Greetings and Salutations, Friends!!

It is Spring here in MN: the robins have returned, the magnolia is in bloom and as far as I can see there are no mounds of snow in the backyard. Of course, that can change in an hour; it is only April after all. We had a thunderstorm last night and today I saw a lawn mower being used on the car dealership’s green apron. The boys’ basketball tournament with its annual threat of heavy snow is past and the Twins have opened their season at home. I only wore a light sweater to the grocery store this morning and though it was chilly, it wasn’t enough to go back to get a jacket. It might even be time to uncover the patio swing!!

And it was an excellent time to enjoy a four day quilt retreat with my daughter in Austin.

The theme of this retreat was flamingos. After looking over the tee shirt possibilities, I settled on getting us sparkly rhinestone flamingo pins. She got us pink feathered fascinators. We were quite decked out.

I, of course, wanted to wear the little pink hats right away in the morning, but she suggested we wait until later in the afternoon so as to be more proper and British. So we did. Right around 4:30-5, we donned our very proper chapeaus and wore them until we went to bed.

We even wore them on an excursion to the hotel bar for margaritas. They were the only pink fascinators there amid the cowboy hats and live music. I’m sure you can imagine.

We wore them on an late night run to Perkins for chocolate milkshakes, right after playing a fast game of blackout bingo.(The bingo game was delayed for the first group who went to Perkins for shakes.) We thought it was such a good idea, but then had to sweat out waiting through the blackout game since Perkins closed in minutes. As soon as someone else won, we were out of there, running across the parking lot, hoping to be in time. A server and a cook were waiting for closing time at the front door and happily helped us. A tasty adventure, indeed!

Nope, no transition here

Quilters are like jugglers; they have more than one project “in the air” at one time. They may work for a few hours on one quilt, then put it away and take out another project. This may be due to a number of reasons including frustration, boredom, and/or achy back or shoulders. (As per the last reason, retreats often offer 15 minute seated massages. It is a popular activity)

I had brought two sewing projects and a quilt top that I thought I might be able to finish there. The first project was a pillowcase decorated with French cats with berets and shades. Very oui oui. I finished it for the six year old.

The next project was begun at about 3:45 on Saturday. The reason why I took note of the time was because the project was called “The One Hour Basket.” It was a simple cute basket with orange fabric with a scissors pattern on the outside and yellow fabric with the alphabet pattern on the inside. Very cheery.

And definitely not just one hour. My first hint was the instructions that were six pages, single spaced. My second hint was when the pattern called for 30 degree quilting lines “to make the basket more sturdy.” Just drawing those quilting lines took an hour.

And the third hint was when my sewing machine needle became stuck in the thick interfacing along with multiple layers of the fabric. Couldn’t go forward, couldn’t go backward. Didn’t want to force the machine into any move that might break it, even though there were many Bernina sewing machines for sale there for $1999 to $15,000.

So, considering that the needle was stuck in a bottom inside corner of the basket and that any fix would be nearly unseen, I snipped through the fabric to the needle, freeing it. If I’d had my trusty glue gun, I would have closed the cut there and then. As it was, I did nothing and I don’t even notice it now.

And then after binding the top edge, I finished the basket and in my giddiness, put it on my head and she took a picture.

The time? 8:30 Sunday evening. Waaaaay longer than one hour. I plan on making another just to see if I can shorten the time. If I can’t, expect another basket on the head picture.

That was my story about expectations. I will look at any other pattern labeled as a one hour anything as suspect.

Enjoy this nice weather, listen to some music that makes your heart sing, hug your loved ones.

Love,

Janet