A Quilt-y Excursion

I spent last Thursday through Sunday at a most enjoyable quilters' retreat.

Good times all 'round!  A recently retired friend has bought and furnished a house and is bringing folks up a few at a time to eat great food, visit the quilt and antique shops between here and there, make new friends, and sew and talk until the wee hours.  She is most talented at all these things.

We had some lovely views of the amazing colors of Lake Michigan on the way there.

 Here's me waking up next to an Amish quilt!

It's so wonderful to be able to set aside the time for solid sewing and relaxation and fun.  I made a lot of progress quilting my Magic Vine quilt, as well as working on odds and ends of other things.  What a treat to be sewing along, say "ooops!", and have several people come right over to help figure out the next sticky spot in the process!

While touring around, I discovered a wonderful shop that focuses on reproduction fabrics.  It's called Ye Olde Schoolhouse Quilt Shop, because the building it's in was, well, the old schoolhouse.  This place will definitely be on my list now whenever I'm searching for fabrics for quilt repair.  It was a delight to chat with the owner, Jeanie Rudich.  It was a joyful stop for me, for sure.  I mean, can there be anything better than a view like this:

Between the button basket at Ye Olde Schoolhouse and a bin of buttons at an antique mall, here's my haul for the weekend.  I'm getting so I just can't pass up great buttons.  I have to admit that this batch puts me over the line, and I now need to pick up a couple of more baskets for storing them all.  I really do need to figure out what I'm going to do with them!  Aside from having them on hand for vintage clothing fixes and the occasional embellishment on a quilt, I am still up in the air.  I was glad to find some with enough multiples that I can replace a whole set on a piece of clothing if necessary.  

Here are my favorites from this batch.  The ones on the card could be lovely in a necklace or something.......

And in amongst them: this little lapel pin.  It's about 3/4" long.