A Great Visit and a Reno Update

My good friend Kathy came to Dauphin from Flin Flon for a visit this week. She had teased me on her blog that she had a cool birthday present for me, and she was right.   A few weeks ago Kathy had asked me to send her a picture of the front of my house and not to ask why.  This of course had me curious.  She wouldn't give me any hints, and I wasn't able to guess, but I was very excited to open my present and find this metal compass "barn" quilt.

The metal block and other designs can be found at the Classic Metal Company. I need to find the perfect spot to hang it outside, and I will post a picture when I do.  

Whenever Kathy comes to visit we like to take a trip to a favorite quilt store - Kickass Country Store that is.  It is located in the tiny town of Plumas, Manitoba (population 250) and it is totally worth the trip!  Wayne and Carol always take great care of us.  I was too busy shopping to take many pictures  but you can get the idea - it is crammed full of quilty goodness!

Many of the members of my local quilt guild follow Kathy's blog, and have heard me talk about her at meetings, so I thought it would be fun to have a little get together for everyone to have a chance to meet. Ten ladies were able to make it out that evening, and it was a lot of fun, so we might just have to do it again the next time she comes to visit.  Everyone took a turn playing on the Innova, and we spent some time snacking and visiting.

Kathy had to head back to Flin Flon this morning, and we decided not to go camping but to tackle the flooring in the basement instead.  I am totally exhausted now, but very happy with the progress Nolan and I made today.

 Clearing out the studio to get ready.

The long run in the hallway. This was definitely the most challenging part - 4 doorways and the most annoying telepost to deal with.

This is what it looked like when we stopped for supper.  The girls made supper for us on their own, and it was a real treat!

We got back at it and decided that this was a good place to stop for the day.  Working around the longarm has turned out to be a non-issue.  I hope I can move in the morning, because crawling around on the concrete is more tiring than I was expecting!  I'm not sure how many boxes of flooring we went through today, but I counted and there are still 27 in the pile, so I know the work is far from over.....