The Sewing Chair

It all started innocently. Donna, my good friend and creative assistant, commented that my rolly chair didn't roll very well. She said she'd keep her eye out for one at a garage sale. When she arrived at my house today, our regular sewing day, she had words of wisdom, courtesy of Mary Moya. Seems Mary had asked if Donna had ever picked all the crud out of the rolling wheels of her sewing chair. And, then Donna spent much of Sunday afternoon picking at the wheels of her chair.

Today, we picked at the wheels of my chair.
It was ugly! Many tools and sore fingers later, we are proud to report:
The mad cleaning woman, equipped with a can of air and a can of WD40. Never again will this much garbage collect in the wheels of this chair. Next time you're in your sewing room and the wheels don't work so well, think of Mary's words of wisdom.

Show and Tell at Black Hills Quilting Safari

The stars of the Sensational Stars class had much to display at the Saturday evening 'show and tell'. Their instructor was quite proud.
Now, to be fair, students in the 'Goose is Loose' had a lot more designing to do and every quilt top was a unique piece of art.
These are but small samples of the projects they designed in class.
Imagine fellow teacher, Vi Colombe's surprise when each of the students in her lone star class made one extra diamond and then stitched them all together into this interested arrangement!

Black Hills Quilter's Retreat

Ehnthusiasm was the word of the week for the Black Hills Quilters. I don't know when I've seen a more ambitious bunch, except perhaps the Frontera Quilt Guild in Harlingen.
Students designed and stitched up a storm of stars in the Sensational Stars class. When I returned from lunch, there they were sewing. When I stopped by before dinner, they were still there. I think that many sewed all night long!

Evening was for fun festivities, like a good, old-fashioned sing-a-long, lead by conference co-chair, Doris Fritts. The theme of the conference was Quilting Safari, and here she is belting out her quilterly rendition of the Beach Boys hit, "Surfing Safari".

Mount Rushmore

One of the side benefits of teaching for the Black Hills Quilter's Retreat was hanging out with quilting colleague, Sue Nickels. The conference organizers arranged for a lovely afternoon at Mount Rushmore National Monument.
Our guide, Celia, kept telling us that it looked much different than when I saw it as a child. However, although I know that I WAS there, I have no memory of it. My only memory of the Black Hills of South Dakota was throwing up in the car on the winding roads.
Rapid City is a beautiful, small town, and there are statues of many of our past presidents as well as other famous explorers on every street corner in the downtown area. Here, I got to sit right next to Abe Lincoln.