Retreat

I thought I had better post some of the pictures from the quilting retreat I went on last weekend. We had such a wonderful time!!! The weather could not have been more perfect!

My friend, Nikki, and I always get up there ahead of time to get things set up and ready for the rest of our group. Since we are the Busy Beas, our little mascot is a bee. I had found bee windsocks at the local dollar store to greet the gals when they arrived.

Do you see the two doors on the top floor? That's the room that Nikki and I always share. Even though there are other beds in the room, no one else wants to share it with us. Why? We love having the doors wide open all night no matter how cold, windy, rainy or snowy it may be! Of course I bought electric blankets for us years ago, so we each take a bed by a door and snuggle down with the fresh air on our faces and listen to the distant frogs croaking. Aaaaahhh!!! (Yes, we are perfectly safe as there is no way to get up on the balcony unless you are a good climber and we all know how many sharp instruments quilters have with them!!!)

This is a pillow that Heather made for one of her boys. She found the free pattern here. She whipped it one in one day!!!! I really encourage everyone out there to take advantage of free patterns on the web. Although this looks like wool, it's actually the softest flannel. He loves to sit on the floor and read so I bet he loved it!

Joey worked on a civil war fabric applique quilt. She always does such wonderful work. She used to hate the "A" word, but now has embraced it and does such beautiful quilts with it.

I'm always glad they don't charge us more for electricity. Can you imagine?

Marion finished this quilt that she had previously started using Fig Tree fabrics. It was one she had seen, couldn't find the pattern for so she drafted it herself. It's a gift for her sister and I'm trying to figure out a way to convince her I'm her sister!!!

Another finish by Heather. She's quite the prolific quilter. She is one busy lady at home so she takes full advantage of her retreat time.

Debbie made this darling quilt along with some other baby quilts using minkie fabric.

There were lots of other finished projects but I didn't take pictures in the evening because the lighting was so bad. I had intentions of taking them the next day but forgot. I'll have the gals bring their projects, including mine, to our next Sunday Scrap Sew and take the pictures then.

We had so much fun. One of the highlights is always the food. You would not believe how well we eat!!!!! Nothing is store bought. Everything is fresh and no corners are cut as far as ingredients are concerned. We had spinach salad with fresh strawberries. Clam chowder that was homemade, not canned! Fresh homemade asparagus soup made with coconut milk and curry! Chicken lettuce wraps that I still have dreams of (I ate five that day). Our favorite baked egg plant. Fried pollenta with sun dried tomatoes. Beet salad made with fresh, not canned, beets. Tri-tip fit for a king. Let us have a moment of silence for the homemade cheesecake and creme brule. Our Monday breakfast is always made to order omelets. I'm telling you, I could feel my waste expanding with each meal! Not only is the food exquisite but the staff comes up and serves us, pampers us, and cleans up for us. They always have the coffee going for us and cater to any diet restrictions anyone might have. You would think that with all this the price would be sky high. Far from it. The price is less than half what other quilt retreat facilities charge. Seriously!

If you are looking for a retreat venue, whether it be for quilting, scrap booking or something else, and are anywhere near the Sonora area, you should consider Silver Spur. If you have any questions about them and what they can do for you, drop me an email!

Back to reality.....