Friends

Jon Leonards quote" It takes a long time to grow an old friend" is so very true. Our dear friends came and went. Our visit went by way too fast, we had such a great time!

We managed to do a little bit of everything. We visited The Ems Hotel & Spa in Excelsior Springs Missouri. When healing mineral waters were discovered here during the late 1800's, thousands of people poured in to this town for cures. We had never been before but it was on our list. About an hour out side of Kansas City, this hotel is known for it's history, beautiful grounds and luxurious spas.

We enjoyed a wonderful lunch here and then toured this beautiful hotel. I hope hubby will bring me back some day (hint hint) perhaps for a special occasion. That spa looked amazing! 

Some shopping was done at a favorite spot of mine, Cockrell Mercantile Company in Missouri.

I love the Fiesta Cottage and added a few pieces to my collection. What you see here in this picture is  not even 1/10th of all the Fiestaware in stock, it's Fiestaware heaven! 

We worked our way through some of the cuisine Kansas City has to offer, saw a movie "Brooklyn" which I highly recommend. And then we drove to Saint Louis for our final day together. Where we ate our way through this city also lol! We had a wonderful lunch on The Hill at Amighettis and bought Italian bread to take home. Followed by a visit to The Missouri Baking Company for Italian cookies and pastries to also bring home to our cute engaged couple.

We toured the Saint Louis Cathedral Basilica which is so amazing pictures will not do it justice.

Followed by dinner at Charlie Gitto's on The Hill, where we were treated so wonderfully and I had lasagna like a pillow on a cloud. The next morning we each went our separate ways, us home to Kansas City and our dear friends to Buffalo NY. Almost 40 years of friendship, it's a wonderful thing!

Home to my normal routine again. I just released a new design for you.

This little quilt features wool applique on cotton. It is a perfect project to take along on your summer vacation, fast and fun, when done you'll have a gift for Christmas or yourself because you love it so much!

Step away from the sewing machine!

The sun is out and shining here in Kansas, it's a perfect day if you were at The Masters which hubby surely wishes he was. So while he reminisces about his time there several years ago, and relives every hole one by one, I am sewing! 

 Or trying to sew. Notice the rather large pile of fabric scraps and ruined paper templates on my cutting board, the unhappy face on my pin cushion. I have always wanted to learn paper piecing, and this weeks beautiful Splendid Sampler block #15 by Janice Ryan was just that, paper pieced! 

And so I printed out all the templates and then read through the directions, yet my brain just did not want to make sense of this technique. I watched 2 videos on paper piecing which really did not sink in either. By now I am practically banging my head up and down on my cutting mat and crying... this is when a little voice says.. step away from the sewing machine, just step away now. 

 Maybe all the fumes from the painting hubby has been doing these past few weeks have gone to my head.
He's doing a great job though isn't he! Daisy is supervising, she's soooo funny!

So back to my story, I took a little break, nibbled on some chocolate bunny, and watched another video on paper piecing. This one was by Alyssa Thomas, one of the sampler block designers. She has been sewing along with everyone and made a video of sewing the actual block. Once I saw how the 1st section was done, it all clicked! Yes it did! Yay!! Full steam ahead I finished the block, it's not perfect but I'm okay with it for a 1st try. This is exactly what I have been enjoying about sewing along with the sampler, the variety of techniques used, there is always something new to learn! 

We are getting ready for company. My girlfriend from Buffalo New York is coming to visit next weekend, with her hubby. We met in Buffalo about 40 years ago at Home Bureau, a large group of woman who got together every week to sew and craft. They even had a nursery who my little one, it was great! Although I have been gone from Buffalo 30 years now, we still visit back and forth as much as possible. Such friends are so very special and we are really excited for their visit!