest of the time.

Today is baking day. For the past 3 or 4 weeks I have been taking baked goods to work on Monday for a bake sale to benefit the 3-Day. So far today I have baked brownies, chocolate cup cakes, chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter cookies. I still need to bake yellow cupcakes and oatmeal cookies, but that requires a trip to the grocery store for more eggs and butter. I have been making about $50 per week to go into my 3-Day account. I only "have" to have about $350 to meet my minimum amount to walk. But to reach my personal goal I still need about $1000.

"QUAC"ers all together!

I am a member of the team Q.U.A.C. (Quilters United Against Cancer). We decided a little less than a year ago to walk in the Breast Cancer 3-Day. One of our team members, Peggy, is a breast cancer survivor. Another team member, Janie, is an oncology nurse who treats cancer patients daily. Laura and I are just offering our support. We met through quilting.

Last weekend we all were on a quilting retreat together. We had a lot of fun. We walked for about 2 hours on Saturday morning. I haven't tried to calculate the mileage yet! I'm guessing it was about 6 miles or so.

I did get a quilt top finished on retreat and now I am busy quilting it so I can deliver it to a customer by the end of the month.

10 Miles

I did it! I walked 10 miles last Saturday morning! The really amazing thing is that the temperature here reached 111 on Saturday! Luckily we started at 6:00 a.m and finished at 9:30 a.m. Still, it was right at 100 when we finished.

Sunday I baked all afternoon. I made chocolate chip, oatmeal and peanut butter cookies, brownies and chocolate and yellow cupcakes. I took all of it to work today and had a bake sale fund raiser. I was able to raise $48 on the bake sale to benefit the Breast Cancer 3-Day! Not a bad little fund raiser! I hope to be able to bake every weekend and take goodies to work until I reach my fundraising goal. I am halfway there!

Home again, Home again

I just returned from a week-long trip to my sister's house in Baltimore. I was scheduled to be there for 5 days, but weather in Baltimore delayed my departure. I went to help my sister make a wedding quilt for her daughter. It took quite a bit of sewing, but we were able to complete a queen-sized double wedding ring quilt.

We took a day trip to Lancaster County, PA. We let "Jason" the GPS guide our way. We were a little leery when he took us down this country road:

After a scenic drive, we ended up at Obie's Country Store. THAT was an experience I will never forget! I have never seen so much fabric in one place in my entire life!

I thought this was really cute. Snacks and fabric. Is there a better combination?

Another one leaves home.....

I just finished another t-shirt quilt for a customer. She picked it up today. I think she was happy with it. It was a gift for her daughter for high school graduation. Her daughter was with her when they picked it up. Here is a picture of it:

She requested an embroidered tribute:

Tommy and I spent the July 4th weekend in Laughlin, NV. We had a good time, although we didn't win any money :) Here are a couple of pictures of downtown Laughlin from the river boat ride we took:

I'm leaving this Friday to go to Baltimore, MD to stay with my sister for a few days and help her make a double wedding ring quilt for her daughter. It will be a fun, mini quilt retreat. We also plan on making a day trip to Lancaster, PA to do some fabric shopping.