Retreat weekend

 Back from quilt retreat weekend and this post is heavy on pictures.  There is a little commentary but not much.  Just feast your eyes on my talented friends.

This was the sunset our first night there and I promise you I did not photo shop this.  It was stunning.

The next day we had rain/snow/ice so the morning after was heavy on the icey trees.  You could hear them tinkle as they swayed and the ice melted and dropped on our head but oh, my, it was gorgeous.

Barb usually thinks of a game that will get us up off our chairs.  Here we were charged with gently tossing a spool of thread into the baskets.  I think I got two.

The following photos are of show and tell

OK, this was a show and tell, too, but it was really hilarious.  Marissa saves here selvidges and rolls them into a ball.  This was originally, before she started to braid a rug with them, the size of a beach ball.  It's solid selvidge, absolutely no core to this ball.

We had a small challenge to bring, too.  We were to interpret "6" somehow.  

Barb was making the Pasquali medalions and just plain got tired of the tiny work so she put them away.  She pulled them out to interpret "6" with these flowers.  It was just beautiful.

My six?  I made a cube pin cushion.  I also didn't have show and tell because believe it or not, until very recently I hadn't picked up a needle since October.  The elves didn't show up to do any finishing for me, either so there you have it. Nothing to show.  I worked on my Liberty circles and the map of Lowell I'm scheming and that was what I brought.  Made some progress on the map but have to refigure an idea before I proceed too much further.  

On my way

                                    Going on quilt retreat this weekend!  We'll talk when I get back.

Lord of the land

 Our son said I'm feeding the monster.  

For Christmas we gave PH one square foot of land in Scotland.  So we now call him Lord of the land. 

There's a pub/brewery here in town that we like.  They don't serve food but allow it to be brought in so we get take out and settle in for a good time.  It's a system that works.

They also have the popular mug program whereby you purchase a mug, have it engraved with your name and then you get a discount on your drink when you come in.

PH went whole hog on his engraving.  He is now Lord everywhere.  I edit scattered the print on our last name because, you know, this IS the internet, but you get the idea.  

What IS this?

I really don't know what this is. Have you ever?

 I bought some heavy cream.  I was at a dairy and bought a half gallon of heavy cream.  It was a crazy thing to do because when I got home I couldn't for the life of me remember why I wanted heavy cream at all.  I still can't remember.  Obviously I ran across a recipe and thought it sounded good so wanted some cream. But I still don't remember.   Certainly I didn't/don't need a HALF GALLON.  But when I thought about how much a half pint costs in the grocery store compared to the price of this half gallon, well, this was the better deal.  Even if I certainly didn't need a HALF GALLON.

So yesterday I decided to use some of it to make butter.  I could make the butter and freeze it for later.  My way to make butter is to just pour some in a jar and shake it till it solidifies, rinse it and put it in a container. Easy peasy.

But this heavy cream was different.  It was so thick and rich when I opened the bottle some had risen to the top and gooped up. I just stared at it for a few minutes. It was very different than the grocery store heavy cream. So.  I shook that jar and shook and shook for about 30 minutes.  It wouldn't solidify like a glop of butter, it just got solid and smooth like thick frosting. I couldn't shake it anymore because it was done doing what it was going to do. 

But I don't know what it is.  I scooped the creamy smooth 'stuff' into a container and it looks like frosting. But it is absolutely delicious.  Light?  Oh, my gosh.  Creamy?  Oh, my gosh.  I had put, for real, two crystals of salt in it when I was shaking it and then just a light barely discernable pinch of sugar. 

I honestly don't know what this is.  I still have a lot of cream so made two batches of cream scones.  I was going to see daughter later and could give her one batch plus some of this creamy goodness. 

I really don't know what this is.  But a fresh scone with raspberry jam and this 'stuff,' well, Good Morning to you all, too!!

Retreat is coming up in a couple of weeks so I spent a bit of time packing up a few projects. I'm going light this time because I realize how much I actually get done at retreat and always over pack.  This time it's just two hand applique projects and no big quilt to quilt. If I get those two things done I'll be happy.

That out of my head I pulled out the fabrics for Charlie's quilt and did the dining room table thing.

I am one of those people.  I measure five times, cut once and still make a mistake. Now I way overthink before I cut.  All of these fabrics can be replaced, they are pretty basic batiks except for that first border. 

Does this not look like flying planes?  And the color was spot on perfect.  There can be NO mistakes made with this one.

So, I'm placing the planes, deciding whether to just use the whole sky piece or cut it down a bit (in the photo it's folded over a bit.  I'm going for using the whole piece and trimming later because I know me and cutting.

The bottom two borders are supposed to be land and water.  When Friend Barb drew the planes and we measured size we did not include these two pieces.  But I decided when at the store that I did want them there. So, I'm adding them back in.

This is the quilt Charlie chose and what I'm working on duplicating without a pattern.  Barb drew the planes.  All batiks.