I am a member of the HGTV Quilting and Needlework Forum and this past weekend was the 2009 Circle Of Friends Retreat in Manchester, NH!! A friend from Guthrie, OK flew into Raleigh, NC to drive up with me for the retreat! I do not fly and would not have gone if she had not done this for me!! THANK YOU KAREN!!!!
Karen, Elizabeth and myself were roommates! I teased them to no end about their snoring but we all had a wonderful time together! Elizabeth got well versed in southern humor...I called her Lucy a lot! She would just giggle. LOL
It was a great pleasure getting to meet everyone and seeing all of the show and tell!! The committee did an absolute marvelous job of putting everything in motion!! The meals were delicious from the Mexican dishes, chicken parmesan, lasagne, turkey with mashed potatoes, veggies, salads and desserts! We did not go hungry!!
I finally learned how to paper piece, thanks to my friend Shey!! I had only tried once to make a 4 inch turkey block and it came out so wonky that I threw it in the garbage can and put away the book! With Sheys guidance I figured out what I did wrong and now I will get that book back out! neener, neener!!
I was so glad to get to finally meet everyone but the following ladies have been a special part of my life and I loved being able to give them a hug for the first time! Bingo-Bonnie (she kept after me and after me to start a blog! Thank you Bonnie) Shawkl (she is from my home state of Alabama and does beautiful crazy quilting!) ToryAM (she lives in Alabama's neighboring state of Mississippi and has been in several of my swaps...and is VERY patient with me! love you my friend! and thank you for teaching me how to eat a lobster! LOL) Needlecrazy (she and I worked a fundraiser together to raise money for the Hurricane Ike victims and we have been friends for quiet a while on the forum) DecPainter (she is such an inspiration! and her cute little voice is stuck in my head..hehehe..) McPatches (she sends me Flying Pig giftees, even gave me a t-shirt at the retreat! Love you girl!) IowaLisa (she and I both collect pigs so I gifted her with my FQ challenge project...she cried..and that made me feel very special!) Everythingquilts (who I love to have in my Dotee Doll swaps!) Expatquilter (I could sit and listen to your Irish voice all day!) Bluesnail (I will cherish my blonde headed ballerina forever!) and last but certainly not least is my friend Talia (the one who can make you smile even when you are too tired to do so and who better not block me from Facebook! :P )
AND Quiltingnewbie!!! I made a wonderful friend whom I will always remember!! This lady is such a sweet treasure!! I love you my friend!! (and yes, I will always remember that you are not Auntie Reba...LOL ) I bought you something on my way home! :)
And being able to hug Nickilee, Ely, Charmingsister, Terrimae, and Auntie Reba again was really great! I had met them a year and a half before when my hubby and I made a trip to Boston. Now I am waiting for a visit from Nicki to our home! yep, yep... :)
And my Sassy!! Who couldn't love Sassyneedlepusher! Your room is ready when your niece graduates!! and your pickles will be ready too!
As you can see I have only named less than half of these wild, wacky, wonderful women!!! ALL 70 made my weekend very enjoyable to say the least!!! I have memories that will last a lifetime and am so grateful that I was able to attend! I will be hosting the retreat in 2011 and hope to see all 70 of these ladies again and newbies who I havent met before!
Below are a few retreat photos...I will not label them in case someone would not want me too.. Hope you enjoy them!
3 comments:
awesome, awesome! AWESOME!!! What a great post. ;) You are really on the ball Q! I cam here to get a peek at your bleeding hearts you mentioned to LisaP8 on FB and WOW - at the very top a great summary of last week. ;)
I wasn't expecting a tear in my eye but I did! ;) I am so glad I bugged and uham, "reminded" you agian and again to get a BLOG! ;) LOL You have so much to share - not just with your Stunning Quilting work (both hand and long arm) but you are very talented in your story telling also ;)
I WILL be there in 2011! So you can mark me at the top of the list!!! I even have $200 cash saved already ;) I just need to find a pig to stick it in... this time for NH I kept an envelope in the pocketbook, and I "robed Peter to pay Paul" at least half a dozen times... but I had more than enough when it came time ;)
'nuf for now. You did a great job sumarizing the weekend - it was great wasn't it? ;) I'm so glad you were there! thanks. ***BIG HUG*** Love from Texas! ~bonnie
Looks like you had a ball.
Going away for a craft weekend is on my list of must do's. Everybody always seems to have such a good time!
I just got back from a retreat like yours. The pics were fabulous! Looked like you all had a blast!
Micki
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