Good Morning. Nothing like a new month to get us motivated- to exercise more, finish bday blocks, etc. Unfortunately not enough hours in the day.

Thinking of all you quilting friends in the south and hope that you are safe. Drop us a note so we know how you are. Those of you that are going to the retreat have a blast and travel safely. Deanna

Yes, she's my little Raindrop. I thought about "Rainbow" because God used that as a symbol of promise, but I like "Raindrop" better.

Hope you all have fun at the retreat. How many people usually attend? What exactly do you do there? Classes? Do-It-Yourself? Individual projects? Group projects? Are there vendors set up selling cool supplies and fabric? Inquiring minds wanna know.

Salijo, Vendors are at the quilt shows and yeah, they have some cool supplies and fabric. Plus quilts hanging all over the place to give you ideas and wish you had the time and expertise to make them. A retreat is where a group of quilters (and in this case, DH's) gather to have fun, share hints,learn new things, work on projects and in general, get to know one another. I didn't attend the one last year from this forum, but it sounds like they had a lot of fun. There are 11 attending this year, which includes 3 DH's and baby Amanda. Dad is packing his bag....can you imagine him going?? lol

Deanna, I got brave enough to step on the scales today. Not as bad as I thought but higher than it was a few months ago. I'm taking elastic waist things to the retreat! I'll report any weight loss when I return. LOLOLOL

SharonG/FL

Hope you all have a great time at the retreat! One of these years - if I can save up enough vacation time - I would love to do that. I want to do a Baltimore Album quilt but need some one-on-one help to perfect my applique skills before I start! A retreat would be a perfect way to do that. Have fun!

Kate

Kate, I'm working on an Album by Eleanor Burns using her fusible. I know it isn't the 'genuine' thing, but it satisfies the part of me that wants to think I could do this if I was patient enough. I'm working on my 4th block and I'm happy with how they're looking.....so far. If I'm going to do needle turn, this tutorial is my fav way of doing it.

SharonG/FL - who should be packing or doing something other than sitting here.

Here is a link that might be useful: Applique Tute

You will have to keep us updated while you are the the retreat. It sounds like so much fun! Maybe when I retire I will be able to attend.
Linda OH

Hi All,
Thanks for thinking of us, Sharon. We did go to DD and came home yesterday morning. DH is always the 1st back at work. He had to come see about things. So we left just after the Grands caught the bus to school and got home just after lunch. We did have to present our driver's license to get back into Morgan City, LA. We had no water or electricity when we arrived but we are blessed. We lost a section of fence and a little tree that we grew from a stem but not as much as a shingle was off the house. In our neighborhood there were some shingles gone-some more and some less. About 1/2 mile away a communication tower was crumpled but most things were small. We got water back yesterday evening and the electricity came on about 11 PM. It went off again this morning but is now back on. We actually live about 5 miles out of M.C. and in town they still have some areas which do not have electricity. But it coming up fast.
There are other areas much worse off because of the tornados that the storm caused. Many of those are further north and away from the gulf.

I have been wondering about Nancii in North East LA. Nancii, hope you are ok. It looked like the storm went your way. Let us know.

Hope all you at the retreat are having a ball!! We will be looking for pics and a report!

Will be watching the other storms and remembering those in Hanna or Ike's path.

Sally

Sally, glad to hear the good news about your home & neighborhood.
Salijo

Sally, So good to hear from you and to know you and your property are ok.

We had a good night's sleep at a motel in SC...When DH went out for his coffee, he brought back Krispy Kreme donuts. He's soooo bad. Diet Coke and a donut do not cancel each other out! We'll have some extra time today so plan to do some walking around and viewing the countryside.

Y'all take care and KOKO....

SharonG/FL

Sharon, thanks for the tutorial on applique! I've printed that out to save.

Kate

Hello all,
Thought I would say hello before I hit the hay. Had a busy weekend celebrating my bday along with a college football game and seeing Three Dog Night in concert. It sounds like you are all safe and hopefully away from any new storms coming through.
I have got to desperately stop eating so much. My weight is way up and having a little trouble with my knee so can't exercise quite as much. So, I hope this finds you all fine and KOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOK. Deanna

I'm reporting that I gained 3#s! Don't know what else I expected with 3 square meals a day prepared for me! And DH drove me back and forth to the dining hall...was a bit far for me to walk but the other girls did. The #'s might come off easily now that we're back home and I'm the cook and no way am I cooking 3 squares a day.....maybe one. We did have a fun time, though.

It appears that Ike will miss us, but they do have us on alert as we're on the 'wrong' side and might get some flooding again.

I'm anxious to unpack my quilting, get everything set back up and get into the swing of things again.

Deanna, Don't eat so much just for today. Don't look at tomorrow. You can do it just for today!

Kate, I really liked that way of appliqueing when I first started out and I still use it from time to time.

KOKO....it's what we do!

Sharon

Hope that you all have some fun plans for this weekend. I have to work but at least I will be staying in town. As much as I love vacations and traveling, I am glad to be in town. We have our ribfest this weekend and it has rained overnight. Hope to take it in this evening.

Hope that our southerners are all safe. Heading out to workout here in a half hour or so. Had a much better week with eating.

It seems like Nancii has not posted for a long time. I think of her with her smoking count down and I hope that all is well.

You all have a good day. Deanna

Sally, Haven't heard from you since Ike made his appearance. Hope your family in Houston is safe and you didn't get any flooding at your place.

Deanna, Sorry you have to work this week-end, but at least you have a job when so many are losing theirs due to the economy. Ribfest.....yummy, sounds good!

The compressor on our A/C keeps running. Had to turn the entire thing off last night... @:( Turned it back on today as we need to keep it cool. We can be thankful it works. DH is helping DD's DH put the finishing touches on their new living room flooring this morning. I'm having them over for dinner (meatloaf, chunky smashed red potatoes, broc/carrots) and the Buc's game late afternoon. After their flooring in finished, they'll start thinking about working on our living room ceiling.

I posted a pic of the tablerunner (#9) I worked on at the retreat, I'm working on a quilt for Raina, and this week, I absolutely 'have' to get started on that Boston Terrier quilt! Need to find some background fabric...I'm thinking red with paw prints or bones or something doggy. Looks like a Fabric Acquisition Road Trip is in my future. @:)

I've been working on getting rid of those pounds I gained at the retreat. Just gotta do it!

SharonG/FL a KOKO'er

I am glad everyone is safe. We had rain and it was overcast all week. Our front porch and walkway didn't dry out so it turned green in the high hudimity. I poured bottles of bleach on it.
My sis tells me bleach is bad for the environment, but it was the only way I know of to get rid of the mold.
I lost a few pounds the hard way! My allergies have bothered me so much from the humidity and mold so I didn't feel like doing anything.
Ike made a big enough mess and our gas went up 30 cents Thursday and another 30 cents Friday. It is now at $4.40, is everyones gas that high??
It is a good time to stay home and quilt!!!
KOKO Rosa

It's called price gouging, Rosa, and supposed to be reported. We have 3 stations in town who are being investigated for it and they have plastic over their pump handles. When we were out today, the lowest I saw for regular was $3.69. I figure it'll get higher, again!

It's so hot and humid today, I about passed out in Home Depot! You got it right, stay home and quilt! I came home and took a nap.

Sharon