Retreat Update

Another fabulous Camp Blanding quilt retreat is over!  Thank you Gloria (Olde Green Cupboard Designs) for planning such a fantastic weekend.  It's a 3 hour drive from St. Pete to Starke, FL, so I leave on Thursday and help Gloria and the gang set up for the ladies that arrive at 8 AM on Friday.  Tradition requires our Thursday dinner is at Sonny's BBQ in Starke and I certainly didn't miss out on my chance to have wings, mac & cheese, Diet Coke and some Lance crackers (love those things!)

My yummy meal!

 Gloria's daughter Heather was preparing a jewelry sale as a fundraiser for MyHaloProject -
"a Christian volunteer organization dedicated to supporting and giving a voice to the orphans of Christ's Children's Home in Liberia, West Africa through financial sponsorship, relationship building, supervision, training, and oversight." 
 It was a pre and post dinner activity and at some point "the ladies" decided to "bling it out" and wear some of the jewelry.  The fundraiser was a huge success as the quilters shopped for  family and friends, and of course themselves.  If you are interested in making a donation to this very worthwhile cause or in purchasing some jewelry, Heather has begun to post the jewelry on the website.  Check it out here: Jewelry Fundraiser.  They are also collecting items and funds for the orphanage as they prepare to contain themselves during the ebola virus outbreak.  Information is on their website.

Heather, Vicky, Pat and Gloria - blinging it out!!

The days (and nights) were spent sewing, chatting, eating (there's a lot of that) and basically just having a great time.  I finished the blue/brown quilt - pictures to come later - and started on the new 2-color quilt.  Oh, I forgot, we shopped too!  Karen, owner of Cinnamon's Quilt Shop in Jacksonville, sets up a mini-store and I bought a couple of things in there!  Heaven forbid I should go home empty-handed!

One of the ladies shared her completed Cotton Club quilt.  Congratulations Sandra Sontag on a job well-done. Check out the quilting by Sharon Robinson.  What a team!!

Sandra and her finished Cotton Club

Sharon's exquisite quilting!

Camp Blanding sits on Kingsley Lake and we stayed in one of the houses that is right on the lake.  Beautiful morning views and great sunsets.  It's really everything you ever wanted in a retreat!! Oh yeah and men in uniform - Camp Blanding is an Air National Guard Joint Training Center!

We also had a special friend join us at this retreat - Joyce Weeks of Geoff's Mom Pattern Company. Joyce was with us on Gloria's quilt cruise in June and had such a great time that she decided to join us at one of Gloria's retreats. Joyce is from Utah, so being in Florida during the summer was quite a different experience.  We may talk about our heat and humidity, but you have to experience it to really understand it!!! I don't think we scared her away!! I saw her writing down the dates of future retreats in her calendar!!
 

Just a reminder that today is week 5/block 5 of the Marcus Fabrics Friends and Companions Sew-Along! We're half way done!! Today you will meet Gloria Parsons of Olde Green Cupboard Designs. Gloria will probably tell you that she is 1/3 of Olde Green Cupboard Designs and that Vicky and Heather complete the team.  She probably won't tell you that it took forever for Paula and I to realize that she and Vicky are twins!!  At the first Festival we both vended at, Paula and I thought Gloria and Vicky were the same person and we couldn't figure out why her clothes and hairstyle changed every time we saw her!! Yeah, pretty embarrassing (and dumb)!!  We have all enjoyed your comments and are very glad you are joining us on this adventure.  We hope you are having fun too, because that's what it is all about!!  

I checked our kit inventory and we only have 6 kits left for the Sew-Along.  You can still order the kits on our website.  We will not be reordering the fabric, so order now if you still want a kit.

Time to get to the sewing machine.  The 2 color quilt and a backing for the blue/brown quilt are calling my name!!

Until next time, happy quilting,
Mary Ellen