Finish It Friday, 7/17/15

When I left off yesterday's post,  Mark and I had just returned to Denver on Monday night. On Tuesday morning, he flew back home to Fresno and I flew on to Minneapolis to attend the annual quilting retreat at Gruber's. 

For the last three years, my brother-in-law Leon has picked me up from the airport. I had a short wait at baggage claim, but fortunately they have a Starbucks right there so I grabbed some coffee and a newspaper. This was pretty close to my table. 

Quite a few years ago, there was a display of Snoopy's houses all around St. Paul (Charles Schulz grew up in St. Paul), each one decorated differently. I snapped pictures of nearly all of them. It makes me happy to see one of them again.

For years I had wanted to go to Mickey's diner, which is legendary in St. Paul, so Leon took me there for lunch. It was quirky in the most awesome way.

We sat right at the bar, pictured above

The next morning, he and my sister-in-law, Sharon, drove me to Amanda Jean's house, where I always spend the night before the retreat starts. I have always stayed in her daughter Abby's room. Abby is nearly the same age as my granddaughter, Charlotte. I just know they would be great friends and I sure hope they will meet each other.

This was on my door. Isn't it great? 

And of course, I always look forward to seeing which quilt is on the bed.

I always get to choose a quilt to take along for the retreat. Such a hard choice.

This was filled up shortly after I gave it to Amanda Jean. Oh Scrap!

Purchased here

The trip to Gruber's is only about 20 minutes and it didn't take long to get settled in.

For the first time, I didn't travel with my Featherweight. So SEW nice not to have to lug a sewing machine around the airport. Amanda generously loaned me Hello Kitty, and one day I happened to match my machine.

Mark was following along on Instagram and wondered why we kept posting pictures and then commenting on each others'   Instagram feed when we were just two or three feet from each other. Haha.

By the way, this is what Mark was doing (other than nearly nonstop working at his office) while I was away--attending a beach-themed 13-year-old birthday party.

 

Each year we make "happies" for each other, just a little something to make each of us smile. The bar was set quite high this year. And we briefly discussed not making them next year. Nah....it's too much fun.

 Mine. All mine.

This is the first year we had movie night. No big screen, but it was still fun. I would like to know how many times Rene' and Michelle have watched Pitch Perfect.

When you stay up late sewing, and then even later chatting with your roommates, by the third day things start to get ridiculous. Anything can sound just hilarious. So when Amanda Jean came up with the brainiac idea to sew a micro quilt, it seemed like such a great idea. Her parameters--it had to be less than 4" per side, and definitely smaller than a coaster.

"Please hold up your end better so it doesn't sag in the middle."

  "Do you need charm square for the backing?"

"No, I think you should piece the backing...."

"Are you going to make a scrappy binding?"

"Are you going to pin baste or spray baste." 

See what I mean?

 Oh scrap!

I sewed on a larger scale--making some blocks for a charity donation quilt for next April.

"Moccasin" by GenXQuilters

We usually go out for dinner, although this year we ordered pizza in on Friday night. And we dress up a little for Saturday night dinner.

L to R: Amanda Jean, Rene', Doris, Mary, Michelle, Terri, me, Shelly, Stephanie

Everyone left on Sunday afternoon, except for Rene', Michelle and me--I hitched a ride back to the airport with them on Monday morning. But Sunday night---we were under a tornado alert, with constant thunder and lightning flashing. So what did we do? Watched Pitch Perfect again.

It was such a great weekend--with so much sewing and sharing, laughing and eating, our friendships get better and better with each year.

Oh, it's Finish It Friday: My happies were one-hour baskets for everyone, using the license plate fabric from Timeless Treasures, fussy cutting so each person's state was front and center on one side, adding big stitch quilting in red around the license plate.

I had some Gruber's ribbon from a previously purchased fat quarter stack, so I cut it all apart and added a little tag to each basket.

The other finish for this week is a completed Flora supply case for Amanda Jean for her friendship throughout the year and her hospitality when I come to Minnesota. (And this might be a little sneak peek at her upcoming fabric line for Connecting Threads!--she had a milestone birthday on July 4th so the red, white and blue was the obvious choice.)

One of the best weekends of the year. Until next year...

I'm linking to Crazy Mom Quilts, TGIFF and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.