The weekend in review

It was a great sewing weekend! I got off to a rough start, but I did get a few projects completed.

After sewing a couple hours Friday morning, I needed to change bobbins on my Pfaff machine. I popped in the new bobbin, but then my machine refused to sew forward! A couple friends tried monkeying with my machine, but it seemed stuck. Donna rescued me by letting me use her Pfaff to finish machine quilting Max's Christmas quilt. Then Audrey got her Featherweight from her car; she travels with two machines. I had trouble keeping a 1/4" seam, so Mary Lou headed out to her car to get her Featherweight 1/4" pressure foot. Some people just know how to pack for a sewing weekend. I left my Bernina at home; next year it's coming with me. By the way, as I was putting things away Sunday evening, I set up the Pfaff to see if I could figure out what was wrong with it. It sewed fine; go figure.

Because of my broken camera and the fact that I can't post pictures of my projects, I thought I'd share some of the things our quilt group does to make our retreat special. I think this year was the best yet. If you are part of a group that retreats, I hope these ideas will make yours special as well.

Donna, our organizer, has negotiated a great price for us at Comfort Suites. We reserve a block of rooms which also includes a large room for sewing. (Personally, I find the rooms and the staff to be top notch. If you travel, check out this chain.) Because the hotel prefers that we do not eat in the sewing room, one room is set aside as our lounge where we go to relax or snack.

Darcy has invited a friend of hers to come to give massages on Saturday. One year she used a lavendar lotion during the massage; the room smelled heavenly and so relaxing.

Donna's husband likes to cook; and because our hotel does not offer meals other than the complimentary breakfast, Donna asked him to cook for us. The dining area was closed to the rest of the guests, and John brought in homemade soups and a variety of breads Friday evening. Saturday we were treated to chicken parmesan, chicken picatta, and baked boneless chicken breasts as well as mixed greens tossed with cashews, dried cranberries, and a vinegrette. He brought several other dishes for each meal, but these are the highlights. Excellent!


Each day there was a gift placed at our sewing machine. One day we received a hand knit dishcloth and a tin of Gutterman threads. Another day we received a fat quarter and some small pieces of chocolate.

Every year we clean out our sewing rooms of those things we thought we couldn't live without and instead never used; these items are for our Chinese auction. And every year some in our group make gifts for the auction as well. We had so many donations this year, that the Chinese auction went a couple rounds before everything was gone. Fun!

And Donna always organizes a game for us. This year we played Concentration; you know how that works. The twist was that we had to match the name of a local quilt shop with the name of the owner. She had a couple other variations on this, but you get the drift.

I always look forward to this weekend; there never seems to be a lack of beautiful projects and ideas. Sometimes it's not about the sewing; just sitting and visiting are always nice, too. For years I wanted to be a part of a sewing group, and this group was worth the wait. Nice job, ladies!

And as for the pay it forward, Cora, you're it! Please send me your home address when you get a chance.