A quilt retreat, a first day of school and a scrapbuster swap

     My first quilt retreat!  A handful Bay Area MQG quilters spent a long weekend near Sonora at the vacation home of one of the guild members.  It was enjoyable getting to know the ladies who went on the retreat.  I didn't accomplish much sewing (three quilt blocks), but for me it was the perfect balance of sewing and socializing, chocolate and wine.
     And I received some lovely gifts:

I owe my retreat mates a goodie bag, which I will bring to the next guild meeting.  I've got some ideas that require a little knitting or sewing.  Thank goodness I only have four gifts to assemble since the next guild meeting is less than a week and a half away.
     I can't believe we have a 3rd and a 4th grader in the house.  Time passes so quickly!  Monday morning was hectic with the drama and excitement of the first day of the school year.  I think it felt more chaotic than it actually was because I felt out of sorts from being away all weekend.  It took a couple of days to get back into the homemaking routine.  I've finally unpacked the fabric I picked up on the retreat:

The other reason I only finished three blocks- getting a little side-tracked by scrumptious fabric!  Can you believe I found yardage of Katie Jump Rope?!  I've always liked it but was too late to the quilting party to see it in shops.
     Encouraged by one of my fellow guild members, I've joined my first block swap.  It's a scrapbuster swap, so we use scraps and fabrics from our own stash to make the same blocks.  I've signed up to make twenty "postage stamp" blocks.  Twenty.  A little ambitious for my first swap, but I do have a large stash of fabric and scraps scattered all over the house.