Cathedral Stars, Day Two, Camp Weed!

Smile and retreat!

Laugh and sew yourself silly!

Talk and visit and catch up on all the goings on ---

It’s been a year since the last retreat and there is a lot of ground to cover, we don’t want to miss out on ANY of the good stories now, do we?

We gathered yesterday after a yummy breakfast in the dining hall ---back over where the sewing was set up, all 42 retreaters raring and ready to for our Cathedral Stars workshop on Day Two.

We’d done some of these units already – tackling the Easy Angle Ruler and half square triangles in the previous day’s My Blue Heaven workshop –and this gave us a chance to try them in different sizes with different size strips.

We learned some 4 patch tricks!  We spun seams!

We had an absolutely fabulous day at Camp Weed in Live Oak, Florida!

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Galaxy-Gram! Cathedral Stars for Everyone!

Workshop day too weed in Live Oak, Florida is winding down!

These ladies have been going hard at it all day and they have a lot to show for their efforts.

So many colors!

So many ideas!

So many opportunities to take this quilt and make it their own. 

We had a special visitor today - I was pleased to meet Stephanie of Modern Sewciety!  Have you listened to her podcast? She has a wide selection of previous ones you can tune into and does new interviews each week with all kinds of people in the sewing industry including quilting people.

I will post a link to her website when I get a chance later, I am sending this up from my phone on my way to dinner!

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Blue Heavening, All Day Long!

Dogwoods are blooming in Florida!

It really has been heaven to be here --- so very low key, so very fun! 

We are offering 3 workshops while here at Camp Weed for our retreat with the Lady of the Lake Quilters ---

And they are eager and willing to try new things, diving in with the Easy Angle ruler and the Companion Angle ruler for yesterday’s My Blue Heaven workshop.

There are bins of scraps to dig from---discovered you didn’t bring enough variety to your liking?  Grab up a few strips, trade a few strips, bring it all together and let’s sew!

Of course, our walk from lodgings to sewing center is just lovely.

There is so much more to discover in Florida, than just BEACHES and Disney.

I am just about 50 miles south of the Georgia border, inland…and this is our view instead:

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Camp Weed, Day One! My Blue Heaven!

What do you get when you bring 40 Retreaters together with loads of scraps, lots of excitement, and a huge treat table?

A whole lot of fun in one big room!

Camp Weed is a great facility - just look at how much space we have! 

We can walk around the tables or even do the Macarena and there is room to spare and room to share.

We started our My Blue Heaven workshop at 9 a.m. this morning with a break at noon for a yummy lunch served in the dining hall.

Many of the ladies are still going strong sewing away, while I took a break at the end of my day to squeeze in a wonderful hour long massage and a little walk back to my room to send up this blog post before dinner.

These ladies are a hoot and I know there will be lots of sewing and laughter into the late night hours.

I am giving up on the idea of catching any beauty sleep at all!

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Showing and Sharing from Orange Park, Florida

Scrappy Quilts are alive and well in the state of Florida – the land of pink flamingos, parrot heads, palm trees and tropical treats.

Just because a climate is warm, doesn’t mean we don’t need color and design and a whole lot of piecing fun!

I so appreciate everyone being patient with me and my barely-there voice.

Sometimes the quilts speak for themselves, right?

My favorite part of any trip ---seeing what you bring to show me!  We had several Celtic Solstice finishes and even some Easy Streets and Grand Illusions!

Our classroom space was cozy ---so it was hard to get far enough back to get entire quilts AND bodies without tables in view, so hopefully these partial views will do you!

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Hello from Camp Weed, Live Oak Florida!

Not far from Live Oak Florida is a well hidden respite ---

Camp Weed and the Cerveny Conference Center is part of the Episcopal Diocese of Florida ---what a spot!

Balm for my soul, Health to my bones, rest for my heart.

And a whole lot of quilty fun going on this week!

I’m here a day early ---Quilt Camp actually starts around 9 am tomorrow morning.

Usually the quilters can come in tonight and set up, but there seems to be a WEDDING going on down at the center where there will be approximately 50 of us sewing over the next few days.

I guess the wedding took precidence – maybe they will leave us some cake for breakfast in the morning?

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Crumbing Away at Country Crossroads -- Day Two

It was a bright sunny morning in Orange Park, Florida!

This is the front door of the Country Crossroads Quilt Shop ---and you know you are welcome here just by this sign you see!

We.  Speak.  Quilt!

Oh, yes, we do!

Just take one step inside -- just one step -- and you are pulled into a world of possibilities.

A Quilter's Candy Store of delights -- you won't want to leave!

They aren't kidding when they say they are the Friendliest Quilt Shop in Florida!

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Galaxy-Gram! Crumbs, Strings, Scraps and Meds!

Medicine is truly a miracle!

I would not have believed it, but the difference between tonight and last night is completely night and day!

And you know what? You don't know how feeling good really feel until you have something to compare it to, like feeling really bad--

As every hour went by, and no matter how weird steroids make me feel, I think we finally have this thing kicked in the butt.

I've even got most of my voice back and that makes me one happy quilter.

Today's crumbs workshop at Country Crossroads Quilt Shop in Orange Park, Florida went off without a hitch, all 16 students ready and eager to play in the scraps.

This was a completely different crowd than yesterday, and each group brings along its own personality, own flavors and own variety of fun.

We enjoyed the company of to mother and daughter teams, and all pitched in to start a scrap stash for Crystal, our new quilter protégé as all remember what it is like to be a newbie without much variety to pull from.

I am now back at my room and look what is set up to sew!  I've got Lynn's loaner featherweight, and the Leader and ender losenges  have come out to play.

Laundry is also running in the guest laundry room, I'm all out of clean everything after more than a week on the road.

Tomorrow we have a road trip to get me down to Live Oak, Florida for several days with the Lady of the Lake Quilter's and their retreat.

I am even more confident and hopeful but I will be even more myself after a good night's sleep.

Oh, it feels so good to feel so good!

PS==I've lost all of my saved "word predictions" from my Galaxy s5.  It's weird.  It used to know what I was typing and suggest things, now it doesn't.  Has anyone had this happen? Anyone know how to get my saved words and phrases that I type all the time to come back??

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Crumbs Day One at Country Crossroads!

This group is good for what ails me!

You know, when you are hopped up on meds – decongestants, antibiotics, and all manner of loopy making concoctions, perfection is the one thing we don’t need to deal with!

How perfect that these two days at Country Crossroads Quilt Shop would be all about improvisational piecing and working with crumbs, scraps and strips?

And a whole lot of sharing going on!

Shop owners Lynn and Bob have been in Orange Park for eons.  If you are in the area, you MUST make a visit – you will find yourself right at home and feel like family.

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