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Quilting in Vermont… Part 1

February 25, 2013 By JulieK

Here is a photo of me and my new friends…

(Gloria, Florence, Gale, Me, Lisa, Carol, Alison, Donna, Kathy, Duke, and Mary with special thanks to Hugh for taking our picture with 50 different cameras and phones!!)

I have to post about my WONDERFUL relaxing and very productive retreat spent at the beautiful Strong House Inn in Vergennes, Vermont. Now, if you’ve read my blog before, you know that I LOVE mountains, and LOVE visiting Vermont… In January, we were in North Conway, NH, and I said to Mike that I wanted to go and stay at a bed and breakfast someday… He made a face :). The next week, I happened to be looking at bed and breakfasts, and I found this quilting retreat online that was hosted at a bed and breakfast in Vermont. It was Wednesday-Sunday and happened to be during my school vacation week. I took that as a “sign” that I needed to go :) Plus, as an added bonus, Mike didn’t have to go to a bed and breakfast, but I could cross it off my “list” of things I wanted to do!! Bonus!!

Now, if you’ve read my blog before… You also know that I don’t generally go places that I haven’t been before by myself… Part of that is because I’m seriously directionally challenged… I commuted to college and swear that I got lost at least once a week for 4 years on my way either to or from school!! My husband can go someplace once, 20 years ago, and find his way back no problem… me? I’m lucky I can get home from the grocery store without incident :) But, now I have a GPS, which is the best thing since sliced bread :) and so, I signed up to go away to a quilt retreat for 5 days in a place I’ve never been (we’ve been to Vergennes, just not the inn) all by myself! The ride up was beautiful! Fresh snow on the trees, the GPS took me back roads off the highway, very nice!! Of course, when I stopped at a rest area, I went to grab my coat and realized that I went to Vermont in February without a jacket :) but that was OK, ’cause I was planning to sit and sew for 5 days :)

I will do a part 2, with pictures of all the projects I made while I was there… but first, the Inn… Oh my heavens!! It’s so nice!! It’s a place that makes you feel right at home from the moment you walk in the door!! Hugh and Mary are just wonderful Innkeepers… It started with a tour of the beautiful inn and the quilting space! Here’s a few photos…

The view walking to the Inn from the parking lot.

The breakfast room.

The quilting room.

The library.

Here’s a sneak peek at one of the projects I made on the first day… There’s 2 large design walls set up so you can see what you’re working on!

It was just lovely!! We arrived on Wednesday, once everyone was there we all ordered dinner from a local pizza place that delivers… We sat and chatted and got to know each other a little bit, and had a lovely desert provided by Mary, our innkeeper…

Thursday was “shop hop” day… We had a lovely and delicious breakfast, sewed for a while, had a delicious lunch, then piled in cars to go and visit 4 different fairly local quilt shops… (CLICK HERE to see photos Mary took of our shopping adventures… but don’t tell my husband about that pretty pile of fabric in my hands :) and at the end of the day had a wonderful dinner out, then back to the Inn for more sewing :)

Friday and Saturday were “do what you want” days… With breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea and treats at the Inn… We had dinner both nights from Three Squares Cafe in Vergennes… Which looks like a small ordinary sub shop… it is anything but ordinary!! Really delicious good (and interesting) food… Their flourless chocolate torte (AKA by us as the Chocolate Bomb) was holy cow good!! Winding up on Sunday with breakfast and packing and having to say goodbye to new friends who I feel like I’ve known forever… I made a lot of things, which I’ll post soon… And, I felt young (they teased me about my young age!! That was GREAT fun!!) but the ladies accepted me into their group as if they’d known me forever!! Honestly, it was just wonderful!! People from Vermont, Mass (me, and from the Cape), Connecticut, New Jersey and even as far away as Georgia!! Sew much fun!! :) Some extra special thanks to Florence, Donna and Gloria who were my table-mates and treated me as if I came with them :)

Happy Birthday Miss Kathryn!!

January 31, 2013 By JulieK

Oh my heavens… Can you believe that my baby is 9 years old today?? I can NOT believe it!! Wishing an amazing wonderful day to my feisty, smart, fun, fearless youngest child today!! **and I can finally give her her sewing machine!!! I can not wait!! I’ll update with photos later, as she’s not getting that part of her present until tonight :) ** Updated with a photo of her at the end, opening her machine!! She loved it as much as I imagined!! Now we just need to find some time to make things!!

Here’s just a few favorite pictures… Mostly goodies from my phone…

Yup… this one captures her personality perfectly!

Pouring rain at a Lowell Spinners game won’t wreck her fun!

A new Bitty Baby-her first American Girl Doll

Dancing in the front yard waiting for Sean’s bus to come!

This picture is not flipped… She very carefully wrote her name in sticks… Backwards!

Just this winter, Knitting with me at the Library while Sean was at basketball practice

Last week, out for ice cream with her new hat!! Crazy girl :)

A very happy birthday baby!! I hope you have a fantastic day!

And, here she is opening her sewing machine!! She DID love it!! It it a great little machine, it’s solid, and so far seems to sew a straighter line than my machine does!! It’s great!!

