It Was A Much Needed Mini Quilt Retreat With Friends

I was so excited when my friend, Brenda, called to let me know there was going to be a

fun gathering of special friends for a mini quilt retreat. It was very much needed!

Sewing, laughing, and eating...a great combination!

The house we met at was incredible with tons of room. Thanks, Nancy!

Plus, her husband smoked some bacon and made us BLT's...yum!

This is a sneak peek of my Wish Upon A Star blog hop quilt with Lily.

She's the family dog who loves to be a part of the quilting group.

Lily is so sweet!

While we were quilting we had a beautiful view of the Las Vegas Valley.

Nancy's garden of flowers was gorgeous!

It was the best two days I've had in a long time.

This is my new temporary pup. She's 10 years old and will be staying with

us for a while. My son may have to fight to get her back.

Dreidel is a great snuggler and is so loveable!

Happy Mother's Day!

Eat, Sleep, Laugh, Sew, Repeat

Four days, eight women, and a big house for us to use.

Wowzers! We did a lot of the eat, sleep, laugh, sew, repeat stuff.

It was the most fun I've had in years!

I managed to finish two quilt tops (or two flimsy's if that's what you want to call them.)

I had this kit to sew from byAnnie.com called Lightening Strikes.

I love how bright those lightening strikes are!

This quilt was started about three years ago, so I took it to finish...yay, it's done!

I took several other projects, but didn't quite get to them.

Guess they'll have to wait until the next retreat.

I probably could have finished more things, but there was way too much good food to eat,

lots of shopping to do, plenty of laughing over stupid stuff that you would have had to be there to 

think it was funny, and a little sleeping to do. Totally a crazy and fun time with those ladies!

This is Brenda...she's the ringleader. I've known her FOREVER...love her!

Susan had us rolling on the floor laughing almost all the time.

Don't even get her started on where "THE CLOUD" is actually located.

Vicki rocked with all her projects. She made pillowcase dresses and gorgeous cuddle quilts.

I'm not sure Paula and I should be allowed to eat sweets, drink soda, and not have enough sleep

all at the same time. To say we laughed at anything and everything is an understatement.

Nancy wow'd us with her hand stitching and Bernice was the queen of yo-yo flowers on her quilts.

How cool is it to have the cutting area and kitchen so close to each other!

Cut a little, eat a little.

Nancy made some amazing and intricate quilts!

There were some serious moments...just a few, though.

Some of the beautiful creations from the retreat...

Bernice...

Brenda...

Paula...

She also made some adorable sundresses and quilts.

 Susan...

I lost count of all the self-binding baby quilts that she made!

Lots of willing helpers...

Nancy... 

The other Nancy...

Seriously, I can't wait to do this again!

Thanks to Brenda's Crew (or the Sisterhood) for so much fun!

P.S. I promised I wouldn't post any pics that weren't good...darn!

A Little Quilt Retreat With Deonn

I've been a bit lazy about sewing lately, but today I went to a quilt retreat where

Deonn from Quiltscapes was teaching. We sewed from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m....I'm exhausted!

Deonn had us sewing half hexies and making some little origami looking things.

She's so patient and was even willing to use the ripper to fix a few a lot of my mistakes!

The class was for Deonn's cute sheep quilt that was published in Quiltmaker.

Cute, cute, cute...just like Deonn!

Phone cameras aren't the best, especially mine, but being with this sweet lady was

worth taking a picture about. She was fun and I learned so many things. Thanks, Deonn!

I still need to finish the quilt, but it's close to being done. Love it!

And Then I Retreated

While waiting for the newest Monkey Boy to arrive, I almost didn't make a planned and

paid for retreat with my friends. But since that sweet baby arrived a little early and 

the Monkey Boys' dad was home to take care of things, I got to catch a part of the retreat 

and hung out with lots of quilty people. I haven't laughed that much for such a long time! 

Thanks to Brenda, Susan, Bernice, Paula, and Vickie

for the hysterically funny memories they gave me!

It was Hawaiian themed and we all received some sweet gifts from the retreat coordinators.

There was a name tag with my real name and Hawaiian name. 

"Kalola" kind of sounds like I could be a dancer on the Las Vegas Strip. 

Don't be afraid of that happening...I wouldn't look good in those skimpy outfits!

There wasn't much crying going on, but just in case we had a sniffle or two we got this

adorable Hawaiian shirt tissue holder. I found a pattern for one HERE.

