Retreat Treat!

I love going on quilt retreats.  To my way of thinking, there is little better than being in a room with a bunch of ladies with the common goal of finishing... finishing quilts that have been started and put away, finishing the quilts that you just started at the retreat.  And retreats let you devote yourself 100% to the tasks at hand.  No need to clean up after each quilt session and meals are prepared and served by someone else.  Better yet, there's no dinner dishes to concern yourself with and no guilt that they are sitting in the sink. 

I had the pleasure of joining the New Braunfels Area Quilt Guild at their retreat at picturesque Summers Mill Retreat and Conference Center in Belton, Texas.  Summers Mill has several types of accommodations and offers walking trails, scenic views, lovely grounds and well kept lodging. 
And every where you look is a photo opportunity!

The Rutherford House

 

The Hillside and Texas Dining Room

 

Inside the Hillside Dining Room

 

Chapel in the Woods

Lone Star Cabin

 

I love this old oak tree! 

 

And look at this fence!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 How clever is that???

 

And look at this....

 

This quilt is hanging in the dining room.  Each of the ladies here, along with a few that are not pictured contributed a block to this wonderful quilt that depicts the bicycle fence.  Each was told to use whatever fabrics they wanted to use.

 

Here is my roommate and friend Meliza.  I met Meliza in Plano, Texas when Bonnie Hunter taught at Fabric Fanatics.  We became great friends and decided to be roomies for this retreat.   In this picture she is busy at work on one of  3 or 4 of  her Bonnie Hunter designed quilts that she's working on.

 

Everyone working hard!

 

 

As for me, I brought along Roll Roll Cotton Boll (another Bonnie Hunter Design). 

 

 

 

String Blocks

 

String Blocks cut in half

to make these blocks...

 

 

Fun!

 

I have about 20 more string blocks to do.  And then there's the 600 half-square triangles to do!

Oh well, one step at a time, right?

Of course you aren't going to make 70 blocks and not have a boo-boo...

 

Yikes!  I hate it when that happens.

 

 

Carefully removing the upside down piece.

 

Sewing it back in place. 

 Loretta Lynn (my tan Featherweight) accompanied me on this retreat.

 

 

Ahhhh.  All better!

 

I'm so glad that I was able to see it BEFORE I had the whole quilt together. 

I cannot wait to see this one all done!

Until next time!

Irene

Bonnie and Alex and Ricky! Oh My!

Bonnie with my Yorkies
(Top to Bottom) Riley, Katie and Murphy

So, spending a day (or five) with Bonnie K. Hunter in her workshops is wonderful.  Having her stay in my home was so much more!  I had a chance to get to know her and watch her process of keeping the 'Quiltville' ball rolling and I have to tell you it is quite a sight to behold.  

Sunday we sewed... Bonnie had a deadline looming for a submission to one of the magazines to which she contributes.  She needed a new block design and so armed with pencil and paper off she went!  

 

Within a couple of hours she had designed, cut (from my scrap bins!) and sewn together her latest creation. I was so impressed.  She makes it all look so easy!  And it was a wonderful block!  I'm so excited to see it on the glossy pages of the printed magazine and know that it was designed in my house, cut from my scrap bins, and sewn on my Singer 301, Danika (named after the female race car driver because she sews so fast!).  

 

But the BIG day was Monday.  On Monday, we got in the
car and headed to the studio of a local fiber artist who was lending her studio space to 'The Quilt Show', an internet broadcast staring Alex Anderson and Ricky Timms.  And there I was, acting as Bonnie's assistant and having the time of my life!  It was a quilter's trifecta!  

Although admitting to nerves, Bonnie did a great job keeping her cool while taping the interview segment with Alex and Ricky and then doing the demo section.  It was a bit intimidating with camera, lighting and sound equipment everywhere but Bonnie handled it like a pro... must be all that experience on Quilt-Cam! 

 

 

It took all afternoon to film what will probably be less than hour of broadcast time but I can't wait to see it. 



Talking with the Director

 

 



The monitor where Bonnie and Alex
 could see what was filming 



 



Bonnie and Alex while filming

 

 



Bonnie and Alex giving me
a photo op!



Set up for the interview segment
 with Bonnie's quilts in the background



Bonnie with Ricky filming the demo

 

 

Talking the demo segment through

 

It was such a great 4 days but all good things must come to an end and so with great reluctance, on Tuesday, I dropped Bonnie off at the airport to return to her 'hubster' and home in North Carolina.  I did, however, FINALLY get my head together and took a 'selfie' of me, Bonnie and my dog, Murphy.

I learned a lot from Bonnie; in her workshop and watching her work and getting to know her.  I'm proud to call her a mentor and friend.

 

Until next time-

May your seams be ¼ inch and your bobbins full!
 

Irene

Star Struck!

It's been a whirlwind in the Hafer house as we make our way through the month of February.  This was the month of visitors.  Great friends of ours, the Lowells, dropped by for a visit.  They are living the good life; retired and traveling the highways and byways of the great United States.  We've known the Lowells for about 25 years;  Yeow!  Our husbands served in the USAF and were stationed together at McClellan AFB, Sacramento, California in 1988.  We have kept in touch throughout the years and manage to get together every now and again.  It was great fun seeing them here in San Antonio and we really look forward to seeing them again soon!

The Lowells weren't our only visitors in February! 

As you may recall from my last blog update, I spent 5 days in Plano, Texas

taking classes with Bonnie Hunter at Fabric Fanatics.  At that class she mentioned that the New Braunfels Area Quilt Guild had been added to her calendar for Feb 22nd and that she would be filming a segment of The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Timms the following week.  Well, when I heard that I immediately got online joined the guild and signed up for her class. 

So, keeping a long story from getting longer, I offered to host Bonnie at my home and

SHE ACCEPTED!

