Fun sewing day

Last Saturday,  6 of the 7 ladies who went on a retreat together at Farmer's Dotter Quilt Retreat  last summer got together and had a sewing day. Poor Cindy had to work...we missed her! With predictions of an inch of blowing snow, we headed over to Kim's house. We had a great time sewing, chatting and eating! She was a great hostess and had lots of room for us to work.

 There is chili cooking in that pot behind Kim. It was yummy!

 Diana is moving so fast in the background I almost couldn't catch her on film!

The blowing snow got so bad that several people left early. Diana comes from Avoca, a small town about 40 miles from here. She was packing up to leave when her husband called and told her not to try it as it was so bad. She ended up staying overnight at Kim's and they got a lot of sewing done...or so they say. I know a bottle of wine was involved at some point....

My sister is coming in from Canada on Tuesday, so I am trying to get some cleaning done.I finished quilting the Cottage Quilt yesterday and went shopping with my sister. I am officially finished shopping!  I bound the quilt today and hung it at the store. 

 2 more days of school and we are out for the holiday break. I'm ready! 

Retreat fun in Bedford IA

I had so much fun at our retreat at the Farmers Dotter Quilt Retreat in Bedford, IA over the weekend I'm not sure where to begin. Here we are, arriving and getting our things positioned for a weekend of sewing. Pat, Dianne, Diana, Cindy and Rose. In the center, by the cutting table, is Brenda, aka the Farmer's Dotter.

Kim arrived a little later, as she had to work Friday....but she was ready to sew when she got there.

We did a lot of sewing and the area was just right for sewing and talking. We wanted to do this retreat to catch up on projects, or just work on something fun. It is not the type of retreat where there are classes.  She has cutting and ironing areas set up for all to use. Pat finished her Garden Window Sampler as did Rose.

Cindy started a brand-new project when we arrived, using some jellyrolls she had purchased last year.

So it was fun to watch her progress.

Everyone finished at least one project except me. I worked on my curvy bargello. I have posted about it before.  I had 20 rows finished when I got there, and got 19 rows on during retreat. There are 43 rows all together.

So when I left this is what it looked like. I only had 4 rows left to do, and I finished them yesterday. So the center is finished. Now I have to decide what I will do next...borders? or not?

Back to the retreat...what was really nice, you can choose to be pampered, and we did. So Brenda cooked all our meals for us. As you can see, it was wonderful. She has been collecting antiques for 25 years, and has her house decorated with them. She also uses her pretty dishes and has many pretty tablerunners to use on the table. It was so nice to be able to sew and just get up and go eat. What a luxury and a great vacation!

We also visited the Quilt Coop quilt store near Clarinda on our way there, and stopped at Seams To Be Quilt Shoppe in Plattsmouth on our way home.

 This is the patio where we ate dessert every night. It was hot while there, but cooler at night, so pleasant to sit outside for a bit. We had a wonderful time....it was a great group of friends and a wonderful hostess who made us feel like we were in the home of a friend.