Retreat Fun!

 I got home from the small guild retreat, and had a surprise waiting for me. Mr Wazoo received the motors for the Handiquilter carriage and installed them! At the retreat, I made a couple of tops, so I loaded one up and took the machine for a test drive. Not a hiccup after we tightened up some loose connections. There was a horrible moment when I left the needle down and pushed the 'resume' button in error...it tore a 1 1/2 inch hole through all three layers of the quilt!! I did a cobble-job repair on the fly with Misty Fuse between the backing and batting and the top and batting and resumed quilting. Last night, I sewed patches over the repair and will bind it today. Wow, that's an OOPS! of the highest magnitude. I'm glad it was my quilt and not a customer one. When I get the binding on, I'll show you the whole quilt. This is just the patching.

The oval patch on the back...

...the two patches I repaired on the front.

From a foot away, they are hardly visible. I don't think I'll quilt over them along the original lines. It's a utility quilt, not a work of art.

Back at the retreat, everyone had a fun and relaxing time. Loads of laughter, plenty of delicious food, and near perfect weather for eating al fresco. No TV! Conversation and sewing were the main events. I didn't take a huge amount of pictures, but you'll get the idea from what I did catch.

There is a huge patio with views of the mountains and a beautiful fire pit.

This photo shows the mountains in the other direction, and the tallest one is Blood Mountain. We have to go over it every time we go south for anything. Almost everything we need is south!

I wish that power pole wasn't there...

Here is the lodge. Our room was where the French doors are on the far left bottom floor. The main part of the house is where the deck is, and we ate on the deck every day! The sewing room was just outside our bedroom door so we had only a few steps to get to our sewing. I did a lot of steps getting up to the main floor for meals and the top floor when both other bathrooms were occupied and I really had to go!

The biggest sewing room had spectacular views. Mary's blocks are up on the design wall between the big windows.

The room I sewed in didn't have windows, but we weren't unhappy because we were busy sewing! Every wall had a design wall. Jacquie's quilt blocks are the blue and white ones between the two other quilts. Where I stood to take the picture is right outside the door to our room. How handy is that?!

When Jacquie started sewing her blocks together, I put my blocks up so I could distribute the lights and darks before adding the sashing and border.

On the main floor, there was a great room with massive windows looking out over the valley and the distant mountains. The whole house is decorated with beautiful quilts. Here, you see the entry door below and the third floor above. It's a big place!

From the sitting area, the dining room and kitchen are along one side. We made our plates buffet style around the spacious island. Some ladies ate at the dining table, and some of us ate out on the deck.

This is a picture of the mountains, mist in the valley and a spectacular sunset from the deck.

Really lovely.

While we were there, two of the ladies had a birthday! Here are the two Marys and Debbie partying.

Betty, Karen and Jacquie look festive in their pointy hats!

Rise,(pronounced ree-suh) with the purple gloves, made our meals and kept us full and happy. It was Gaye's birthday and they had a laugh in the kitchen. I think Rise looks like a cute lady gnome in that red hat!

Lauren and Vicky look on.

The birthday girls, Judy and Gaye. After supper, we all had cake. Yum!

A good time was had by all! Here are (L to R) Judy, Gaye, Leslie, Mary, Debbie, Mary#2, Betty, Martha and Lauren.

Vicky is a newer quilter, and made this pretty quilt top.

Judy finished her Seminole pieced top from the row-by-row tutorials at the guild meetings.

Here is everyone but Vicky, who is taking the picture!

Front row L to R: Lauren, Judy, Leslie, Betty, Me, Debbie.

Back row L to R: Martha, Jacquie, Gaye, Karen, Rise, Mary, and the other Mary!

Here's Vicky in the front row while I take the picture

Mr Wazoo was busy while I was off having a good time. He planted these two new hanging baskets and one of the big blue pots outside my studio. I love the hangers he found for the baskets.It is finally looking like summer!

This hanger has a little bird on top.

This one has a jaunty squirrel eating an acorn.

Soon, the plants will fill in and trail over the side of the pot. He has a few more planters to do. They are always beautiful and colorful.

Before the retreat, I went to Mr W's barber and got a haircut. I was so unhappy with the mess the last stylist left, I had to do something before our trip to Wisconsin. I'm going back today to get another inch off the back because the sides are so much shorter than the back. My bangs are also in my eyes, so they will also get a trim. Another few months and it should be evened out. Why does it have to be so hard to get hair to look right?! I am severely hair-styling impaired, so it has to be wash and wear.

We're off to Wisconsin this week for my Dad's burial and memorial service. Everyone will be there, and I will be so happy to see little Dechen for the first time in three years! Covid threw a monkey wrench in our holiday gatherings, and we have been staying in touch via Face Time. It will be good to see my cousins and two of my kids.

 I'll try to post my retreat projects before I go. I have a dentist appointment this afternoon to fix a chipped front tooth  I have been living with for two weeks while he was on vacation. Tomorrow, I see the ENT doctor for a follow up. Every day I lose my voice by the end of the day in the studio. I never had a problem at the retreat, so it is related to something in my sewing space causing it. I have a new nose spray that is working well to stop the drainage and drippy nose, and it is helping with the laryngitis, too. Hopefully, this will be the fix and I won't have to go to the next step of wearing a mask when I work. Yuk! I don't want to have to do that. We'll see.