Wonderful Wednesday - CCLQ @ The Bluff

Welcome to another installment of Wonderful Wednesday!!

This week's post is about the trip that my Quilt Group took last week... ALL WEEK!!!  I'll try to be brief and you can fill in the gaps by following this LINK to my Quilt Bee's Blog.  I'm planning on posting an in-depth account of our daily adventures every day for a week.

It was a wonderful week and, as my friend Candy said, we had a BLAST @ The Bluff!!!


What on EARTH are you talking about, Joyful???


Here's what I'm talking about...

Make a list, pack your bags, we're going on a Quilt Retreat... CCLQ @ The Bluff to be exact:

Six of quilters traveled in two cars (there was luggage and sewing machines, you know!) to Denver, PA and then shopped til we dropped the next day.  We took in three quilt shops in the Lancaster, PA area, ate, slept, and then got back on the road.


Our destination???  Upstate New York.  It's a LONG way, but SEW worth it!!!



After HOURS of driving and a brief rest, six tired quilters were greeted with THIS:

Most of the other photos are in somewhat random order.  Sorry about that, but I have to be at work early, so there's no time to fix it.

Here we have a rest area with views that are "quilt worthy":

The Lost Dog Cafe, Binghamton, NY:

How PERFECT is that?!?!  I'm knitting on my Mystery of the Traveling Scarf in the car:

On our first trip to the lake, we saw a sign...  STOP... Edge of Bluff:

Beyond the sign...  The Quilt Cottage:

Oh, LOOK!!!  My purchases from Lancaster:

I see the Dining Cottage, but...  Where's the lake, Joyful???

THIS was the view from the Sewing Porch:

Hey, everybody!!!  Don't you wish you were me???  :P

Obviously, this shot was taken on our trip to the beach:

It certainly doesn't look like any other beach I've ever seen!  That rocky shoreline:

A view of the bay, through the trees:

A somewhat less than spectacular sunset, but still pretty:

Especially, on the edge of nightfall:

Late night stitching on the sewing porch... with NeedleB, of course:

Another day, another moment to commit to memory:

There were quilts on EVERY bed:

I revealed the Retreat Challenge.  Quilters were asked to make SOMETHING from these awesome embellished mono prints that my talented friend, Jean, helped me make.  My idea, her supplies:

There were Door Prizes, too!  Thanks to Katharine, Ruth S., and Mae Ann:

Off the edge of The Bluff (and 30 miles away) is Canada:

Does anyone have a CLUE what this plant is???  Donna and Deborah found this curious, soft-spike, vine-growing plant in the back yard when we were taking group photos:

And for your science lesson for today...  Deborah's Google magic revealed that the mysterious plant is a Wild Cucumber.  Have a look at the inside:

Oh!  How I will miss the view from the Sewing Porch.  SEW beautiful:

The living room of the Quilt Cottage was transformed into 4 cutting stations:

Six happy quilters and their Hostess-with-the-Mostest:

The three who made CCLQ @ The Bluff a dream come true:

Another stunner...  Our farewell sunset:

CCLQ @ Sundown over Lake Ontario:

This quilt was purchased at an antique shop for $80!!!  SEW sweet of a deal:

Full moon???  If not, it's VERY close to it:

These stick forts could be found all around The Bluff:

One last view of the lake before we head for points south:

It was brighter in real life!  Shining waters of a river along our drive back to Pennsylvania:

One more sunset, as we mark the "halfway-home" point, near Carlisle, PA:

Kenzo Asian-Fusion, a MUST, if you find yourself anywhere near Chambersburg, PA:

I hope you enjoyed the sights and sounds of our trip to The Bluff.  (I know that I did!!!)

Until next time...
RETREAT!!!

Mail Call Monday - Plucky Pleasures & the RAK Return

Welcome to another edition of Mail Call Monday!!

I was away last week, so have no idea when the box arrived, but the package was delivered in today's mail.  Hmm... what did I order THIS time???


NOTHING!!!  :o))


These two packages represent a trade that I owe and a RAK that returned the favor (and then some.)

