Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Quilt Retreats

I love it when I get to spend a weekend with quilters and just focus on getting stuff done while having time to chat as well.  When there are 2 retreats within 3 weeks it is amazing what you can get done.

So the first retreat was at Gruber's in St Cloud.  This was my first time there and I really likes the arrangement.  I can see that with 10-16 people it would get crowded but the work room was really nice and the beds where a treat after Lake Beauty for so many years. I will definitely go back and the price was very good at $50 a night for the first two nights and then $25 for each additional night.  You fend for yourself on food but that really wasn't a problem with so many choices in the immediate area.

The big danger here is that Gruber's is right across the parking lot.  They made out well on each of us over the weekend.  Now I know why the rates are low, the sales are clearly higher.



I put together Danielle's off-center log cabin and thought it was a great, quick pattern.  This past weekend I finished the quilt top with a border to complete the look.  Page is going to quilt it with simple clean lines to carry through the "modern" quilt look and then it is going to a couple of shows.

The second retreat was the Midnight Monster's gathering at Emma Krumbee's in Belle Plain.  With 22 of us it gets a little tight and noisy some times but always fun.  I worked on the arc's for the Bachelor Wedding Ring.  There were only another 120 of those that I needed - ha...now I have to put them onto the melons for the next step.

I got the border on Danielle's quilt shown above and I finished the applique on the quilt for Chase's raffle as part of her year as president of the Children of the American Revolution in Maryland.  I got the whole top assembled and ready for quilting.  Page was willing to move the quilt to the top of the list so I can get it bound and off to Chase for the sale of raffle tickets.  (a couple of years ago I did a quilt for her brother and it help generate $4500 in fund raising for injured vets)  Chase should have the quilt by the first of April for her installment as state president.  Let me know if you want a raffle ticket.


I don't have any more retreats planned in the near future but I might think about it if I can get this much done in just a weekend or two.