Fantastic Retreat Weekend

I spent this past weekend in LaPorte, TX at Ronda's retreat house - And Sew It Began-Pieceful Stitches - with 14 of my quilting BFF's.  We arrived on Thursday afternoon, left on Monday morning and in between we laughed, joked, shared, sewed, shopped, dined out, snacked and basically just had a fantastic time.  Some people machine sewed, some rug hooked, some hand appliqued, some did English Paper Piecing and some did a little of everything. Ronda and Cynthia (from Houston) played hostess and even cooked for us.  Thank you Cynthia for the delicious shrimp gumbo and chili.

Here are some photos from the weekend:
  First  up - a photo from Hobby airport - it's Rodeo time in Houston!

  Next - a photo of the whole group in front of the house.  The house was a Sears craft house from the 1920's that Ronda and her husband David bought and remodeled into a retreat house- 4 bedrooms, each with their own bathrooms, living room, dining room, kitchen and separate craft room (this they had built in the backyard). Check out Ronda's blog for info on the remodel and build.

BACK - Cynthia, Gloria, Katie, Anjie, Lynn, Denise, MIDDLE - Sara, Tami, Wynette, FRONT - Me, Paula, Donna

 Ronda with the quilt block sign that David made for the house.  It's in the front yard.

I made a special request and got to share the Red Crinoline Quilts room with Sara and Tami (mother/daughter).  Ronda's version of our Carolina quilt hangs on the wall and Long Road Home was on my bed. Quick note - fabulous, comfy beds and great linens!!

Friday was a shopping day and some of the group went off to Alvin and did some antiquing (and brought back some fabulous finds) and the rest of us went to Painted Pony n' Quilts to do a little shopping (some of us visited the shop a couple of times that weekend!).  We had a great time and bought a few things we just had to have! Here's Donna, Anjie and Cynthia with their purchases (and my bag too).  I snapped a quick picture of the RCQ pattern section - it still surprises me when I see our patterns in a store!  Then it was on to Mainly Drinks for lunch and back to the house to get some sewing done.

In between shopping, antiquing, dining out and visiting, we did manage to get some actual sewing done.

Anjie's Star Block exchange - she made one of each set so she had a sample for later.

Paula brought her EPP to share.  Katie finished about 4 of her Lucy Boston blocks.  2 are shown here with the light blocks around them.

Gloria worked on a new wool BOM, some rug hooking and cross stitch.

Ronda's Hostas from Judy Niemeyer. 

Lynn's rug hooked Santa - all done!!

I finished all of the blocks for Tanner Crossing.  Wait until you see the actual setting!

Ronda also shared our Star of the West pattern that she made in purples. Yummy!  I hope she checked that it went back in the house and not in one of our suitcases!!  There was some oohing and ahhing over this one.

Paula came on Saturday to spend the day and brought a couple of her new fabric collections to share - Latimer Farm for our new BOM, Davenport Garden (still in production/design) and Historical Stripes for the next quilt I will be making.  I only have a picture of Historical Stripes and yes it is all stripes!

I arrived home on Monday afternoon, unpacked and started thinking about my next retreat - this weekend!  I'm picking up Paula at the airport tomorrow afternoon and we are headed to Camp Blanding for another retreat.  The projects are packed - Tanner's Crossing (now that the blocks are done, Paula can arrange it and I can start sewing the top together), Historical Stripes (fabric all cut for the blocks and ready to be sewn), and Star Block exchange (this needs to be done by the September retreat, so I had better get busy!).

Well, there's still a lot of packing to be done tonight and I want to be able to watch the Season Premiere of Survivor (the only reality show I watch), so that's all for now.  I'll take some photos as we work through this weekend's retreat to share with you next week.

Until next time, happy quilting,
Mary Ellen