Inside the box...

... was FIVE skeins of Plucky Traveler DK in the Push Pop colorway!!

And inside the package...

... was a beautiful skein of Butter Yellow recycled cashmere!

Bonus...

... the package included a sweet little handmade project bag!!

Thank you to Pamelajd and TheKnitrix!!!  I am thrilled with our trades.  Pam, look for a box of fabric headed your way by the end of the week.  (First, I need to catch up on paperwork, emails, and an unfinished sewing project - with an approaching deadline!)

Until next time...
Be brave!!!  (Participate in swaps.)

ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC15 - Week 39

Welcome to Week 39 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!  As you may know, I am participating in RSC15.  Angela, from So Scrappy Blog, challenges quilters from all over the world to USE their SCRAPS.  Each week, a good number of these "RSC Quilters" link up with Angela to share what they have been doing with the Color of the Month.

As previously posted, this month's color is ORANGE and I'm here to tell you that you shouldn't expect very much ORANGE sewing from me this week!


WHY, Joyful???


Why, you ask?  The explanation is simple...  I'm going on a Quilt Retreat!!!  :o))

While I may take along a baggie of ORANGE scraps, I don't expect RSC sewing to be the focus of my quilt productivity.  Don't worry, though!!  I'll be sure to keep tabs on what I accomplish.

SUNDAY was a flurry of activity.  I'm getting SEW excited about my upcoming Quilt Retreat!!  I'm leaving bright and early tomorrow morning.  Right after stopping to get Needleb and meeting up with 4 other adventurous members of the Cherry Creek Lane Quilters!!

I packed my clothes last night (and re-packed them this afternoon!!) and stacked my quilting projects, but wasn't ready to commit to packing them.  That task was completed before lunch.  Whew!!  There are TOO MANY bags to take... So many of the items are for just in case:

And this doesn't even include the Sewing Machine!!!

I've got an overnight bag with everything I need for the 1st leg of the trip, a small suitcase with clothes for the week, a quilt for a chair cushion/extra covers, and my GIANT bag filled with sewing supplies and projects for the Retreat. 

The iron is going in the supply bag, but it was still hot from sewing ONE Rainbow Crumb Block... because it felt too weird to pack everything up WITHOUT making something first:

MONDAY morning dawned early.  I went through my regular routine of packing lunches and making breakfast for the guys, but then threw in loading the car and leaving for my first quilt retreat in more than 2 years!  This super-custom CK Tote is what is on the table awaiting my return:

I'm hoping between now and then, I will have come up with a way to finish this last pocket!  This is a NEW feature which was added this year (without having thought through the logistics of creating it.)  Oops!  Anyone got any bright ideas???  :P

While I was stuck in the car all day, Angela posted the THIRD block tutorial for this month:

Sawtooth Sampler Whirling Blades

TUESDAY is SHOPPING DAY in Lancaster, PA!!!  While my lonely ORANGE scrap basket sits on the cutting table at home:

I've been out scouting for NEW fabrics to make MORE scraps.  As evidenced from the photo shown above, I may need to add ORANGE to my shopping list!  It appears that I've made a fairly good dent in the scraps with which I began the month.

WEDNESDAY included the trip to our final destination and we were reunited with our friend Ruth S.  After being shown to our "cottage", I promptly set up my sewing machine and began working on one of the projects that I brought along.  Apparently, as I stitched Mystery blocks, Angela posted the Alternate Block for September:

Sawtooth Sampler - Orange Alternate Blocks

We were welcomed by a glorious sunset and served a fabulous dinner, after which, I collapsed in a heap and went directly to sleep.  Two days on the road is not an easy trip for this quilting chick!

PHOTO UNAVAILABLE!!!

THURSDAY morning dawned to another beautiful day...

FULL of SEWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  :o))

FRIDAY was our 2nd full day of sewing.  Plenty of progress was made on our Mystery Quilts.  Here is the sunset that bid us farewell:

On SATURDAY, after a morning of sewing, we sadly packed up our machines and headed for home.  It was a long journey for a little bit of quilting time, but we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  A number of us even finished ALL of the blocks for our Mystery Quilt!!

