Retreat update

Well I'm back from my quilting retreat. Had a great time but it was tiring too. We stay at a rustic church camp and have to take all our bedding as well as our sewing machines and all the things that go with it. It's amazing that I had a whole carfull of things to take just for 3 days but you add up one sewing machine, cutting mats, rulers, all sorts of miscellanous notions, several projects, a chair cushion, small cooler (must have my Diet Coke), bedding, clothes, etc and it adds up fast. I took several projects to work on and got a lot done. I don't do much sleeping when I go there - for two reasons. One, I try to get as much sewing in as possible so I pretty much sew from 8:00 am to midnight with meal breaks, and two, the beds (if you can call them that) are lousy! I also stuck to my budget and I did not go in to town and visit the local quilt shops like I usually do when we go on these retreats. I actually came home with more money than when I left because I sold 2 things at our silent auction and the maker gets 60% of the proceeds. My finished table runner won Judges Choice in our silent auction, and I also made and sold some plaid towels with autumn appliques on them. The raffle quilt from my earlier entries made over $300 for our group in ticket sales.

I did one new project, a Halloween quilt pictured below (click on the pictures to see full-size). I really loved making it. The pictures don't do the fabrics justice - in fact I think all of the projects pictured here look better in person. I probably shouldn't take the photos at night but that's usually when I have time to blog. Other than the Halloween quilt which took all of one day and a little bit more to do, I worked on quilting UFO's some of which I have posted pictures here.






Two different Christmas wall hangings, a primitive stitchery that now needs a frame, some other embroidery work, and making quilt bindings for 3 quilts that are presently with a longarm quilter waiting their turn to be quilted. When I get them back then my binding will be all ready to sew on. All in all it was a very successful trip. A couple of my friends and I have decided though it may be our last camp. We've been going in the spring and fall for almost 10 years with this quilting guild, and as we've gotten older the beds are harder and we're getting to the point where we want to go a nice hotel with decent beds, maid service, etc! We want to get a small group together and book a retreat at a hotel where we can sew in a conference room for a couple of days. As you stitchers know, there's just something more fun about hanging with your friends for a few days and doing what you love. I find it inspires me with new energy to get back to working on those projects again. Also, nobody appreciates your work like other quilters or stitchers!

Now it's back to stitching for awhile after my quilting break the last few weeks. I have a Shepherd's Bush RR to work on (Queen Bee) and my Secret Garden by BBD. I can't wait to get started. I also need to catch up on my online boards I visit, when you are gone for a few days it's funny how you feel out of touch.

Have a great holiday weekend everyone!

I'm still at work but anxious to get out of here for my 3-day weekend! Hope to get some stitching done, spend time in the pool and with our dogs and generally take it easy. We are going to a birthday party for my husband and a friend on Saturday night, my DH's birthday was 2 weeks ago but just now celebrating it with our friends. It is hard to get 4 couples to agree on a date.

I was just checking my home email account - in the past few weeks the amount of spam I have been getting has like tripled! It is really getting annoying. Because my DH has us all set up with a lot of security and spam filters, almost all of it goes into my junk file automatically, but I still take a quick scan down the list to make sure I don't miss a message from a friend or something. I just wish the powers that be could do something about it - one day I got like 147 spam emails! My DH says it because I visit lots of "kooky" bulletin boards and sites - but I can't give up my online stitching community! What is really sad is the people who are victims of this junk. Frequently my FIL who is 80 will call my DH and ask about this or that email he got telling him to do something. The older people are more trusting I guess - I don't open anything from anybody unless I recognize the person or the subject. Well that is my rant for today. :)

For those who work I hope you have Monday off and enjoy the long weekend! Celebrate your "labor day" with a labor of love like stitching!