Retreat report

Oh what a bad blogger I've been! I can't believe it's been another week since I posted. And I can't claim to have nothing to write about either. Maybe that's the problem - so much "life" has been happening that I've had very little computer time!

Last weekend's retreat was marvelous. Twenty-three of us had a great time sewing, chatting, laughing and eating together. This year we had a extra room - the camp dining room - which is in a separate building from the lodge. The light in that room was much better so all we did in the lodge was sleep - some a little more than others LOL! We reserved 2/3 of the dining room for the sewing tables and the other 1/3 for eating. Plus we had a nice semi-circle of chairs and a loveseat for us hand stitchers. I think everyone got a great deal accomplished, and as usual the retreat committee went all out on door prizes, table favors, decorations, and more. This time I didn't come home empty handed - I "won" enough tokens to bid the top bid on a "little quilts package" - a Jo Morton book, a bunch of fat quarters tied with a ribbon, and a tiny little iron. What fun! There was also a silent auction with hidden prizes - you took your chance bidding on these. $38 for a bookmark and a little rotary ruler sounds like a lot - until one remembers that the bidding is being done with "money tokens" earned during the weekend.

Friday night I stitched the binding and label on my Fireworks quilt. It was so good to be stitching again! That was one of my oldest UFO's. I finished it in time to sleep under it both Friday and Saturday night. Saturday I did some hand appliqué - finished a large block for the mid-century medallion quilt, and then hand quilted on another hand quilting project that I started years ago. This is a double Irish Chain that was also a class sample from the early 90's Daisy Kingdom class days. Years ago I quilted a fancy design in three of the white squares using a dark raspberry colored quilting thread, and then stopped. When I started working on it again on Saturday I quickly remembered why I'd stopped. The white is some of the first white-on-white fabric that was available, and feels like the design is painted onto the fabric. Not fun to quilt through! I stuck with it and quilted three more of the designs. Once I finish those I'll load it onto the longarm and machine stitch the rest of it. Hopefully I can get that UFO finished by early next year if not this year.

I also took along some stitchery - a few stamped dish towels and embroidery thread. As soon as I started the first one I knew it wasn't going to work. What was advertised in the catalog as a flour sack towel is more like a cheesecloth towel. I can see my hand through the fabric! Really irritates me as I bought a whole bunch of these towels but can't return them. Anyone know of a great place to order quality flour sack towels for embroidery?

Even the weather cooperated with us for the weekend. It rained on Friday during unloading but cleared up by evening and then was sunny for the rest of the weekend. The camp is in a beautiful setting on the Lewis River in southwest Washington, and there was still much color to be seen in all the leaves. It was so very hard to go home on Sunday afternoon! The last thing we did was pose for a group picture outside. Unfortunately the camp caretaker wasn't familiar enough with cameras and photography to know that he should zoom in on the group!