FIRST CRAFT RETREAT!

So, for the first time in my life, I'm headed for a craft retreat!  My dear friend Elena is celebrating her birthday by hosting an all-day crafting bonanza at our friend Robin's great big house.  I work till five, and the crafting/movie watching begins at six.  And because I'm riding with Elena, I had to give her all my stuff last night, including the new sewing machine, which I have now christened Regina Bernina.  Because pretty much anything that costs over $1000 needs a name.  Anyway, I have to say I was a little sad to let Regina go with Elena.  It was kinda like letting a kid leave on his first over-nighter.  'Course, I don't have kids, but . . .

I can't wait to get crafting!  I'm hoping that Robin has a table that's taller than mine, and I can get a TON of cutting done.  That's the part that kills me -- I'm 5'10", and I cut on a really small wooden table.  Can you say, "backache?"  And while I can't afford a new table, I need to get a new cutting mat.  Mine's getting a little brittle.  Hee, hee!  I have honeybun strips to sew into bargello tubes; I have to create a stitch sampler for my machine class (that's project numero uno).  I have fat quarters to cut for this pattern: http://www.modabakeshop.com/2009/10/vintage-ribbons-table-runner.html.  I have charm squares to quarter for tiny baby blocks.  Lots to do!  We're spending the night tonight, then crafting all day tomorrow!  I'm quite excited.  I will post pictures when I come back!

THE DISASTER THAT WAS HARVEST FESTIVAL

So it totally sucked to be honest. The weather would have been perfectly crisp but for the fact that it was so windy chairs were falling down and we were shaking all day.

I got up at 7:30 Saturday morning to help my mom. I was ABSOLUTELY frozen by the end of the day. We only sold about six hats and gave away a couple of order forms. There just weren't enough people -- they took a look out their windows Saturday morning and said, "Screw this!" It was miserable!

I didn't get anything sewn for the event. I used Malu's bargello that I gave her for her birthday last year. That was all I had. By the time I thought of making stuff, it was too late. Maybe for the Arts and Crafts fair this year. Who knows? Oy.

At least nobody missed anything. However, the parade did break the five-minute mark this year! It was cute. One of the guys drove his tractor backwards, which was pretty funny. When I asked my mother why he did that, she goes, "Because it's Ray." That pretty much summed it up. Oh well!

TABLE RUNNER PREPARATIONS

So I have all the strips cut for Mom's table runner. It might not be totally finished by the time Harvest rolls around this weekend, but at least Mom'll have something to decorate her table. And I'll get some coasters done -- quicker than potholders. Sets of four or six, depending on how much I have left over. I'm just going to do pinwheels since they're so easy. And kinda crazy quilting since I have such an old machine! Wish me luck!

MY BARGELLO PLANS

So here's my plan for the bargello table topper for Mom's and my booth at the Harvest Festival. It'll of course be a little different than this, since I didn't take the size thing into account -- I was just trying to figure out if it would look okay when there were only six colors. Whew. Thank God it looks like it will. I'll let you know how it goes -- no worries there!

EVERYTHING BUT THE BINDING!

I have finished my sisters' placemats -- well, everything but the bindings. Those are going to be tricky for me, but my mom is going to help since she's a better hand sewer than I am.

Anyway, I've included a crappy cell phone picture because I can't find my camera right now. And I really don't want to worry about great pictures until I've finished them.


I'm moving on to potholders and coasters for Harvest Festival. I'm going to make some sets of four and sell them at Mom's booth at the Arts and Crafts show. I'm also going to make another bargello, but this one will be a bit different -- only about 12 inches deep, but quite a few feet long so it can be used as a table topper for Mom's table at Harvest. It's browns, oranges, and creme. It'll be really country-ish but funky since it'll be bargello. I really enjoyed making my first one, and I was really proud of how well I did with it, so I'm looking forward to trying again. It should be interesting!