It came and it went so very fast. How can that happen? My baby sister came out a few days before the retreat. She stayed a couple of days afterward but not long enough. Truly, I am having withdrawal. My life-long friend, Carole (who feels like Earleen is her sister too) was with us every giggly moment. Oh my gosh......laughed until we cried.
And do I have a picture of us? No - I guess I was too busy. Drats.
I hope someone took a picture of the three of us and sends it to me.
Sew-In ladies donated over 90 little dresses to this year's charity, One Dress at a Time. There were other donations of fabric and accessories as well. Patrick generously donated a lot of his fabrics!
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| Donna, Linda and Edi accepting the dresses, |
We enjoyed an all-day workshop with Patrick Lose and his assistant, Gary. They shared some fantastic tips and techniques. We chose our project from three of Patrick's designs. Gary made kits and we brought threads and basic sewing notions.
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| Betsy with Patrick. |
I chose the sunflower as my project. I'm very pleased with it.
Our own ladies offered terrific information during our mini-demonstrations throughout the weekend.
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| Bettye and Cornelia present a technique. |
I didn't finish a lot of projects. But honestly this year was so productive in many other ways. We had one hysterical evening with friends from way across the valley who we haven't seen in 2 years.
I totally enjoyed my two chair massages.
The food was to die for as usual.
We had a big "Quilted Raffle." I won the place mats I wanted, which were meticulously made by my friend Suzy. My pictures don't do them justice...World Travel mats. So cute and they go well with my new counter tops.
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| Back of the mats. |
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| My Christmas purse is cnearly finished. |
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| Applique' all done and hanging up! |
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| Little vinyl zip bags, always good gifts. |
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| Halloween runner, so cute! |
Cornelia sews for grandson, Gavin.
I did complete a few projects - yeah! Sun Up is hanging in the kitchen.
A couple of visitors dropped in to visit their Mimi. Colton and Kaiden are not interested in sewing. But they certainly appreciated the snack table! 
I swear these food pictures were taken at the request of others! Our group may be a bit fixated on the fab food provided by the Embassy's Chef Steve. I was so hungry I may have been shaky - hence the blur. This is just the little salad bar to go with the made-to-order pasta bar. Oh...wow!
The skirt was actually finished after the retreat - I'm not so sure I like how it hangs. Too fluffy for me, I suppose. 
We spent a few days just sewing like mad. On the trip up, we saw some patches of snow! It was cold the first day but later we ate lunch on the deck! Great food, friends and fun sewing! What a great time we had.
Carole finished the cutest purse. The pattern is Bow Tucks Tote, developed by a local designer, Penny Sturges. What a great fabric choice Carole made.
One of my projects was this little, paper pieced wall hanging. This pattern is called Misty Pine - how perfect is that? I purchased this pattern a couple of years ago when we were on a road trip to Glacier National Park. Deer County Quilts is in Seeley Lake, Montana - wow what a beautiful store. Such a fun pattern, I may have to get more from this designer, Jeri Kelly.
Finally I can show the tote I made for Aunt Mary's birthday. She received it a little late but she was very happy with it. She is such a dog lover - this fabric just called out to belong to her. I used the Bow Tucks Tote pattern the same as Carole's. Penny Sturges writes very good directions, she is a local designer. We met her when she taught a class at an ASG workshop. Click on her link to see more of her patterns - Quilts Illustrated.
