Everyone Went on Vacation and Left Me Home Alone!

A Thimbleberries Table!

Well, not exactly, but it feels like it! Thank goodness for all you bloggers keeping me company.

I've mentioned before that I'm a member of an online Thimbleberries group, and Main Street Cotton Shop's yearly retreat began today. If you're a Thimbleberries fan, going to MSCS's retreat is a little like making an annual pilgrimage. I attended the retreat two years ago and had a blast! I know we talk about our "imaginary friends," but I actually got to meet many of our group members at that retreat, and I felt as though I had known them forever--they were all just what I thought they would be like.

MSCS is located downstairs from Lynette Jensen's Thimbleberries studio, and Lynette and some of her other designers, like Jean Lepper, teach the various classes. There are several "events" as well. This year they have a Mr. Halloween's Party (named after the Halloween fabric line) and all the attendees had to make aprons to wear. The year I attended, we were able to tour Lynette's house and studio one evening, and on another night, there was a harvest fair with lots of games and prizes. We also attended show-and-tell and got to see some of the upcoming Thimbleberries quilts and projects.

Our online group is awfully quiet right now since a number of the members have made the trek to Hutchinson, Minnesota, for this year's retreat. I'm particularly envious of Patty and Kristie, who arrived on Friday and have spent the last couple days visiting as many quilt shops as they could in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and any other neighboring states they could get to. Kristie, I think, is posting her experiences on her blog; at least I know she had a post there about her arrival in Minnesota.

Patty e-mailed our group and said her favorite shop so far was Primitive Gatherings in Menasha, Wisconsin. The owner of the shop, Lisa Bongean, is a quilt designer. If you read "Screen Door's" blog, then you'll be familiar with at least one of Bongean's patterns, Primitive Garden. Patty said that Bongean has bleached blonde hair with purple streaks--which really struck me as funny given her primitive/traditional leanings in her designs. Good for her, though! I think we need to break that stereotypical image of a quilter, don't you? Maybe I'll add purple streaks to my hair on my next Day of Beauty. I'm sure I can't look any worse!

Oh, and speaking of Thimbleberries, some of you commented on the fabrics and colors in the leaf quilt I'm working on--those are all Thimbleberries fabrics that I've collected over the years. I used some of my larger scrap pieces to make the blocks. My husband is a big fan of purple, but my decorating doesn't really lend itself to purple quilts, so this is a bit of a compromise with him in mind--there's purple there, but it's mixed in with other colors that DO belong in my home.

I have about half the leaf quilt quilted and ran out of my first spool of thread so I've ordered more--I'm not sure the remaining spool I have is enough to finish it. I think having it quilted by this weekend is "doable," assuming more thread arrives in time. Oh, and that's assuming my shoulders and arms don't give out--a very real possibility! Thank you all for visiting and leaving comments for me--I don't feel quite so lonely with so many other friends at the retreat, since I know you're there!

Mostly Thimbleberries

I was chatting online with my friend Eileen about the Thimbleberries Club block for this month and it occurred to me to share the block I made and an earlier club "extra" project.

I'm a little tired tonight, having been up until 2 a.m. the past two nights, and then awake at 6:45 a.m. for work--it takes much longer than you'd think to kill your mom and bury the evidence. Okay, I'm just kidding--actually things went more or less okay when my husband and I went to visit her last night. Oh, except that apparently I won't "let" her get her teeth cleaned, buy new prescription eyeglasses, or get a perm. Of course, I explained to her that it's not a matter of me letting her do anything, it's simply a question of what she can afford once we figure out what her income will be. And if there's not enough money for everything, it's certainly her choice whether she'd rather have a perm than pay for telephone service. Well, I'm sure you can see where this all went--which was pretty much nowhere.

Since I'm a little lacking in energy and imagination tonight--I know this because about all I managed to do while watching TV was to stare at fabric without doing a darn thing to it--I thought I'd just share with you these couple Thimbleberries things. In January, following our first club meeting for the year, I made this binder cover--it was the "extra" club project.

If you've ever done a quilt-as-you-go project, these are constructed very similarly. You just layer backing and batting, and then on top, sew the first strip and press back; sew the second strip and press back, etc., until you get the length covered. From what I recall, I think I pretty much made the stripped piece fairly long--something like 36" to 42"--and then after trimming, I used those cut-off pieces as the pocket on the inside front cover and another as the strip to slide the back cover through. A binding was added around the edges and a loop and button closure. It really dresses up a plain, old binder and makes it individual--it sure looks a lot nicer sitting on one of the shelves or the desk in my sewing room!

Here's a photo of the inside as well as this month's block. I'm making my blocks half sized and I've modified the block a little from the original pattern--so if you know what it's SUPPOSED to look like, you'll see there are a couple minor changes. Once I've put the quilt top together, I'll add some decorative touches to the house--maybe a few plants and flowers, etc. The pattern shows embroidery on the windows to separate them into panes, and I'm sure I'll add that too. And I think that upper window might need some shutters or something--what do you think?

OH! P.S.: I almost forgot to tell you! Hey, do you read Confessions of a Pioneer Woman? Ree's writing is wonderful and entertaining and I think hers is the only blog I read regularly that's not about quilting--and she has fine photos and many of them include even finer men--in chaps even! Anyway, for dinner tonight, I made her steak sandwiches--if you go to her blog and scroll down, you'll see them on the right side. Men love them. I love them. My husband loved them so much, I think I've convinced him to wear chaps. Yeah baby! So I'd better go check on him . . . .