Count down is on

Only a couple more weeks until the walk! This weekend was a busy one with an 18 mile walk on Saturday and 9 on Sunday.

Saturday's walk was through Ennis, Texas. It was a really well planned, fun walk. We started at Ennis Regional Medical Center adn walked 10 miles before stopping for lunch. The training walk leader had lots of pit stops lined up. It was very well organized. We stopped at a local doctor's office for refreshments adn teh hospital served us lunch. The group of girls was really a lot of fun also.

Sunday was a 9 mile walk through Arlington. I was dragging a little near the end but made it through. Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Walking and walking and walking some more!

This past weekend the QUACers (Quilters United Against Cancer) trained hard for the 3-Day. On Saturday we met in Arlington at 7:00 a.m. to head out. We walked 9 miles, came back to our cars for a break and walked another 8 miles before ending the day with 17 miles under our belt. We "camped" out in a hotel for the night and enjoyed some teambuilding fellowship.

The picture above was taken on Sunday morning when we met to start out again. We headed out and walked 8.5 miles before taking a break for the three R's (refresh, relax and refuel). Peggy had some pretty bad blistered feet so Laura took her home. Janie and I headed out again, tired but committed. We walked 6 more miles and ended up just over 14 miles for day 2.

Negligent

WOW -- has it really been over a month since I posted anything? I have been very busy training for the 3-Day. I did recently complete another t-shirt quilt for a customer. It is made from fire department t-shirts. I am very pleased with the way it turned out:

Back from retreat

Every Labor Day weekend, I go on a quilting retreat with my stitch group, Quilters on the Edge (or "Edgers" for short). There are 12 of us in the group. Janie and I got up on Friday (we took the day off work) and started the day by walking 3 miles. We loaded up my car and headed to Collinsville, TX (about 90 miles from home). We stopped at Quilt Country in Lewisville, TX on the way up. We arrived at retreat around 2:00 p.m. on Friday. Saturday morning we walked about 5.5 miles. Then we went into Whitesboro and Gainesville to visit the quilt shops and do some grocery shopping. We got up on Sunday and walked about 3.5 miles and on Sunday evening we fixed dinner for the group. Monday was spent finishing projects, loading up and driving home.

I was able to finish a quilt top for my niece (who is expecting a baby in November)

I also completed a cute Halloween wall hanging for my grandkids to enjoy:I made some blocks for the 30s block swap I am in:The Edgers compleded a 15 month exchange we did of 3" 9-patch blocks. I should have close to 200 blocks here: I also cut about a million strips for a blooming 9-patch quilt I plan to make:All in all, a pretty productive weekend!

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.