What great fun!  Bonnie arrived on Friday and we immediately headed to the Riverwalk for a river boat tour and some lunch.  We also walked to the San Fernando Cathedral which is absolutely beautiful.

 

 

The Cathedral sits on the official center of the City of San Antonio and is the final resting place of Davy Crockett, William Travis and Jim Bowie.  It's absolutely breathtaking so if you are ever in our fair city I highly recommend a visit!






We also stopped by St Joseph's which is another beautiful Catholic Church in the downtown area. 

Beautiful Pipe Organ in the choir loft!

Now, you may be thinking, "Where are the pictures of Bonnie?" and all I can say is that I didn't take any pictures!  I was just too "STAR STRUCK" and didn't do it.  EPIC FAIL!

While we didn't try to go to all the quilt shops in the area, we did stop by my favorite San Antonio shop, Las Colchas.  This is a wonderful shop with personality and style.  Truly a sight to behold! You should stop by and say hello to shop owners Francine and Toni if you're in the downtown area.  You can find all their info on their website just by clicking here! 





Saturday morning we headed out to New Braunfels for the STAR STUCK Workshop (so wonderfully appropriately named!)  Bonnie encourages using scraps and stash fabrics to make her quilts and that is exactly what I used.  This is one of my stars.  I managed to get three blocks done at the workshop.  If you look closely, you can see that Bonnie signed my block in the neutral print just above the big flower.   You can find the pattern to Star Stuck on Bonnie's Blog...just click here. And another EPIC FAIL because I didn't take any pictures at the workshop, either!  And my camera was sitting RIGHT THERE! This is what happens when you are blinded by a star!  Lucky for me Bonnie did take pictures and you can find them here.  She even took a picture of my tan Singer Featherweight, Loretta Lynn.  I named her Loretta because she just sings when she sews!

After the workshop, Bonnie and I headed to Gruene, TX which is just north of New Braunfels.  I love Gruene.  It's a bit touristy but the area is beautiful and has lots of shops to wander through.  We decided to hit the Gristmill first.  The Gristmill is a fantastic restaurant that sits on the Guadalupe river.  I have never had a bad meal there and the setting and atmosphere cannot be beat!  We arrived early and were able to get a river side table.  When we left, there had to have been about 75 people waiting for tables.  Timing is everything!  After dinner we strolled past the Gruene Hall and into the Gruene Antique Company.  We saw two great antique quilts and this was my favorite-

It was in wonderful condition and very well done.  We admired it and wondered about the person or persons who put it together and then showed great restraint by leaving it in the store but I sure was tempted to bring it home ;-) 

It was a great day but the real excitement would come on Monday. I'll tell you all about it in a future post!

Until then-  Stay Calm and Quilt On!

Irene

Let's Catch Up!

Hello my friends!

Well here I am again...much like a bad penny that just keeps turning up.  It was a crazy end to the year 2013 and has stayed that way through February of 2014 and it doesn't look like there will be any change in that pattern for a while.  So, here's a quick recap of the last few months where life took over and this blog took a back seat....

Mid-December we had a beautiful wedding!

 

   The groom is my son, DJ and his lovely bride is Natalie.  It was absolutely beautiful and because this is San Antonio, TX, an outdoor wedding in December was not a problem! 

 

 

We celebrated our 29th Wedding Anniversary...

 

 

Where David proposed...again!

 

And of course there's Christmas!

 

 

 

This is my grand-daughter Lillian...

I bought her a sewing machine for Christmas. 

Gotta get the next generation quilting!

 

My mom and I worked on a quilt or two...

 

Here is my mom's quilt Antique Rose.  I finally finished the quilting!

 

 

And we worked on this Quilt of Valor...

 

Can you see the quilting?  It's a Cowboy boot pattern that I love!

 

To ring in the Year 2014, I had the pleasure of traveling to Fabric Fanatics in Plano, TX. where

Bonnie K Hunter of Quiltville was teaching! 

I originally signed up for three of Bonnie's classes...

There was:

 

Smith Mountain Morning made of Re-purposed Shirts

 

Roll Roll Cotton Boll

 

And a Mystery Block that you will soon see in one of Bonnie's articles.

 

And then I got really lucky and a spot opened up in another of Bonnie's classes...

 

 

Scrappy Bargello!

 

I had so much fun! 

I learned so much from Bonnie and if you ever get a chance, I highly recommend them. You can find these patterns in her books and a lot of free patterns on her blog so take a moment to check them out by clicking here. 

I spent a little bit of time in Washington state visiting my Mom and Dad.  It's so beautiful and relaxing here.

 

 

 

This is the view from the deck and from the top of the driveway.

 

 It was a great trip that gave me some time to work on a couple of my "handwork" projects...

I finished the wool applique on       

 

 

It's A Grand Old Flag

 

And got another couple of blocks done of

 

 

Merry Merry

 

You can see that I still have to finish the block on the bottom right.

Six more to go of this BOM / UFO.

 

Mom and I put a new belt on my Grandmother's Singer Treadle and it sews beautifully!

 

 

Isn't my mom pretty??!!

 

We returned home the first week in February and then turned right around and

headed to Phoenix AZ.

 

Dave's mom, Carnell, whom I dearly love, and I hit the road and headed to AQS Quiltweek while Dave and his dad, also Dave, hit the golf courses.

 

 

Here's mom in front of a Quilt of Valor Quilt.

 

We always have a good time with the Senior Hafers playing dominos and drinking coffee with a shot of Bailey's Irish Cream to add to the fun factor :-)

 

Well, that almost brings us up to date....  ALMOST.  I still haven't told you about my friends who stopped in for a visit.  Next time!

 

Meanwhile..

 

Keep Calm and Quilt On!

 

Irene