If You Build It, They Will Come

 June 18, 2022

Here we go!

Traveling south down freeways,
Route 8 - south to 77
Through orange barrels and barricades
Till the road opens up to
Green hills and open fields
And 70 MPH.

Turn on 250 East, 
To 36 West
Roads here are the best.
Sharp left onto Edwards Ridge,

Country roads
Over hills and around curves,

Up and down
Past grazing cows,

Through valleys with

Houses tucked down in Hollars.

Till we arrive at Richard’s Corners, AKA Barbie’s place.

We haul in our stuff and bags filled with projects.
Roll down the ramp 
Into the building,
To fill in the spaces,
Usually for dogs,
But today for workplaces.

We bring

Cutters and rulers,
Tools of our trade,
Scissors and pins,
Material of every shade. 
Expensive machines  
protected in cases
Janomes and Brothers, Featherweights and Berninas. 

Our QB's are here:
Barbie and Barb,

Amy and Joyce,
Dana, Deb, Gina, and then

Chris and Janet
Gladys and Jen.

Arms flung wide open 

Ready for hugs.

Finding our table
Do we have enough plugs?

The smell of Sloppy Joes

Fills up the air.

We gobble down all with

Nary a care.
Macaroni salad, custard pies,

and Deviled eggs -
Thanks to the chickens,

Barbie cooked like the dickens!

Traces of conversations

Float in the air,

"Check out the material in my hexies."

"I'm not sure I like this square!"

"Look! Tiny flamingo toes"

"I will miss her"

"We'll see how it goes."

The day slipped on by

It's time to pack up

Our Expensive machines

On which we rely.

Many new memories.

Fill in the spaces:

Thanks to the preacher

We're full of God's graces.

Barbie's first sewing retreat

Was a rip-roaring success

"See that, Barbie,

There was no need to stress."

"We thank you for this lovely day.

Please invite us back 

If we can find the way!"

Mother and Daughters: Barb, Barbie and Amy

Chris and Janet

Gladys and Jen

Deb and her Hexies

Dana

Joyce

Gina

Barbie - Our hostess with the mostess! 

Rose of Sharon Retreat April 21 to April 24

 When winter gives way to bright sunny days, it's time to go on a quilt retreat at the Rose of Sharon in Coshocton, Ohio. The weekend featured 80-degree weather, lots of laughter and amazing quilts. It doesn't get any better. Oh, and don't forget about all the good food!

Our first day was a big "show and tell" day featuring quilts that were finished over the winter or on the first day of the retreat. Here are some highlights:

Gloria's Glacier Star Quilt 

Jen's Log Cabin 

Barbie's Quilts

Unique Squirrely Girl Appliqued Quilt 

Postage Stamp Quilt (Oh my goodness!!!)

Celebration

What better way to celebrate getting older than spending a weekend with quilting friends. It started with an Italian spaghetti dinner with meatballs, thank you, Bridgette, and a fun cake, thank you, Dana. 

  Look at all the happy faces!

Christmas Block Exchange Party

Last year our group decided to do a Christmas Block to exchange with others the following year. I have to admit this was a first for me. But I loved the fun blocks that everyone made. Such creative Q-bees.  We exchanged blocks when we went out to dinner.

Here are the blocks:

Can't blog about the Rose of Sharon without showing off all the flowers that line the streets in Coshocton. 

More Projects finished

Well, minus one middle strip. 

 It's always sad when a retreat comes to an end. We are tired, but happy, after sewing far into the night, sharing life stories, exchanging quilting ideas, and eating too much good food. 

The grand finale was when Jen finished her "large" colorful quilt in time to send it home with Dana to be quilted. "WOW!"

“We stitch together quilts of meaning to keep us warm and safe, with whatever patches of beauty and utility we have on hand.” ― Anne Lamott

2021 September 24 - 27 Rose of Sharon Retreat

 

The Covid 19 Pandemic put a stop to our quilt retreats for about a year. Getting back together with all our Q-Bee's was like a breath of fresh air for me. We worked on projects, ate too much and stayed up too late sewing pieces of material together and sharing stories.

Here are some of the Highlights of the retreat:

After all that hard work of making quilts, of course we had to eat and eat some more.

Happy Quilting to all! 

"A day patched with quilting seldom unravels."