Couples Gourmet

These are dear friends, all of whom (including Patty) we met through a Couples Gourmet group. At the top are Patty & Cheryl; bottom are Lynn & Kathy. Our mutual friend, Mary, who couldn't attend this outing, is responsible for introducing DH & me to the group, God bless her! We would take turns hosting the group, with the hosts creating the menu, then assigning recipes for each other couple to bring on the night. Sometimes there were disasters, at other times it was a feast. In recent years, the group has stopped cooking & goes out to a restaurant of the hosts' choice, often returning to their home for dessert & some visiting. That's what we did this time. May used to be our month, & it always fell on the Saturday night before Mother's Day. Since we moved to CA, this has been the night we get to catch up with the group, continuing the tradition of being with the gang even though we don't live there anymore. So nice!

Skeletor!

Scary-looking, isn't it? This is a caseless machine, brought by Lisa & Lori from Stiches 'n Stuffing of Naperville, IL, to the Sarah's Grove Quilters Circle meeting to illustrate some of the finer points of sewing machine maintenance. They also discussed in some detail the various uses & benefits of different needles & threads, too. Very informative & fun -- these are a couple of entertaining ladies. Lisa is the "sewing machine repairman" at S&S, inspiring me to think about looking into getting some training in that field. It actually sounds very interesting to me. I wonder what it would take?

Adieu, old friends

This is Jane, one of the three owners of Calico. She looks happy because she's wanted to retire for a few years & finally can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The flag quilt behind her is one of their original designs, all published by Calico Printworks, which will continue even after the store closes. We'll just have to be happy with that, I expect.

Old friends

Friends for a very long time, here are Patty & Terry before the official start of the retreat. Terry's the one who wears the orange Crocs. She wasn't able to join us on the trip to Racine, while Kathy was only able to be with us for that day. Things work out.

The Fabric Store, Crystal Lake, IL

This is Miss Millie, the owner of The Fabric Store. She'll be 90 this year! She's showing me the hand-puppet drawer, with handmade puppets for the children of her customers to play with while their moms shop. Miss Millie told me about a day at the beach with her 50-ish grandson last summer. She told him she was going to do a cartwheel, & he said, "Grandma! What if you fall?!?" She said, "It's sand!!" This lady is the original & only owner of this incredible store, which includes a wall of home dec fabrics on rolls, more buttons than I've seen under one roof anywhere, fabulous trims, tassels & braids, & a huge range of up-to-the-minute quilt fabrics, all arranged by color. Miss Millie & her 60-ish clerk do everything by hand, including calling in credit card payments. They are inspiring.

Retreat project: Mini-Me's!

This is Patty's nearly-complete retreat project, an MH Designs pattern we called Mini-Me's. We each made 4 copies of ourselves, then swapped so that we each had one copy of each of us. That's me on the left, then Patty, Verna & Terry with her orange crocs! All of us are accomplished paper-piecers, so it was hilarious that each of us had a terrible time getting these right. At this distance, you can't see the awful mis-matches & broken arms, but up close, it looks like a beginner's hot mess. yikes! We've decided this is the last group project we'll do -- we want to make good use of the time together without the frustration of a complicated project.

The boys, along with Matt's fiance, Jill & her sister, Lauren, made dinner for the moms & dads at Jill's parents' house. What a fun day, in spite of the stormy spring weather. Laughter, hugs & kisses more than made up for not being able to walk in the park or visit on the deck.