Did you even KNOW I was gone? I left friday morning for Blackstone VA for a retreat with the gals from Williamsburg VA! It's a Quicky Retreat, just perfect. You know how some retreats don't start until late afternoon and it feels like a complete waste of the first day?
Well, this one starts at 8am!!! So this had me leaving the house at 5am to get there in time.
The retreat was held at The Virginia United Methodist Assembly Center in Blackstone, VA...somewhere close to 3 hours from where I live. I think it's about an hour's drive outside of Richmond. Beautiful drive, and wonderful accomodations! Click the link and look at the flash picture show in the page header...the buildings are SO historic, and you know how I feel about old buildings!
I had never been to this part of VA before, off on country roads in some obscure direction, but Blackstone is a wonderful little town...neat rows of victorian homes and old buildings in a downtown area! And a must have for those sewing into the middle of the night, a walmart only 5 miles away!*LOL*
I knew I was in the right place when I pulled up into the parking lot. Could you guess just by the tags what was going on here?
It was so fun seeing the quilting license plates in the parking lot. You know, we Quilters take our passion seriously! One day Jeff and I were driving down the road and we were behind a minivan, and he spotted it right off...Mom...Look,...she's a quilter! It said qltnmom or something on her license plates. I would have beeped and waved,but she turned into dunkin donuts. Then Jeff said..Yup...She's a Quilter!
*hehehe*
The room we had as our workroom was big, spacious, carpeted, and had LOTS of light. We even had meals provided: Lunch and dinner on friday, and breakfast and lunch on Saturday. Even thought it was a "one nighter" retreat, it really was a TWO FULL DAY retreat. I didn't leave until 4pm or so on Saturday....that's two full days of sewing for me. The pic of the chandelier shows some of the history of the place. Beyond the chandelier is our workroom. There were also lots of couches and rockers and places to sit and stitch and relax if you wanted.
I finished one top,getting the pieced borders on. The rest of my time was spent working on the mystery! Yep, I had to make everyone take an oath not to reveal the mystery before it's time. But I'm also glad that I had people's input. I KNOW you are going to love this mystery!!
Blackstone Retreat, Aug 08
One of the ladies had a great camera and she was our appointed photographer! I love seeing candid shots instead of "posed" shots, so it was great seeing her sneaking around and taking pics of everyone and what they were working on. At the end of retreat, she did a great thing...took her camera down to walmart and had photo CDs made for anyone who wanted one. What a GREAT keepsake!
The slide show is long, and includes stuff from our show and tell on friday night. Get ready for some good eye candy!
In fact, the slide show only holds about 60 pics, and so some didn't make it IN to the slide show....click the Blackstone Retreat link that is right under the slide show to view them ALL!
8 comments:
OOh I don't normally get on to the computer in the late afternoon (it is 5.30pm here - Tuesday) but I am so glad I did. What fabulous quilts i love the way the stars on the christmas tree "Twinkle" with the shading of the reds. And I really like the diagonal figure eight wuilt that will definitley be on my to do list for 2009.
Thank you for sharing Bonnie.
angela from aust
You are a sneaky one, never realized you weren't at home! Looks like a great place to sew, what fun!
looks like you had a great time. glad you were feeling well enough to go. those license plates are a hoot. hmmm, I see lots of Diet Dr Pepper.
I am excited about tobacco roads coming up. How well I remember them from my childhood. I am from heart of tobacco country Roxboro, near Durham. I hope this quilt uses some green to recall those nasty worms we kids had the job of picking off....yuck!!!
Two things I want to ask Bonnie,
did you bring your own chair?
And do you like your Sew EZ table?
I am working on another Strip Twist. This one will be all blues and creams. Love how all I need to do is pull a bin and the colors I want...no cutting! JUST SEWING!
I also just bought a 1923 Singer handcrank with the Sphinx decals. She is beautiful but how did they sew with only one hand??
XOXOXO Subee in northern Indiana
I noticed all the big drink cups by the machines too! If I had one of those tubs of Coke like you posted a week or so ago, I'd have to sit on a portapotty instead of regular chair! LOL :P
that's funny what your son said about the person "yep, a quilter' b/c they pulled into the dougnut place!
thanks for the quilt show/retreat slide show Bonnie! Everyone is so creative!
Love from Texas! ~bonnie
Thanks so much for the web-shots!! Great stuff for us quilters with No means of quilt-a-rama, quilt-a-retreating, quilt-a-viewing. You have to be coming to see ME to come where I live.....in the middle of no where!!!!! I'm starved for ANY quilter "Stuff and Things"!!!
Well, I can't decide what to comment on. This is a great post. Very fun things happening here. I guess I love the "plates" the best. When I had my F-150 4x4 (working then) I had a plate that had a frame that said: Silly Boys, Trucks are for Girls. Not the same I guess, but still fun. ;)
Okay, and I really dig that she went and made the photo CD's for everyone. That's so kind.
Kindness in action Love, *karendianne.
Post a Comment
If you are commenting as "anonymous" please leave your name at the end of your comment.
Did you know that ad space on this blog provides for all of the free patterns and free mysteries and challenges at no cost to you? Without ads, this blog would not be possible.
Thank you for understanding the many hours that go into this blog 6 days a week, 52 weeks a year. :)