Then there was this really nice zippered bag...perfect for my latest cross stitch project.

I need to make me a bunch of these bags!

 Thanks for all your congratulations on the newest grand baby!

He's doing great and I'll be heading back to snuggle him again real soon.

Retreated And Back Home

I had a great time at the retreat...lots of laughing and a little sewing.

The machine I use at home is big and very heavy, so I took this little Bernette 55.

It was my son's machine (from his grandmother) but since he never used it he gave it to me. 

Huge difference to sew on!

I was shocked when I realized I had to thread my own needle AND cut my threads by hand!

My other Bernina has me really spoiled with the automatic threader and cutter!

I found myself a little disorganized as I tried to put together my Garden Party quilt. It was obvious that I'm not one to adjust to new surroundings or small spaces while sewing. I kept having to look for my ruler, my scissors, my...everything. Luckily, I found my seam ripper for the gazillion times I needed to use it because of the oodles of mistakes I made sewing the blocks together.

Late in the afternoon of the second day I was feeling a little more in touch with my quilty feelings. Then my friend, Brenda, looked at my almost finished quilt and noticed I hadn't put the little blocks in the sashings like the pattern required. She thought I was just using my usual don't-follow-the-pattern thing. NOPE...I just forgot to put them in. It bugged me so much I just put it back in my bag. I'll drag it out later when I think of how I want to finish it. It definitely won't end up looking like Jenny Doan's Garden Party Quilt!

Next year I'm sure I'll be more focused...maybe.

Retreating For The Second Time

I'm off at a retreat today...my second one ever.

Wow! Aren't I a social butterfly!

It's here in town, so no sleepovers for me. I'll come home after dinner to my own little bed.

I'm taking along my gazillion one and a half inch pieces that are now attached to my charm squares.

I even sewed a few of the finished blocks together...I was busy yesterday!

My Garden Party Quilt is moving along slowly, but quite nicely. 

Maybe it won't end up as a UFO after all!

Don't forget - 4 more days until we picnic!

And 5 more days until this starts!

Retreated And Survived!

I survived my first retreat without running from the room in total fright 

because of all the amazing quilters that surrounded me.

I was even nice to a few people.

My friend, Brenda, forced me out of my comfort zone by MAKING me 

go early BY MYSELF to reserve four spots that were close together.

I did it, but it's a blur...must have been the fear I was feeling.

Linda and Kay greeted the new arrivals...they both

do incredible applique work. REALLY incredible!

They were pretty funny, too.

Each person received a cute name tag.

They even made these cute little pin cushions for everyone.

While I waited for my support group/friends to arrive, I pulled out my

mini Comma charm squares and started sewing them together.

I have a long way to go before they will actually look anything close to a quilt.

FINALLY...Brenda, Susan, and Vicki arrived. This was Velcroed on

their sewing machines from one of the other retreats they went to.

Susan almost lost her sewing machine...to me! It's purple!

Each table had table toppers that were so adorable.

Loved this one! Are you noticing the hen theme going on?

I learned a lot from Brenda, Susan, and Vicki:

1. Every group has an obnoxious person in it.

If you don't think any of your friends are obnoxious,

it just might be YOU that is the obnoxious one.

2. If the 20% coupon won't be good after 6 p.m., it doesn't take a 

rocket scientist to figure out that it's because the store closes at 6 p.m.

3. It's important to buy fabric while on a retreat to add to the

fabric you brought to work on. It was so cool that the fabric store,

ScrapApple, was just out the gate behind the hotel where the retreat

was being held. Like, totally connected to the hotel by a fence!

4. Sewing isn't the only reason to retreat. Food plays a really

big part in the whole experience. Lots of food!

The purple sewing machine...oh, that's Susan.

This is Vicki being nice when I was taking her picture, 

but she was wishing I'd just leave her alone to sew.

Brenda found her own corner to cut her fabric.

It just happened to be in a separate room away from all of us.

We didn't take it personally...much.

 I ALMOST finished this little monkey quilt, but it still needs a little work. There's a 

ruffle AND monkeys...love it! I'll show it when it's finished...hopefully  real soon. 

A long-arm quilter, Linda, gave me a great idea to give it a nice finished look. 

She was so nice! I can't wait to do what she suggested.

My sister asked me if I'd do it again.

Yep!