Spring chicks

This past weekend was the Stitchin' Chicks spring retreat here in our barn.  It's always so much fun!  We were a smaller group this time, some of the usual suspects had things that prevented them from being at the barn.   Of course they were missed, but we felt obligated to carry on without them, knowing that they will be here in the fall.

As always we did a lot of sewing, a lot of talking, and a lot of eating.  Meals were lovingly prepare and consumed.  The snack table in the barn was laden with yummy treats, both sweet and savory. Stories were shared and distributed.  AND, a little sewing, knitting and crocheting took place!

Beth and I were visiting early Sunday morning in the barn, (5am!) as we were sewing.   We both agreed that Sunday is our least favorite day of the weekend, because everyone packs up and leaves! The good news is that there is a retreat to look forward to in the fall!

Here are a few photos of the weekend.  As I was looking through these pictures, I realized how much I neglected to capture. For example, there aren't any photos of the pot holder exchange, or the chicken feed bags that Beth and I made for everyone, (made from saved bags of chicken feed) or the 40 pillow cases that some of the chicks made to be given to to organizations who work to remove children from dangerous or abusive environments. Grandma Nancy alone, made 30 pillow cases from her stash to donate to the cause!  Anyway, I will do a better job in November but until then, there will probably be more farm photos than sewing!

Claudia and Barb toasting dinner, with Cheryl and Nan in the background.

Sisters, Emily and Sarah with Their grandma Nancy!

Sometime Reynald joins us for meals.  Left over signs on the wall from Roni's college basketball days!  Here we have Ronnie Mielke standing under the Roni Mielke signs!

Barb working on a really fun floral quilt for a friend.

She finished piecing the top before the weekend was over!  It was so wonderful.  Made you smile to look at it!

Martha and Claudia talking about something!  You can see Martha's quilt in the background,  The blue one.  It is a gift for a friend who is having a baby soon.  Turned out so cool!

Nan working on a baby quilt too!  This one for her new grandson.  Nan likes to choose projects that would provoke insanity in most of us!  This one, in particular, is paper pieced animals, very small pieces to make up these darling blocks.

A wise owl will be part of baby Nathan's wildlife quilt!

And a bat......a few more animals came to completion before the weekend came to a close!

Here's another insanity project.....this one by Cheryl.  A paper pieced Mariner's Compass.  It's just stunning!

More baby related projects.  Kathy made a few crib sheets to have on hand to use as gifts as the need arose.  I absolutely love this farm themed fabric!

The knitting and crochet crowd!

 This is a really fun project that Emily did with her first, First Grade class!  She had each child do a hand print on a piece of fabric.  Students also got to embellish beyond the hand print.  Beth went to Emily's classroom for the day to help with this!  Here you can see the whole wall hanging and following will be a few closeups of a couple blocks.  It is an absolutely adorable piece.  A real keepsake!

Sisters Emily and Sarah worked on items to sell on their Etsy website. They have been making darling items, all baby related. Some sewn, some crotchet, some re-purposed items. These two gals worked like crazy all weekend, to add to their cache. Here's a link to their Etsy shop:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/DryllersMunchkins?ref=search_shop_redirect

Oh, and one more thing.....the resident expert in this house has requested (about five times each day!) that I notify everyone that if you "left click" on the photos they will enlarge to full screen on your computer or electronic device.  I assured him that most folks know that.  Not everyone is as technologically illiterate as I am, but he insisted that I mention it.  So, here I am, mentioning it!  "Left click on photos to enlarge."