An Outing

I had a great time on Saturday. My friend Carol, who I hadn't seen in ages, came over and we looked at some of my finished quilts and her tops. Then we drove to La Conner to visit the quilt museum there. It was featuring a Kaffe Fassett/Brandon Mabley exhibit. On the first floor were a number of knitted items by Brandon. On the second and third floors were Kaffe's quilts, many of which have been featured in his books and magazine articles. Actually, probably all of them have been published, but I'm not familiar with all his books. Our favorite was the one called Kilim. I think it's a Lady of the Lake pattern, but done in a gorgeous palette of striped fabrics. No photography was allowed.

The stairs in that place are killer, so afterwards we needed a little rest. We went down to La Conner's main street and had lunch. Then we visited a fabric store up the street and I picked up a couple of Marcia Derse fabrics. I was so surprised and happy to see them in a store! From there, we drove to Mt. Vernon and another fabric store. And bought more fabric, as it was well-stocked with appealing designs. Carol got fabric for a couple of baby quilts.

Most of the drive on I-5 was in rain, but it cleared off over La Conner, as you can see in the pictures below. I only had my iPhone with me. The fields in the Skagit Valley were mostly bare and muddy, but flocks of snow geese were finding things to peck at. It would have been fun to see them in flight.

Party

Mother and daughter

This weekend, my friend Sudha had a party for her daughter. Charu just graduated from college. Unfortunately, while putting up Christmas decorations the night before the party, Charu fell off a ladder and broke her wrist. But she was in good spirits anyway. The food and company were both excellent.

Afternoon Tea

My afternoon was spent here, having afternoon tea with old friends Melissa, Julie S, Julie A, and Suellen. Delightful to continue an old tradition and keep up with friends' lives. The Queen Mary's teas have the traditional 3 tier plates, loaded with little goodies. Even though many of them are bite-size, and others only 3 or 4 bites, they are rich and add up. I am so full!

Busy Weekend

It seems I hardly have any social life at all these days - just work and short breathers on the weekends. But this weekend was exceptional with not one but two events. First was Carol's semi-annual quilt day, with a pretty good turnout this time. Melissa, Jan, Cindy, Julie, Diana, Trudy, Carol and myself. All but Jan met working at the same company and formed a quilting group there. Now only 2 are still there. More layoffs were announced last week, so that was the subject of some of the conversation, along with what various kids are up to, etc. There was a fair amount of sewing done too, along with show & tell. I finished the top for William's quilt, and started piecing the back. Sorry, no pictures this time!

The other big event was my friend Julie S's retirement party. Another former colleague at the same company as above, she's giving up the rat race to more fully enjoy travel, gardening, dogs, etc. She and her husband Tim hosted a wonderful party at the Snoqualmie Ridge Golf Club. Everyone was supposed to wear black and white, and that did look good. After mingling with more old co-workers/friends and their spouses while tasting hors d'oevres and beer/wine, we enjoyed a wonderful dinner and dessert buffet. Tim gave a funny speech about their travel adventures past and future (he particularly enjoys telling about Julie riding a camel in Egypt, calling her Florence of Arabia). Then we played a few games of bingo (preparation for retirement!) followed by dancing to the oldies.