retreat with Paula, men's 1st quilt totally finished

I just had time to get my blog out and get through my emails before Paula arrived for our weekly retreat on Thursday (5/14):  

You know, these weekly retreats are just as good as the QUAP and Fiber Floozie retreats in terms of productivity.  What do I mean by that?  When I am sewing in my studio, my normal routine is to sew for 10 – 15 minutes, get up to iron what I’ve sewn….wander over to my computer to check my emails…..read a bit on FB….peruse PINTEREST for a few new ideas…..before finally wandering back to sew again.  Sometimes I just stare into space dreaming about new quilts, sometimes I just watch TV for awhile….trust me, there’s a lot of just putzing around.  But just like when I go away for a quilting retreat, these retreats with Paula have kept me sewing….sewing….sewing!!!  No emails….no FB….no PINTEREST….no games on my computer....I hope I’ve helped her to be productive as well.  Now, I’ve always been a productive person, but have struggled with the actual completion of items my entire life.  And the fact that I have been finishing things for a long time doesn’t mean I still don’t struggle, but just that  I’ve learned how to trick/push/cajole myself into finishing things!  

While we were sewing away….we had a surprise visitor:  

Do you know the expression ‘a sight for sore eyes’???  I really felt that when I saw Pat….I don’t know how to explain it any better than that…I was so very glad to see her…..it was like I hadn’t seen her in years!!!  I know that’s not true….but she was a ‘sight for sore eyes’!!  She visited for awhile …..constantly nagged by you-know-who:  

She also showed us the masks she has been making….I really liked the shape of it, so when Paula and I took a break after her fabulous lunch:  

tuna salas, with cheese, 1/2 an avocado, jicama & broccoli

and tooled around the complex delivering things, I picked up the pattern from Pat.  I hope to make a few more masks over the weekend.  

Paula left around 4:30, and shortly afterwards, I had a totally finished quilt:  

It is only totally finished because Paula stitched down the label before she left for the day!!!  

My honey and I sat out on the lanair for a long time after that….just enjoying nature and the beautiful weather.  We had a quick dinner, then I headed back downstairs for a bit and managed to get my last Curvy Rectangles QoV blocks sewn into rows:

All I need is borders and these 3 quilt tops will finally be done!

Paula kindly took picture of our ice plant in front of the porch...look at those flowers:

And my painting friend Inez has been at it again....this will be her FB profile pic for July:

She is VERY talented.