A Finish and Retreat Time!

I just got back from a quilt retreat and I had such a great time!  I love quilt retreats but they don't happen very often because of logistics with the kids.  But I have been able to sneak in at least one a year for the last few years now (actually, thinking about it... two a year!).

First, I finished Orca Bay!  I am so excited!  I had a goal to get it done so I could enter it into the fair this year, so for the last two weeks I have been working on my Juki after doodling some designs on my post-it notes (I like to have post-it notes around the house for all sorts of things, including if a design pops into my head or I see inspiration for a quilt).


A closer-up pic of the border and blocks:

The border inspiration are waves and whales spouting out water.

I was so surprised when I got to the retreat, my friend Julie had a gift for me and it was her contribution to Quiltmaker's Scrap Squad!  


To say I was so excited for this quilty gift is an understatement!  It even had a sleeve already on it, and now it is hanging up in my living room :)  I absolutely love it!!


And now the boys are trying out making ice cream.  I, on the hand, bought some Talenti gelato to try out instead (because some friends at the retreat were talking about how good it is).  I don't know if I'll share or not :)



I have two other projects that I finished the blocks on at this retreat too.  I started them at the retreat I went to in June, so it feels great to have those ready to be placed into a top.  One will be a gift, so I am going to wait to post about it, and maybe I will make up another blog post about the other.  Most of all, I am so happy to have my Orca Bay finished.  I absolutely love that quilt so much... I called it "Coffee Time at Orca Bay" since I used coffee fabrics for the browns, but today I was thinking that I should have named it "Kaffee Klastch at Orca Bay" since I started the quilt project at one retreat and finished it at another... there is a lot of talking and visiting at retreat, they are special times for sure.

And last but not least, my vine is finally blooming.  I have to search to find out what kind it is again, but I have been waiting two years for a bloom!  This was the year finally!

edit: It is some sort of hybrid of the trumpet vine campsis radicans, but it dies back in the winter so not so invasive as it would be in the south.  Also, I have one that is grafted to a stalk and the other is more of a creeping vine.  This one is from the creeping vine, but the other is starting to finally put on blooms too.
Happy August everyone!