Thank you to Ruth S. for inviting us to share a bit of time at the CCLQ @ The Bluff quilt retreat.  We enjoyed meeting your "Bluffer" friends and will hope to see them all again another year.

It's rather late, but I'm off to join Angela's LINK PARTY.  Unfortunately, seeing what the other RSC Quilters have been up to will have to wait until I get home... sometime tomorrow (and maybe until everyone is off to work and school on Monday.  :o((

Until next time...
RETREAT!!!

ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC15 - Week 38

Welcome to Week 38 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!  It's another FULL week of work for me. The LAST one before I go away on a Quilt Retreat!!!  Although, I will only be working ONE of my jobs, so I'm hopeful that I will be able to fit in a bit of RSC sewing (along with making progress on my custom tote bags.)

Take a look at how my hopes were (fulfilled or smashed to smithereens, as the case may be):

A small portion of SUNDAY afternoon was devoted to taking a picture of the Tiny Nines (that I didn't sew yesterday!!)  The GOOD news is that I added to the collection of prepped blocks:

AND did some sewing.  I made ONE Rainbow Crumb Block:

My friend, Needleb, was over working with her Sizzix machine, so I got busy on my Tiny Nines:

Aren't these SIX Tiny Nines adorable in ORANGE:

Then I found that Angela had posted a new tutorial:

Rainbow Scrap Challenge Sampler - Whirler

MONDAY began another work week, but it turns out that I didn't have to go to work!  Instead of doing ANY of the things that I should be doing, I spent a few moments making ONE String Block in ORANGE:

Then meeting up with my knitting friends ended up taking precedent over sewing.  (It was urgent!  I had a shirt that needed to be mailed out.) The next excuse was that I just HAD to stop at the grocery store, but when I returned home... there was work to be done... on my tote bag project:

Before that, I went for a polish change because it was chipping away.  Unfortunately, it appears that I should have sprung for a pedicure, but it IS a lovely shade of ORANGE... be sure to note that I am TOTALLY in the RSC spirit with my Rainbow sandals, too:

I did combine the bits that I put together from Saturday's "scrap infusion" with an incomplete block from another day to make ONE Rainbow Crumb Block, just to sneak in a bit more FUN:

Before work on WEDNESDAY, I took a few minutes to audition some fabrics for a Maverick Star Block.  Which option do YOU like better?  Why??

The Spotty Center or...

The Darker Center:

I was in a "Crumb-y" mood after work, so... I made THREE Rainbow Crumb Blocks to get into the sewing groove:

Oh, look what Angela posted today!  The next RSC Sampler Block Tutorial:

Sawtooth Sampler - Twirling Four Patch

I made REAL progress on the first 2 of my Custom Tote Bags.  Both are ready to be assembled:

I can't show more than this right now, as one of the recipients wishes to be surprised, so I used an older photo.  My manicure now match my pedicure.  :o))

THURSDAY, after Quilt Group work, I made ONE Rainbow Crumb Block:

And got to work on FINISHED  2 of my T-shirt Tote Bags before dinner:

Then decided that I preferred the contrast of the Darker Center and assembled ONE Maverick Star Block:

This FRIDAY ended my work week and resumed my regularly scheduled attendance at Knit Group!! After lunch with "the girls," I wanted to use more of the scraps from Dee Dee so I made ONE Rainbow Crumb Block using some of the darker pieces in the baggie:

There's a HOME football game tonight, so I have to go feed that hungry Marching Band!!  Drat and blast!!  WHY did I raise my hand to volunteer???  I'm missing out on valuable sewing time.  :o((

SATURDAY came and I joined the LINK PARTY at Angela's So Scrappy Blog.  I'm lucky link number 13 this week.  Make sure you pop over to check out all of the ORANGE scrappy goodness. The page is filled with bright, cheerful ORANGE project for your viewing pleasure!

I did a bit of sewing (when I should have been packing) and I made ONE String Block in ORANGE to round out the week:

Until next time...
Get Scrappy!!!