Day 18: 2018 Review J-F-M

Time to look back a bit to where my year went. Here is a pic review and then some other posts to look back on.

Top row represents January into February.
I did so much appraisal shadowing these 2 months that I was very thankful to have time to go to St. Louis for a quilting retreat with friends from when I lived there.
This Blog Post discusses the retreat from a few years back when we were younger:)
Pics on top row are 1. View on the way to the airport to fly to St. Louis, 2. an aerial view of STL, and 3. my St. Valentine's Day Décor at home.

Second row: 1. My very first appraisal booth all on my own. What a fantastic day!  
2. My baby girl finishing nursing clinicals!! I am a very proud mom and she shines at whatever she puts her mind to and she has worked so hard for this!
3. We had a bit of a warm up late in February and so my husband and I took a rare moment to go sit by the water and have a beer together:)

Bottom row: 1. I finally met Kay:)  You have heard me talk of her in my Heritage Architect stories and it was great to meet her and go see her ice dye exhibit.
2. We lost a dear friend to cancer this year.  When we lived in NC, Paula and Sharon lived down the island a bit from us.  I met them through a business meeting and they owned the Wood Gallery that I exhibited in for awhile.  We spent many weekends at their place for oyster roasts which I had never heard of before them:)
We  moved and they moved but we were able to visit them in New Hampshire-WOW!  Their new gallery was even more amazing!!
Being with them was a joy with lots of laughter and love.  Our hearts break for Paula and are thankful she has family near to help her.  We love and miss you Sharon!!
3. I finally got to take a Brazilian Embroidery class. That pic is the class sample and it is gorgeous!!  Good to keep learning even when you think there isn't anything else.

In March we also had the annual COC charity auction. Click on COC to read about my donations. 

I do keep very busy. I wonder what my bullet journal would have looked like that first quarter??  Maybe we will see this upcoming year:)

Pop over to see who else is blogging...

http://muppin.com/wordpress/index.php/the-2018-31-day-blog-writing-challenge/

WHEW!

                                    
The year is off and running and I feel I am already playing catch up!
Whilst preparing for my upcoming BOM 2016 launch and my participation in BLOCK STOCK 2016, I took a break and went for a trip:)
Because that is what you do........

This is Rosemary's Quilt Shop in Highland, Illinois.  I used to live about 10 miles from here and her shop is just lovely!  She has rooms she will rent out to quilters so you can eat and quilt here for days...oh, and sleep if you need to :)

The house is full of beautiful antiques and walking through at night petting the fabric feels decadent.

There was a group of us that did it just before I was transferring to NC in 2007 and I really missed it.  I was able to fly out once again in 2011.

HERE is the post from 2011....

We had SEW much fun quilting and eating:)  There is a fantastic Chinese restaurant a couple of blocks away and I do miss it!

Looks like my friend Suzn Quilts was working on Dresdens even then!

The crew is a bit smaller now but just as much fun was had by all.

 

I was able to fly out a few days early and spend time junking and antiquing with my sweet friend.  Those treasures are for another post! 

Time spent with friends is so precious and rejuvenating so think about booking a retreat today!

RETREAT Spells.....

Relax, Enjoy Time with friends, Reflect on ideas, and EAT.

L-R: Susan, Beth, Me, Kathy, Susan, Chris, Lorraine

Right after my last post, I flew to St. Louis to meet up with friends in Illinois where I used to live. The year I moved away was the 1st Annual Quilt Retreat and they have had one every year since that I have not been able to attend. There is a wonderful little quilt shop in Highland, Ill. named Rosemary's where you can sew and live amongst the bolts:) and this was my Christmas present from my husband. It is so relaxing and sort of lets you feel like you are getting away with something...
Susan and I kept the secret from the others for over 2 months which is quite the feat when you consider all the ways we could have let it slip...Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, etc.We all had projects we wanted to work on. Here you can see Kathy and our other Susan and the table is still relatively neat:) There was plenty of fabric and conversation to keep us busy late into the nights.
The table is starting to get a bit more creative looking as more fabric and ideas get tossed about. Now let's talk about the food....Italian, Chinese, and Mexican- ALL OUR FAVORITES and the restaurants are all within a 2 block walking distance when the weather allows.

Above is a sneak peek at one of the 2 designs I started working on while in Ill. This particular one is very abstract and so different from how I normally work. I chose familiar colors though to help me work through this and I find I am enjoying this new piece. Stay tuned for the finished wall quilt.

Retreats don't have to cost a lot of money with a little imagination and what you receive in return is priceless!

Thank you Friends.