What mary did...

Mary was the only one who had to mail her pfojects in advance...because she had to fly in. So she ran out of things to sew...so she started to help others... (really...the woman is a walking talking example of goodness, isn`t she!) She hemmed multiple linen towels for Rhonda...and she made my new favorite apron...the crossover back with fabric from IKEA...which I did not get a good pic of...

.Good thing Mary got a pic!  THANKS AGAIN MARY!!

How much sewing can you do in a week?

SEW REtreat...day 1

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...

The 2018 SEW Retreat Blizzard

Technology for old people...

Okay -- here's where I'm at.  At this moment, I am writing this blog post with my new laptop...which has no photos.  At all.  But it DOES have a keyboard, so I'm at least able to type...as opposed to the index-finger-pecking that my new Samsung tablet requires.  Ugh.

It's like picking between two disabilities...would I rather be blind or deaf?

I've ALWAYS known the answer to that question...I'd rather be blind than deaf.  Because you can still have a conversation with a loved one, discuss world affairs at your morning breakfast joint, or hear the coos of a newborn baby.  But if you're deaf, most of the world will avoid having conversations with you, so you never really get to know people and you'll never hear the sweet whispers of a loved one.

So, for this post -- I chose to have a conversation.

The next post will be from my tablet -- so it'll be mostly photos...

WELCOME TO GERIATRIC TECHNOLOGY.  Ugh.  This is the reason why we need three remotes for our television....

And it's also why, if you drive by a retirement village in the middle of the night, you'll see a lot of windows with a faint blue haze coming from inside...those are the 80 year old people who are afraid if they turn the television off when they go to bed -- they'll never be able to get it back on in the morning.

So they just leave it on at all times...

And -- hey -- I'm fine with that!!

Slow progress

You may be thinking that yoga killed rita,,,,

No!!  I loved yoga,!!

But the week before the retreat my laptop died.  You know how technology aging works,,,

Whereas in DOG YEARS   one year for a human is like 7 years for a dog...

With computers, one year is like 80 human years...

And mine was as old as METHUSULA...(who was METHUSULA anyway?)...

I am writing this blog on the new Samsung tablet Elliott gave me...with my two index fingers,,,ugh,,,...Double ugh...

I took many great photos during the retreat.  But can't see them well enough to know what I'm posting...

So I will try to post some random shots,,,

A d my guy is loading my files on my new computer even as I am pecking out this note,,,

I miss you too!!