SEW Retreat

The pictures in yesterday's blog were from our first full day at the retreat.  WE GOT SNOWED IN.  14" of snow...the biggest storm in 10 years.  AND WE WERE REALLY SOCKED IN...the county road crews couldn't get to our gravel road for two days.  And, oh yeah -- the Retreat has a half-mile long driveway as well.  So we had no choice but to hunker down at our sewing machines...

WE WERE DELIGHTED..!!

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Mary flew to Iowa on the Friday after Thanksgiving. We drove to the Retreat Center, which is only an hour from my home. Rhonda (driving from Chicago) and Deanna (driving from Beaver Dam, Wisconsin) arrived on Saturday.

The Director of the Center, Sister Margaret, gave us a golf-cart tour of the property. After a delicious, gluten free soup lunch -- the four of us were delighted to set up our sewing studio. I'd packed up three Featherweights (one for me, one for Mary, and a spare). Deanna and Rhonda both brought their much-more-modern (and fancy) sewing/embroidery machines -- AND their sergers, to boot.

Without even discussing it with one another -- WE ALL HAD BROUGHT GIFTS for each other. Deanna could WAIT -- so gift-giving was our first order of business.

Then -- we put on our flannel nightgowns (my thrift-store gift to the girls) -- and began to unpack our projects. WE HAD AN ENTIRE WEEK ALL TO OURSELVES. We could sew to our heart's content. Without interruption. We didn't have to get dressed if we didn't want to. We could stay in our pajamas all day. We didn't even have to stop to make ourselves a sandwich. Every day, all day long, we could just sew....

It was SOOO interesting to see the projects that each of us packed. None of us had ever done this before...HOW MUCH SEWING CAN YOU GET DONE IF YOU HAVE A WHOLE WEEK? Who knows?

For me, personally, there was no question that I was going to start with my unfinished Splendid Sampler Quilt. Holy Cow...I started that sucker in February 2016...and three years is LONG ENOUGH. But my SS quilt project DIDN'T EVEN COME CLOSE to being the oldest U.F.O. at our little sewing getaway…

Although I am not currently free to talk about it....it was an honor to be in the room when one of our members finished a project that her Grandmother started...over 30 years ago....

The blizzard hit Sunday night...

Hummm...I wonder what Sister Margaret is cooking for our supper?

Oh yeah.  This is gonna be fun...