Some Quiltmania Pictures

Last week I had the pleasure of going again to Saline County Guild's Quiltmania. Our guild has been doing this retreat for several years.
Above, seated is one of the teachers, Royce Stoker who was teaching Seminole Patchwork, which she is well known for. The next day Pat Wade did a class in Paper Piecing, which I will show later. That was the class I chose to take and so enjoyed getting perfect little pieces.

These two ladies have been in our guild for many years and have helped me on several occassions. Bobbie is in the plaid shirt and Billie is in the denim. It just dawned on me they both have boy sounding names. I talked Bobbie into taking the paper piecing class with me on Tuesday.

Everyone has their own table to put their sewing machines and cutting mats,etc on. You can see they cluster, there were several of these clusters around the room. You get there early and you get to set up a clusteror joine one. We all do a lot of roaming around visiting and oohing and awing at each others work. My next post will be of some of the work that was done there, but I wanted to show Cabe Hall where we are so blessed to be able to meet.

This is my friend Kelley busily working on her binding for some crazy quilt placemats she made earlier. She came out just to spend the day, which was an option if you didn't want to stay there all four days. Ferndale where it is held is a lovely drive of about 15 miles from Little Rock. It is so enjoyable to have someone cook for you for 4 days where you can concentrate on friends, quilting, and most of all having fun.

AWOL - Arkansas Women on the Loose

This past weekend was a wonderful short retreat - a good get-away for the ladies and one male quilter - Jim. The first picture is our quilter from Hawaii- now I never fully understood why she was there other than she was a friend of one of our Arkansas quilters. She was fun (won the sock contest) and does some awesome work. What Donna is holding is a quilt she made in the shape of a tent to commenerate her camping experience.

Now this is my good friend Kelley and one of my two wonderful roommates. Kelley is standing in front of the baby quilt she is doing for her first great grandchild to be born in June. Kelley is not one of those who stays up all night or even tries. I have been with her on many trips and bedtime is sacred. She also never sleeps past about 5:30, but will nap when necessary. We have wonderful times on trips and take care of each other. She likes it when I drive (especially through fog, rain, storms, snow, etc.)

This is dear sweet Pat (birdnestontheground.blogspot.com) and she has written about AWOL far better than I can. Pat and I sat next to each other through the weekend. It is our first experience at being roommates and she is delightful. I hope to be her roommate many more times. However, she is one of those who tries for an all nighter and friend that I am I try - I say try - to keep up. We made it until 2 a.m. , which was great for me. Pat is not a big sleeper, but after 2 a.m. it doesn't matter!!! Yes, I can answer and respond in my sleep. She never knew.

Not only did we have a quilter from Hawaii, but we had an old friend and a new friend come all the way from Texas to join us Arkansas women. (We may have to rename this retreat - it is not all Arkansas). This is Debbie and Marilyn. Debbie used to live here in Little Rock and left many friends when she moved to Texas, but as you can see she has made many more in Texas. We are not surprised. Fun, cheerful and very creative. We love Debbie and you can tempt her with purple fabric - in fact anything purple. She is known as "Purple Princess".

Well this is a few of those who attended this weekend. You can see the state of the room. Retreats are so much fun. I finished my BJP08 for February, but until I get it beaded around the edges and the back on it, I won't be showing it on my blog just yet. It was well received my those who were there.

Ya'll have fun!!!

AWOL Update - Monday

This weekend I went outside of Little Rock, AR to a retreat for members of Arkansas Quilt Guild. It was held at this beautiful location at a place called Ferndale.
The first picture is a building called Cabe Hall, which is where Iwill be next week for a 4day retreat with the Saline County Guild "Quiltmania" retreat. That will be a story for another day.

This picture is looking from the meeting building over the little lake there, looking at the hill behind. Next week I want to take these pictures again to see how much has brightened in a few days.

This retreat is actually a 4-H retreat, designed for kids and adults to come for a weekend, a week, or a few days of learning, friendship and having fun (which you know that is the key word to my life). These statues of children represent the 4-H motto of "Head, Heart, Hands and Health. This is the newest education wing added to the original building. On the other side of the main building is the rooms for participants to stay in - usually 3 to a room. All of our meals are provided. I love the idea of 4 days without cooking or wondering what to eat. It gives you more time to get involved in your projects.

This is just a full view of the meeting room wing.

Today I wanted you to see the setting we were in for the weekend. Next I will give you some inside views of the women and Jim who were on this retreat. Needless to say there was little sleep, LOTS of laughter and some beautiful work done. Later.

Quick Post of Fun

This will be a fast post, if I don't get too wordy. Yesterday was our Thursday meeting of the Beaders group. For you that don't know we have been meeting one time a month since 9/11. The picture on the right is of Pat Eaton (www.birdnestontheground.blogspot.com) who is a very dear friend and one of the nicest ladies you could ever know. Our friend Jim Gatling (unbeknownst to Pat) sent us a paper doll that he had photo shopped her head onto. He wanted us to surprise her with a paperdoll since that is what our next Art Day is about. The doll on the left is the one I did and the one on the right is the one that Jean did. Pat thought they were hilarious.

Now the other picture is the print and the items that were sent by another very nice lady Sharon K. Tomlinson (www.allnorahsart.blogspot.com) . Pat got me hooked on Sharon's art, which was not hard once I saw it. Sharon made an offer to the 1st six who ordered a print from her the other day, that she would send a few extra treasures. Boy did she deliver!!! I received this awesome package yesterday. Thank you Sharon. My print is "Sometimes Creative", which is so appropriate for me. My creativity comes in spurts and sometimes sputters, but it does try to keep going. I let life come first and creativity second - need to work on that one.

Well I am off (yes mentally too) for a weekend retreat called "AWOL - Arkansas Women on the Loose" = Jim. Jim is our resident male quilter and we so enjoy having him - he is also a dear friend. We go to a place called Ferndale, outside of Little Rock. It is a beautiful retreat site and I will try to take some pictures to show when I come back.

Okay so much for the quick, but it is all fun. Next time.