And a Good Time Was Had By All

You know, I have been quilting for years but until a couple of years ago I did it by myself.  Even my first retreat was by myself.  

BUT now I have the best stitchin buddies AND I've been on my first ever REAL retreat.  It was AWESOME.

With a view like this how could it not be.

And three meals a day that I didn't have to cook!?!

We carried our purses in and placed them on which ever bed we chose and they unloaded the rest of the stuff out of the cars. And loaded it back up when it was time to come home.

I took 5 projects with me and completed 4 of them.  YAY ME!!

First up when we got there was the Quilt Police.  I purchase this in Paducah in 2022.

If anyone said "can't do", "need to do", "should do", "have to", it was thrown at them.  Funny story, one of the girls was talking about how she stitches the border fabric on and then cuts it off and, in unison, 4 of us hollered "NOOO!!".  And we forgot to toss the police.

I told her "let me rephrase, if you do that you will end up with wavy borders."

Next I completed this Stack n Whack assembly except for top and bottom borders and trimming.  This will go to Project Linus.

 

Then, the leader ender was assembled.  This is completely scraps and I pulled them, randomly, out of bags because I know it drives Susan crazy.

There are a couple of errors but that seems to be standard for me. Oh well.

And the last completion for me was the antique store find I posted about here.

I really love how this turned out.

And the others (I didn't get them all) projects.....

Betsy, our beginner quilter, was on her first retreat also.  She added borders to these.

Machine quilted place mats that she found at an estate sale half done..

She made 30 of these cute pocket quilts for her mother to give to her friends.  I showed her how to sew the crosses on with the machine.  

And she made her Hawaiian block for our guild quilt along (her first applique).

She tried lots of new things and accomplished a lot.

And Betsy also won the fun blocks that we all participated in.  Do they look like fish?

Some of the others.  Mary

Melinda..

Gwynn is up next.

She also put together a quilt of valor that I failed to get a picture of.

Susan....

Lura

Pam..

And Julie.

I know there were more.  I didn't get pictures of any of Edwina's.  I know Julie Mary, Susan, Gwynn and Melinda had others.  

And I didn't get pictures of any of M.E.s.  She is the BEST retreat planner EVER!!!!!  We had goodie bags, games, fish blocks, and prizes, of which I won 2.

I'm already planning to go on the next one in February and I'm planning to help M.E. with the next fall retreat.  And I'm pretty sure Betsy will attend again.

DH said it was money well spent.  Especially after he had to listen to how much fun we had.

Wishing you more stitchin time than I will have.

Rose

Busy week ending at RETREAT!!!

This week has been busy and it's only half over.

Monday - to the Dr. (all was well) and then last minute errands for Tuesday.  I had to miss the Birmingham Quilt Guild meeting.

Tuesday - The ladies at our country club hosted our second annual youth golf clinic.  It's fall break for our schools.  Our turnout wasn't as big as last year but last year we had it in July and it was sssoooo blooming hot!!!!  I think we need to discuss having it in June next year. 

Here are a couple pictures

Morning group ages 7-11

Afternoon group ages 12-15 with instructor

The littlest one (blue shirt) from the morning group made a 30 foot putt and the girl in the afternoon group made that same 30 foot putt.

Wednesday (today) - recover from being on my feet all day in the sun yesterday and pack for retreat tomorrow and packed one of the stitching buddy's stuff in the car.

Thursday (tomorrow) - pick up one stitching buddy at 6:50 in the morning, then pick up another after that and head out.

This is my first retreat except the one person retreat.  I have probably packed WAY more than I need but I'll know better next year.

We will return from retreat on Sunday.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Wishing you more stitchin time than I will have.

Rose

What?!? Pare Down the Stash?

We had an email sent to our guild from a lady stating that she has a terminal illness and she was trying to sell off her elaborate fabric stash so her husband wouldn't have to deal with it later. She stated in a second email that it would really help her out. 

I asked at our Stitch and Pray on Thursday if anyone was interested in going.  One said yes, she wanted to go and two of them asked if they could send money and us just grab some for them.

So on a Friday Pam and I left at about 8:00.  I figured 2 hours drive, spend about an hour with fabric, lunch and 2 hours back home, we should be back about 2:30.  NOT!!!!  After 2 1/2 hours in the first walk in closet full of fabric we still had 2 more rooms to go.  I believe we emptied four 4 drawer file cabinets that she had full.

We ended up coming home with 208 yards of fabric for $3 per yard!!!!  Pam and I went through it and got out what we had picked out specifically for ourselves and then called the other two to come and pick out theirs.  Then Pam and I split what was left.  I ended up with 80+ yards to be able to "shop" from in my own stash.

This picture doesn't include the two Dream Big Panels and two Butterfly Panels that I got.

The fact that this lady was doing this for her husband shows how much she cares.  She kept some fabrics in her sewing room for when she has good days.  I will say a prayer for her each time I pull one of these fabrics (among other times).

Wishing you more stitchin time than I will have.

Rose