Suck-It-Up Sisters!

I know, the "Suck-It-Up Sisters" sounds not so nice, but it's all in fun!  There's a group of us that have been getting together once a month for two or three years now and that's what we decided to call our group.  It's like this, you might be having a bad day, whether it's your sewing that may not be going right, or you're just having an off day and, one of us might say "oh, suck it up", and it makes you smile because you know that they really do care.

Well, this past weekend we had a "Suck-It-Up Sisters" weekend retreat at the "Dodge Lodge".  That's a friend's house.  She has the most gorgeous house.  It could be in Midwest Living, or House Beautiful.  We take over the whole lower level of her house, and she's so accommodating.  We plan out the meals prior to the weekend and we all take turns, along with cleaning up.  It's just the best.  Good friends, good conversation, great relaxation, and we can't forget, good food!  I think I gained a few pounds.  I only went out for a jog once the whole weekend.  Not good!

So here are a few pics. 

If you can guess what this is, please leave a post.  I may unveil it with another picture!

 Here's Marge!  She was working on a quilt by Edytar Sitar called "911 Quilt".  We had an exchange with 25 people for this quilt.  I'll show you a couple of them almost done.  Their really wonderful.

 Here's Rose!  Very busy working on a purse by Lazy Girl Designs.  And Tamra on the right.  She was working on a quilt for her son to take off to college. 

And Connie!  She was working on a UFO Quilt, I'm not sure of the name.

 And then there's Debbie!  This is her house and this is her sewing room.  Do you see the sign behind her?  She used to own a quilt shop and that's the sign from it.  "Third Street Cotton Shoppe".  What a great name!  She was working on a the same purse Rose was working on, the fabrics she was using were great.  Chickens and chicken tracks!  So cute!

 Here's Peggy!  She was one of "911 Quilt" gals.  She finished the quilt this weekend and off to Marge it went for quilting!

 So then there's Bonnie!  She was working on a "House Sampler"  Block of the Month. This is a great quilt with all the blocks put together.  I post it in a later post.

This is a "911 quilt that about 12 people contributed blocks to and over the weekend, we put it all together.  Marge did the border, then took it home and had it quilted by Monday.  What a woman!  This will be auctioned off at a benefit in Whitewater on Sept 10th.  What a great quilt!

This is Peggy's "911 Quilt".  Don't her borders look great.  Gotta love that red and yellow together.

 Somehow, I missed my sister Cathy and DarLynn.  Sorry Cath and DarLynn!  I'm not sure how that happened, but Cathy worked feverishly on a great Retreat Tote.  The fabrics were wonderful!
DarLynn worked on several things.  Piecing, appliqueing, and more piecing.  She's a great multi-tasker. 

These sawtooth blocks are Debbie's.  She's making a wedding quilt for her son and soon to be, daughter-in-law, Angie.  I can't wait to see it finished.  It's a very neat pattern.

I finished the center of the quilt that I had recently posted about!  No, I didn't get it done by the dead line I said I would, but doesn't it look awesome? 

Here it is with the final border and cornerstone blocks added.  I brought a bolt with me to see if it would go well enough, but as it turned out, Marge had another piece of black that I carry in the shop and it looked 10 times better.  So, I had to wait till Monday to finish it.  I didn't know if I could get anymore of that black border fabric from Andover till I called them.  Yeah!  They had it.  We named it PJ's Puzzle Pieces.  Very appropriate for this quilt because of the construction.  It was a fun quilt.

Marge is quilting this one up for me too!  She is an awesome long-arm quilter.  And this quilt will be going up to Quilt Expo in Madison next month.  Now to finish the pattern writing!  Whew, lots to do before Expo.

 

I ran home on Saturday morning to meet Randy and her husband Mark.  They flew into Chicago on Friday evening, then drove up to Wisconsin in the morning.  She wanted to show Mark the shop.  How great is that of her.  And him!  Then they left the shop to go towards Madison, and off to New Glarus to go through the brewery.  Sounds like they had a good time.  Happy Anniversary, guys!  Randy, you should feel so lucky!  Here's Randy, DarLynn, and I on my deck in back of our house.

 Till next time!  PJR