onaemtnest

Sewbizgirl ~ Oh how I wish I had been to your craft show! Your booth looks absolutely splendid! I love your little crocheted Bee and elephant which I'm guessing are the lovey's?

Do the craft shows 'generally' in your experience allow baby strollers? Some venues get so crowded, with narrow aisles, I'm seeing where they no longer allow strollers, especially when I'm fortunate to be visiting our kids in the Denver area and some of the best craft shows are available to attend. Some strollers these days are tantamount to small SUV's! :0)

sunrise450

Received birthday charms from oldcatlady. Thank you, it brightened my day!

sewbizgirl

Hearty thanks to JaniceMcC and mariposa! I got your envelopes today. Only 5 more to come and there are still 5 days left, including my birthday on Saturday. Yay! We are starting this year's swap off on the right foot! It's so much fun to have all the packages on your birthday. Thank you, everyone, for mailing on time.

sewbizgirl

Yes, those were loveys.... I know what you mean about strollers! They are horrible in a crowded show setting. So are groups of friends who run into each other and stand in your space having a long conversation... to the detriment of sales! I need to find a tactful way to shoo them along. Last weekend's show was low key and so not-crowded that strollers were not a problem, but I know the big shows don't want them. Motorized wheelchairs are really tough too. You don't want to tell handicapped people they can't come through. But in an outdoor show I was doing, a heavy lady in a big motorized chair got so bogged down that it took several men to get her chair unstuck and get her out of there. It had to be mortifying for her, but what was she thinking taking her chair out there? It was like taking it on the beach! People are so funny.

sewbizgirl

WMUTeach, can't wait to see your new Calico Rose quilt. How was the retreat? Please tell us about it.

WMUTeach

Well as retreats, go this was small only 30 women with machines! But I got one baby quilt top finished. Sandwiching, quilting and binding later. I used a jelly roll and the Bonnie Hunter "Pineapple Flower" pattern. Pictures in the future. I planned on making it smaller and making two tops from the one jelly roll. I ended up with one quilt and used one of the alternative layouts. Now I have scraps and UFO's. the quilt is pretty but 48" square which is large for a baby quilt but if I made it smaller, the beautiful pattern would have been lost.

I then moved on to a use my 2.5 in squares. Made all the 16 X 16 squares for the Calico Rose and most of the 9 X 9 squares for the alternate blocks. I will finish them at my craft night on Friday at church.

As usual we ate well, many UFO finished quilts, lots of gals working on the Farmer's Wife quilts and our mystery quilt for the year. We watched the temperature drop form 65 to upper 20's, rain turn to snow and kept cozy as our our machines hummed along. New roomie this retreat and how nice to get to know someone else! We found our lives are different and then so much in common. Good time had by all and we are already anxious for a 3 day week-end vacation in October! Same place same gals plus some who could not attend this time.

I highly recommend retreats! This one is very free flowing and we quilt what we want, no workshops but oh, so much sharing of ideas, opinions and skills and praise for efforts from those who understand the work and skills that it took to make the top.

sewbizgirl

The retreat sounds WONDERFUL. Just to get away and sew with a bunch of other quilters without having to worry about anything else would be so relaxing. I think 30 is plenty of people to share the experience with. Thanks for the rundown. I can just imagine being there. Can't wait to see your pictures, especially the baby quilt. I think I'll go over to Bonnie's site and see if I can find the Pineapple Flower pattern in the meantime.

I've been assembly line sewing some selvedge potholders. They are cute and we quilters love selvedges, but I'm wondering if the general public will! I will bring them to the "Art Stroll" this weekend and see if they get any takers. I'm planning to also make a few microwave bowl holders. Got my Wrap and Zap batting today.

Rosemary Attaway

mailed last 2 April birthday cards today.Hope you April ladies have great birthdays!

djmat

That's what I need, a retreat. Just reading about it made me happy!
hugs,
dj

Anoka Quilter

Be on the lookout in your mailbox April birthday girls. All candies were mailed today.