Today I went on a great road trip with several quilt guild friends. I met Anne, Oma, and Doretha at an Interstate exit near my house and we took off to check out the Charlie Eliot Wildlife Center in Mansfield, GA for our guild retreat next year. It is a really great place, such a step up from the 4H center where we have had previous retreats. Since the 4H center reserved it for some other group on "our" weekend, we had to find an alternative. It looks like it may be a good thing after all. We took lots of pictures and I am putting some of them here.
Of course, we had to stop at a couple of quilt shops on our way. First we stopped in Hogansville, GA at 1910 House Quilts. What a great quilt shop. It is only a 32 minute drive from my house. I have never lived so close to a real quilt shop! And, to top it off, she was having a 100 bolt sale. There were 100 bolts all for $25 each. They all had at least 5 yards on them, but most had more. I bought three bolts!! I don't know how much fabric is on them but it is a lot. You can see a picture of me, Anne, and Doretha carrying our loot.
Our next stop was Quilts 'N Fixin's in Jonesboro, GA. This is another great shop, but we didn't buy as much there. Needless to say, a fun time was had by all.
Julie
I am posting some photos of some of the lovely flowers blooming in my yard right now. I was careful to crop out the weeds! It is just too hot to deal with weeds right now. It is very dry in the yard and we hope for rain every day. The last two summers were classified as a drought here and the rain seems to be avoiding us this year as well. I tend to plant drought-resistant plants which helps a lot. 
My grass needs cutting in the worst way. Of course, something always seems to go wrong with the lawnmower when we are cutting grass. Most recent disaster - one of the wheels fell off of the riding mower while cutting! Well, a man came by and put it back on today. Now to get Joy back out to finish it up. She is busy getting ready for her trip to Hawaii next week. She is leaving Monday for TWO WEEKS!
Here are a few pictures of the chicken pincushions I made back before Christmas. I am posting them again here for members of my quilt guild to peruse. I am doing a demo at the guild meeting next week. If you would like to make on it is called the "Plucky Chicken" and the original pattern is retired. However, the creator, Susa Glenn, has newer versions available at her website. She has many cute pincushion patterns there. I might have to try some different ones myself!
John Owen went to Ecology Camp - Camp Discovery at the Louise Kreher Forest Ecology Preserve this week. He had a great time. It was his second year to attend the camp. They learn about native animals, plants, etc... He especially enjoyed learning about the snakes. They waded in a creek and found salamanders, turtles, frogs, bugs, and fish. He loves this kind of camp and I am glad that we have such a great learning opportunity for him within driving distance.
