June 28 , 2006
LOTS has happened since we last updated you with a newsletter.

On the Quilting Adventures side, we have had over 80% of the 2006 students register for 2007. We are delighted! The two weeks are equally subscribed which indicates an appealing variety of instructors in both weeks. Registrations continue to come in at a healthy pace - thanks to all of you for your referrals to friends and quilting groups. Keep spreading the word to ensure our 2007 seminars are the best yet.

Summer has certainly arrived in Texas . Those of you with too much rain, could you please send some our way? To escape the heat, Barbara and Sue have taken a few jaunts to places afar. Barbara and her husband opened their Colorado cabin and enjoyed cool nights and breathtaking views. They completed some projects in preparation for placing the cabin on the market - send prospective buyers their way!

Sue and her two oldest grandsons did a tour of the Southwest - Las Vegas , Grand Canyon, Monument Valley , Antelope Valley , Bryce Canyon and Salt Lake City . The two grandsons, 11 and 10, were tremendous travelers and made all of the appropriate oohs and aahs. It should be a trip they remember always.

For our own education, we just completed a two day workshop with Jan Krentz on the Spiral Lone Star. You won't see it in our gallery yet, but our compositions are very different. We're scheduled at the end of July to attend a Ricky Tims seminar in north Texas . We hear it is two days chock full of both useful information and exciting sights and sounds. No hands on!

We're off to Creations of Kerrville to celebrate Sue's birthday discount. It doesn't take much to encourage us to buy at this wonderful store. We know you'll be amazed at what they will bring to the on-site store for Quilting Adventures.

Plants that have a strong fragrance discourage deer because they depend on their noses to follow one another. Suggestions in this category include anything in the sage family, rosemary, copper canyon daisy and junipers.

Plants with decidedly thorny edges or tough leaves are not favored either. Suggestions here include agarita, hollies, privets and muhly grasses.

If you have plants particularly favored by deer, try using the commercial product Liquid Fence or the product No. But, we will admit, if they are really hungry, the deer eat most anything for survival.

January 6 , 2006
Our thank you notes have been written, the Christmas decorations put away and unfinished quilting projects have reappeared. There's nothing better in the holiday season than the joy in our grandchildren's eyes. But the quiet that descends when the grandchildren depart is also a welcome return to normal.

We send New Year wishes to all of our fellow quilters! If 2005 was as full for you as it was for us, you're glad to see a fresh year begin. Our wishes for you include finding the perfect fabrics at highly discounted prices, receiving from your mother-in-law a family antique quilt, and finding the time to finish that nagging UFO that's been around for five years.

We're in high gear getting ready for this year's spring seminars. It's invigorating to get the correspondence from our fellow quilters and to see the planning come together. You're in for a treat with some superb food, exciting activities and marvelous instructors. We've hired our line dance instructor, booked travel for instructors, purchased extra electrical cords and surge protectors among other things, and are still taking registrations.

For those of you watching the news and worrying about the wildfires, the T-Bar-M resort is well away from any danger - but do send rain our way if you have any influence. We are hoping the warm weather brings an early wildflower season so the early morning walks on the ranch paths are glorious.

The article that Quilt magazine published about Quilting Adventures has brought wonderful attention, and we feel honored to have been selected as the first recommended site in their new "Traveling Quilter" feature.