Warning...Too Cute

In my last post I mentioned that I had gone to a retreat the previous weekend. I spent the majority of my time on making some gifts for kids. I got a panda bear "quilt" made and got most of a big daisy flower done. Here is the panda...

How cute is he? As you can see, I don't have all the edges clipped just yet. One of my friends informed me that they make scissors designed to do just that. I guess I'll have to borrow them. The bear is made of fleece which makes him very light and very fluffy. I have to say, though, that it was a real "bear" to put together. ;-) There are some places where I had to sew through eight layers of fleece. My machine just refused to do it. I finally resorted to sewing the last few seams by hand. I think it is as cute as can be, but I certainly won't be making another one.

As I said, I also worked on a large flannel flower rag quilt while I was at the retreat. I have nothing to show for that, though, because I didn't cut enough pieces before I left (and, of course, I didn't bring extra flannel with me). I have since cut the pieces out and hope I can get them put together soon. I'll post a picture when it is finished. I hope it sews a bit easier than that bear!

I had a couple of small tops already made; they just needed to be quilted and bound. They were made from patterns by Lori Smith. I got both of those little quilts finished.

Of course, there is a lot of visiting, eating, and shopping done at our retreats too--all of which I enjoy a little too much. I found some great buys at a local shop when we went shopping. I paid $11.80 for 8 3/4 yards of fabric! One of my favorite bargains was a bundle of 56 coordinating 10" X 15" pieces of fabric ($2). I'm thinking I may make a table runner or two out of those fabrics. In the picture below, you can see the "Grab 'N Go Kits" I purchased. They are made of felt, and I'll use them a little table toppers. The kit includes the backing, precut shapes, DMC floss, needle, Jingle Bells, buttons, etc., and I got them for 63% off. I thought these would be nice quick projects to grab since I'm on the go so much. I even got a craft-size Quilters Dream Poly for $2.50. The bargains were just too good to pass up! It is like I tell my husband, "I saved more than I spent!"

I was in Indianapolis this past weekend. I went up for my husband's surprise retirement dinner. Our son and daughter-in-law flew in from Arkansas, and our daughter and grandson came up from Otwell, Indiana. Nate had friends who flew in from Florida and Hawaii to attend. He was quite surprised and touched. It was really nice to get to spend some time with both of our children. That is a rare occurence these days. The next time we see my son will be when his baby daughter is born (supposed to be the end of July). We are SO looking forward to that. I made a little "tag blanket" and took that up to them. I'll post a pic of that next time. I'm just having so much fun making things for little girls.

 

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