Premier Estates Retreat

Our Lake Jackson group just returned from a great retreat in Wallis, Texas called Premier Estates. Over the years we've found this place to be our favorite. It's located in a small town and the setting is wonderful. There are two restored manor houses fully equipped to meet every need. We love it there and try to go at least twice each year.

Lynnis organized a wonderful project for the group to work on and most of us came home with a lovely brooch. I did mine in vintage pearls along with various other beads and crystals. You can see the tiny Swarovski butterfly in this picture.

I've used one of my crazy quilt blocks as the background for this photo. I will take pictures and show some of my progress soon.

CQMagOnline went live today so set aside some time to look through this issue. We've dedicated this first issue of 2009 in memory of Nora Creeach, our former editor. The magazine was important to her and she devoted much of her time to insure it's success. We are indeed grateful.

A Kodak Moment

I would like to introduce you to one of my dearest friends... her name is Lynnis. She is one of our infamous Lake Jackson Crazy Quilt Bee known as "Bee Crazy." Without doubt most of us fulfill the crazy part without even picking up our needle & thread. Some of us are also a little vindictive.

On a recent retreat we found out Lynnis has extremely sensitive eyes. She woke me up in the wee hours of the morning asking me to close the curtain - the light was bothering her. She said I was talking so she thought I was awake. It would seem I talk in my sleep.

Linda, another dear friend, shared the same room and encountered a similar problem. Lynnis and I were going to bed early and Linda wanted to read. She asked Lynnis if it would be okay. Lynnis had no problem with the reading but told Linda she could if she didn't turn on the light.

We thrive on these situations and use them to our fullest advantage. I have repeated this story countless times and will continue to do so. At our Tuesday Bee I presented Lynnis with this velvet eye mask. It's my original design and actually works so we have this problem solved.

I have enough of these funny stories about members in our Bee to write a book. Jan organized our group approximately ten years ago and Lynnis is a charter member. In addition to Lynnis, Jan, and myself we have 9 other crazy quilters: Julie, Linda, Dolores, Melanie, Maureen, Mary, Claudette, Chris, and Karen. Lynn is a charter member of our group who we have been unable to convert to crazy quilting but she does beautiful beading.

God has truly blessed my life with these wonderful friends. Each one is extremely talented and full of life. In many places our reputation precedes us. We definitely know how to have a great time together.

Lacking Motivation...

Where has all my motivation gone? I feel like it's lying dormant during this winter season and I'm not accomplishing much. I've spent the last several days trying to decide what I could post - something new and exciting! In the absence of exciting I thought I would show you the latest work on my peach quilt block.

In this motif I've repeated the rose pattern in the fabric with silk ribbon embroidery. I've used 7mm silk ribbon that I've hand-dyed using a combination of Ranger and Ribbonsmyth dyes.

This second picture is one of the twelve blocks I've been working on. I'm disappointed with the color quality of the photos. The fabrics are much more vibrant and beautiful than they appear in the photos. I love how the blocks are coming together and think I'll be really pleased with the finished quilt.

I would love to complete it this year but I'm not sure I will meet that deadline.

I wanted to post one additional picture. It's a gift I received from my dear friend Debi. She is a natural when it comes to beading and comes up with some of the most beautiful designs. She has given me this lovely necklace pictured here.

Our local Lake Jackson Bee has another quilting retreat beginning on the 19th. of this month. Perhaps I will come back with lots of new things to share.