Miss Crafty…

January 24, 2013 By JulieK

Miss Kathryn is AKA little Miss Crafty! here she is with the doll quilt that we made last weekend… There’s also a matching pillow, and I think I’ll write up a quick tutorial on how to make them… They were really easy to make, and Kathryn did 99% of it without any real help from me!! The only part I did was the ironing!It’s made from 5″ squares of Moda fabric (I’ll have to look up the fabric line) and she laid them out the way she wanted them and then sewed them together in strips. If I remember this afternoon, I’ll take a pic with the blanket, pillow and one of her dolls. For this project, she used my sewing machine…

She doesn’t know it yet, but she’s getting her own sewing machine for her birthday (next week) I have *ALMOST* given it to her early several times… but I really want her to have it on her actual birthday… I got her the Janome 11706 Hello Kitty machine, it’s solidly built (not a cheesy plastic model) and I’m hoping that she’ll LOVE it :) Seriously, I’m kinda worried that I’m more excited about it than she will be!! I also made her a machine cover out of fabric that matches her quilt and will get pics of that as soon as I can without her seeing me!I’m mildly worried that I should have bought her a full sized machine, but from all the reviews I read, this one is made of metal, is solid, and many people use it as their travel machine ’cause it’s lightweight but sews well… Worst case, she can have my machine when I get the new one I want (having serious sewing machine envy myself… but that’s a post for another day!!).

Here’s a pic of her new machine… So super cute!! I’ll post an update when she knows :)

My “Big Girl Mixer”

January 8, 2013 By JulieK

So, I have ALWAYS wanted a “Big Girl Mixer” AKA KitchenAid Stand Mixer… But, firstly, they’re expensive and I just couldn’t justify spending that much money on a mixer… And secondly, I’m a terrible cook (true, just ask my husband, he’ll tell you), so spending that amount of money on a kitchen appliance just seemed silly! BUT, Santa heard my plea (well, the kids were with me one day when I was in a store drooling over the big girl mixers, and they told Santa (AKA Mike).

Here it is… My precious…

Isn’t it pretty??? Especially on my brand new butcher block counter tops!! The kitchen renovation is a whole other post :) I kinda wish that I had had my beautiful mixer for Christmas Eve dinner, when I made chocolate mousse and REAL whipped cream for dessert!! That was a lot of standing at the counter with my little hand mixer… But, man… I love it!! I’ve also been a cooking maniac since I got it!! I kinda feel like he got me this amazing mixer, I SHOULD make some amazing food with it, right??

So far… I have learned that I totally stink at making brownies… doesn’t matter how good the reviews are for the recipe, I can’t cook them…

Then there’s cookies!! OMGosh, I don’t make cookies ’cause they’re too hard to mix… well, not any longer… I made THESE and wow… Even Sean, who’s not a “sweets” boy loved them and keeps asking me to make them again! Yummy, yummy, yummy!!

Then, there’s bread!! Oh, dough hook, how do I love thee? I made dinner rolls the other night, which were yummy, but I didn’t take a picture… then last night… Oh, yeah… One hour bread! Which came out great!! Hot and fresh from the oven with butter and our pasta dinner, YUM! and today I have it sliced and toasted for my sandwich!

Speaking of being a horrible cook… I so LOVE the idea of cooking, but you know how busy it gets when you have a husband, 2 kids who have activities, you work full time, and you co-own a crafting place!! Planning and finding time to cook is a challenge to say the least!! I’ve tried a ton of different recipe plans, most of them use ingredients that I simply don’t have, or that my picky-pants husband and kids won’t eat… I recently signed up for emeals and am already very pleasantly surprised!! The pasta meal we had last night with the yummy bread? You guessed it, that was from my new emeals subscription!! Check it out, it’s not very expensive, you get a whole week’s worth of yummy recipes, and for a limited time you can save 15% on your subscription cost with the code newyear . Check them out! They have lots of different menu options! I got the classic meals, and if you get a subscription and change your mind on the menu, you can change it!

Happy New Year!

January 2, 2013 By JulieK

I cannot believe that we are starting a new year! Last year flew by so fast!! One of my goals this year is to slow things down… Enjoy the quiet (if I can find some) and find peace this year… Do you make New Year Resolutions? I usually make a few, and actually accomplish some :) Here’s what I’m planning to work on this year (knowing full well that it’s a work in progress)…

1. Go to the gym and lose enough weight that I can wear my wedding/engagement rings. Last year I put on enough weight to make my rings unwearable. I can’t stand the thought that I am going to stay “fat” so I can’t get my rings sized… I just need to get a bit healthier :)

2. My “52 to do project.” My goal is to make 52 scarves (or other warm things) to donate this year, one thing a week. More information on this will be coming soon as I chronicle the things I make!

3. Daily Audio Bible. I love to listen to the Daily Audio Bible, and for the last 2 years, I’ve made it all the way through to July, and then we go away for 2 weeks and I can’t catch up… This year’s goal is to make it all the way to the end of the year!

4. Just say no… I am busy, I have a full time job, a husband and 2 kids… Plus a crafting (crop) business to take care of. I am planning to simplify this year and remove as much stress as I can so that I can enjoy the things I do even more!

5. A Happy Jar… My sister posted this idea on Facebook the other day, and I thought it was brilliant! Find a jar (you know mine will be decorated at some point) and as happy things happen through the year, write them down and put them in the jar. At the end of the year, you’ll have a whole jar of the happy memories!! A brilliant and simple way to add more focus to the good!!

Happy New Year Everyone!! I hope 2013 brings you good health and happiness!!