FFF - Retreat & Book Reveiw

Happy Friday!

We had a great time at the retreat at Rose Mountain House.  Click Here to see the website.  Thank you Pat for your hospitality and delicious cooking!

Here is a new quilt that I worked on.  It is a 4-patch posie, like my India quilt.  Thank you friends for helping me with the placement of the blocks!

Here is the beautiful view from the Rosa house:

Here are some photos of my friends on this retreat -

sew, barb, sew! You can see Nancy's 4-patch posie on the wall.

And some of our projects:  Nancy's 2 doll quilts, and her special quilt for Emily.  My Lavender quilt.

I actually made a "key" for the color placement - thanks Pauline for your help.

Margaret's 4-patch posie Halloween quilt-

Pauline's -

Norma's 4-patch posie -

It was so fun to get away to such a beautiful place and spend time sewing with friends.

Book Review:
Here are 2 books that I like that couldn't be more different.

English family saga, WWII era with a little mystery.  Think Thomas Hardy meets Dickens.

And here is one I just started.  It is a fast forward in time from the Shining.  Vintage Stephen King; funny, creepy and very graphic.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Happy Friday!

I'm on my way to a long awaited and much anticipated Quilt Retreat today.

Here is a little gift I made for my fellow retreaters:  Little Fabric Scrap Buckets:  I found the pattern on Pinterest and you can find here.

I found these cute buttons at a quilt show here in CT.

It was really fun mixing and matching the patterns.

I love one, a fried egg at the bottom of the Rooster fabric, lol.

this has the mustache fabric with royal crowns.

And I'm passing along a new Crockpot recipe:  Fake out Take Out - Beef and Broccoli - also found on Pinterest. 

Here is the recipe.

Here are the changes I made to the recipe:

I used slender tender green beans
I added raw peanuts
I added toasted sesame seeds
I added crushed red pepper 

**I also cooked it for 1 hour at high and then 4 hours at low.  Perfect for a busy day of sewing.

Have a great weekend sewing, cooking, gardening whatever you are doing.

Red & White - Sweet Dreams

Happy Tuesday!

I've always wanted a red and white guest bedroom and now I have one!

The embroidered penny square quilt is an antique I bought in Pennsylvania.  I made the red work pillow of our cat, Starbuck.  The other 2 quilts are signature quilts.

On the night stand is a quilt from Janet of Quiltsalott from doll quilt swap and some darning eggs in case guests or Andrew and Sig (who use this room the most) want to darn some socks.

In the corner on a red high chair sits our beloved Fred T. Bear (T stands for the "the").  He is a puppet bear.  The window toppers and bedskirt I found on ebay - hooray.

On the other night stand is a quilt I bought on the AAQI website and was made by my friend Lori of Humble Quilts.

I'm really happy with the way it turned out and just may have to sleep in there soon to try it all out.

Last week I went to my guild in NJ, The Brownstone Quilters.  They had a Red & White Challenge last year and here are some of the quilts.

Aren't they terrific?

This is my friend, Pauline's -

There will be a special exhibit and will include my School House quilt at the Quilt Show in
 October.

Hope you are having a great week!

Fun For Friday - Souvenirs

Happy Friday!

Last week when I visited Newport I was able to add a few souvenirs to my ongoing collections.

The first was a floatie pen.  I haven't seen one in quite a while.  I picked it up at The Breakers.  It is a horse drawn carriage pulling up to the house.

Here is my collection:

Two of my favorites are Mary Poppins, floating up to the chimneys and the gorilla climbing up the Empire State Building.

On the back you can see where they came from -

I also got to smash 2 pennies, the Rose Island Lighthouse and The Breakers.

You can see more of this collection in this post.

Lastly, I'm sharing this wonderful card from my friend, Jill.  Don't you love it when your friends "Get You"??  This card has it all:  pink, glitter, a cocktail and a bit of England.  WEE!

Have a Fun Weekend!!

A Grand Day Out

Happy Monday~  I'm just going with it at this point.  Thanks for all the nice comments and checking in even though I have been really erratic and non-quilt related since the move.

My dear and close friend, Joan, came for a visit this past weekend and we had a grand day out last Friday to Newport, Rhode Island.  Playground of the rich and famous New York Elite in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

The Breakers, summer home of Cornelius Vanderbilt.  All I can say is WOW.  The decoration is incredible, as in hard to believe and even look at too long.  sorry, no indoor photos.

Here is the view of Long Island Sound from the terrace - not bad if you like this kind of thing  :)

We also toured The Elms, a Coal Industrialists' summer "cottage".  It was lovely and not so over the top.  They had nice gardens too.  Here is the side view.  I loved the Pergola.

I've decided women over 50 shouldn't attempt selfies, lol.   We were trying to get the house in the background.

Back here in Madison, CT, we went to one of our town beaches for a picnic.  I always wonder why we don't do this more often.  It was a lovely day and fun to walk the beach.  Here is Joan and Mr. Fun.

It was a great joy to have Joan for a visit.  I haven't talked or laughed so much in a long time.

Have a great week!

P.S.
Hooray!  The gigantic media center was picked up and left my house on Saturday - Thanks Restoration Hardware, your service was great.