Stitchin' Sisters 2nd Annual Retreat - Part 1


We just finished another amazing three-day retreat! The majority of us traveled there late Monday afternoon to set up our machines and drop off our supplies and then returned Tuesday morning for 3 days of sewing and sharing. Last Fall was the first time that we used this facility and it was ideal for our daytime retreat but overnight accommodation was not available. However, when our retreat finished last October, they started building a new lodge with double rooms (2 twin beds), each with its own 3-piece bathroom. And, wow, is it beautiful! I'll include some photos of the lodge in Part 2. 

A few new 'friends' joined us this year for the retreat and I tried to capture all of them during the first day of sewing:



Carole and Wendy catching up



Marilyn getting ready to cut some fabric



Faye1 working on her bias binding



Jane cutting some half-square triangles



Myrtle was working on these beautiful fall placemats...



....from the company, Designs to Share with You. 



Dawn working on some binding (she did a LOT of binding during the retreat)



Darlene blanket stitching snowmen



Elaine and Donna getting down to work



Cheryl piecing some blue and white squares



Bev W and Sharon using their very handy extension tables (more on that later!)



BJ working on a baby quilt 



Helen cutting something small!





Louise doing some quilting on pretty in pink quilt 



The start of Judy's new blocks



How does this mess make such lovely blocks?



And Jean using the design wall to arrange her blocks



And I was working on this Cardinal Christmas quilt that has been in a box for years!


I missed getting a photo of Debbie at the start of the day but I do have photos of her coming up! Two of our regular sisters, Carmen and Faye2 were unable to attend the retreat and we really missed them. 



Louise made this lovely banner!!! I hope we will continue using it for our 22nd Annual Retreat and beyond!


Later in the afternoon, we played Strip Poker - no need, to avert your eyes, we played with 2 1/2" yellow strips. We divided into 2 tables with 10 at each table and pulled out the dice. The die were labelled with either a L, R, C or dot; if you roll an L, you pass one strip of fabric to your left, if you roll an R, pass the fabric right, C, pass the fabric to the center pile and a dot means that you keep your fabric. 

Our table did something that we had never seen before - someone rolled the 3 die and came up with three Cs! She had to pass 3 pieces of fabric to the center pile and out of circulation - and we had 3 Cs rolled 3 times at our table - unreal!

Here's Carole trying to put a spell on Dawn so that she passes her fabric to Carole ......





 ...but it didn't work and Dawn was the lucky winner at our table!



Meanwhile, things were progressing at the other table ..... 


and Jean was the lucky winner at table 2! Here she is with Debbie sorting her strips!


One of the nice things about being away from home for a retreat is that you can sew right until the dinner bells rings:




And we were well-fed for every meal, every day!

Tuesday night, the lovely Fran, once again opened her shop for us - Snow Goose Quilting in Tofield- and everyone enjoyed shopping in her store. Click here to visit her website
 

 

Fran always makes us feel welcome and is happy to help us with any questions we have - and she is extremely generous with door prize draws! This year the four lucky winners are pictured below:

 Left to right: Elaine, Louise, Jane, Fran (store owner) and Bev W 
 
i'll post our Show and Tell photos in the next post. Thanks for stopping by!

Bev 

September! Already? 

Wow, did summer ever fly by! I hope everyone had a great summer with outdoor barbecues, marshmallows roasting on a campfire, family reunions, wedding, vacations, and everything else that summer entails.

I am going to catch up on July, August and September on this post. Wish me luck and grab a cuppa!

This is the start of Carmen's slab block; she is going to make a maple leaf quilt using slabs to construct the maple leaves. This technique is from Cheryl Arkison, check her out here.



This is the start of Carmen Patchwork Pumpkin; it's a pattern from Crabapple Hill - they have many beautiful patterns that incorporate embroidery into quilting. 








This gorgeous table runner was made by Faye1 and quilted by Carmen; it will be donated to Valour House for them to use on their dining table this Christmas. To find out more about Quilts of Valour, visit this link. I believe the table runner pattern is 'Fancy Packages'. 





These are Myrtle's blocks for her quilt - 'Joseph's Pinwheel' - love the strong colours!






Carole is pressing a table topper that she purchased as a kit from Connecting Threads, great summer colours!




This is Faye2's stunning Log Cabin Star top completed - love the blocks!





BJ is working on 'Contemporized Country Squares', a pattern she picked up at Earthly Goods in Edmonton. Love the contemporary fabric!





Faye 2 is working on a lovely little purse and ...





Myrtle is making great progress on her beautiful blue and yellow quilt!




Jane has a cute little number with Stars!




 Carole is putting the borders on her Spool quilt. 




This stunning quilt belongs to Louise - I think it might be called 'Star Gazing' but don't quote me on that! This is a great example of what you can do with half-square triangles!




 This is a peek at Cheryl's 'Orion Star' using Thangles. 




 Louise is having a good day! Probably partly due to the fact that she's sitting across from ......

......BJ who is working on her Contemporized Country Squares by Joanie Morrow!



 Louise is getting into the Christmas spirit early with these adorable little stockings!




 BJ is also working on this pattern - Sew Sew Deadly - can't wait to see how this turns out!




 Faye2 is making a pretty in pink pillowcase using the 'hot dog' method - I love how these turn out!

 


 Louise is 'just chilling' with the girls!





 Judy also made a pillowcase using the 'hot dog' method - such fun!



My spools are s-l-o-w-l-y coming together!




This is Judy's'Parquet' quilt all finished - beautiful! 


Now it is Faye1's turn to cut the cake! Happy Birthday Faye!



 This is a Granny Square quilt we made as a group for a dear friend of ours .....




and Carmen finished it off with this beautiful quilting. I know our friend will love it as much as we love her!




Wow - what a long post! If you made it to the bottom, congratulations! I promise I will try to post more regularly. Thanks for stopping by!

Bev