May 2, 2009

The 2009 COF Retreat


I had a blast at the COF quilting retreat. I'm been totally exhausted this week, but thought I'd share a few things with you. Here's at group pic of most the ladies that attended. We are all members of the HGTV quilting and needlework message board and it was so nice to finally get to meet so many of them. I have never laughed so much and just can't tell you how wonderful of a time we all had. New Hampshire was just beautiful and the weather was perfect. We were up early and to bed very late. Every minute was filled with fun and laughter. We did the Miranda bag for our group project which was taught by Christine. They also offered many classes(around 20) to choose from. I choose to take the Shuttle tatting, machine quilting and overlay applique. I loved the overlay applique and hope to work on it soon. I'll be doing Quiltbeas Victorian Ladies, she taught the class and you can see her beautiful patterns on her blog. I also learned some great tips and techniques from Jayardi for machine quilting so maybe I won't be stuck on stippling forever after all. The shuttle tatting class was great and I hope to find time to work on that some soon. We all took a charter bus trip to Keepsake quilting were I'm sure we broke a record for the biggest sales in one day, LOL. Then many of the ladies and I hit 3 bead shops, wow I know we had to of boosted the economy in that small town. We had 3 fabulous speaker from our group. We have such talented ladies that the committee members didn't have to look far to find some of the most amazing and inspirational speakers. I wish I pictures of all the treasures and things they showed. Some of the many things they shared with us was some quilts that had been quilted on the LA by Thearica Burroughs, she is a impeccable quilter. Her work is jaw dropping and I've seen pictures of her work but they just do not so her work justice. Then we got to see some of Kathy Shaw's fabulous Shadow applique, CQ, and another amazing red and white quilt she is working on that just blew me away. Next we had Quiltbea show us her stack and whack quilts, replique(which look just like stained glass) these were gorgeous and some of her overlay applique, which is to die for. Her quilts were just stunning. They shared with us there methods and tips, which made my to-do list grow twice as long. There was a show and tell session also, which was so inspiring.The meals were delicious but the time we shared while enjoying them were the best and I'll cherish them forever. We had our meet and greet where we each got up and showed our t-shirts we made to represent our state. This was not an easy challenge but the results were just fantastic. I was just totally in awe of the creativity of this wonder group of ladies. It was so much fun that it made my hating to get up in front of a group so worth it. We did some speed dating which really gave us all a chance to meet and get acquainted with each other. It was so nice to finally be able to put a face to the board name of the ladies I've been online friends with for the past year.I shared a room at the Inn with my sister and Lois and I couldn't have had better company. I hadn't seen my sister in many years but that won't happen no more. I have the best sister, to know her is to love her. Lois just made me feel right at home, easy to talk to, kept me laughing and is so energetic. She taught me how to do filet crochet, hand piecing curves. I got to see some of the things she was working on, one was stunning kimono quilt blocks and her things were so beautiful that she has got my sister wanting to start quilting again. My sister has already went and bought her some of the Asian fabric. Lois does all kinds of quilting, needle work, CQ, beading and just about anything thread related. She also won on the FQ challenge we had. I can't say enough about the ladies I got to meet and am already planning on getting together with them again soon. I'm sure I've left some things out but it was just packed full of so much fun memories and I just can't quit thinking about it. It was more then I had ever dreamed it would be. We took up the Bed and breakfast and most of the main building and had the conference center where most of the events took place. Everything was so convenient for those of us that wanted to arrive early and stay later to explore on our own. Here another pic of just a few of us, 4 of the comittee members(Nickilee, Quiltingnewbie, Ely, and Auntie Reba)They done a fabulous job of putting this all together. Then there is my sister, Lois Kathy, and I. I'm on the left with the yellow shirt. My sister is on the right with the black jacket. You can't tell in this pic but we look a lot alike. My roommante Lois is front center with the diamond appliqued sweater, and next to me in the back row is Kathy, I just love her and she doesn't live too far from me(YEAH!!!) I have more pics to share but that will have to be another post. Gosh, I also want to tell you I got to meet Tisme, she hosted the first swap I was ever in and she has always been such a great friend to me. It was a dream for me to finally get to meet her. The only thing that could have made this any better was if I could had got to meet Holee.

11 comments:

  1. It sounds like everyone had so much fun. And, have you lost weight? You might need to update your profile picture!

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  2. Your right I have lost weight. I went from size 18 down to size 10. We had to put Cliff on a renal diet and so I changed with him. That pic was took only 2 years ago, maybe I should update but I done that a few months back and everyone thought something happened to Cliff, so I changed it back. I need to get someone to snap another pic of us together. I'll get right on that.

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  3. What a fantastic description of this experience. Sure hope you have some photos to share of some of the projects!!!

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  4. Donna,
    It was so very amazing to have met you and spent so very much time together (you, me, kathy & bluesnail spent a real lot of time together didn't we?!) I love you to death and i look forward to visiting you TWICE next year, once with Kathy, and once well *hopefully* you know why ;)

    love you with all my heart girlee!
    talia

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  5. Get that new photo taken. I would not have guessed that was you at the retreat! Wow, Cliff's diet made you look like a different person!

    I need to get a new life. The one I have right now Sucks big time!

    Becky mentioned visiting.. I wasn't going to say anything just yet..we are packing up to make another move. I can't spend another winter in this cold house! Even with all the insulation, it's still a 100 yr. old clapboard shack under the fancy siding!

    Don't have any idea where we will end up as yet, but the boxes are starting to stack up in the livingroom!

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  6. Donna, girl I miss you so much already!! I just can not make the Ohio trip this year. My assistant manager is on vacation that week. Are you at all thinking about doing the Oregon trip next year? I keep thinking and thinking about it. I really hate to miss all the ladies from this retreat. BUT, I will try to make Ohio next year. Joyce and I are seriously considering a trip to the beach sometime this winter, maybe you and Becky could swing a trip then too. I had such a ball finally getting to meet you, and I really want to get to meet Holee!!! Maybe a day trip will be in my future to see her. She is only a couple hours away!!
    Tammy

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  7. I should've gone to Houston last year. I wish I'd gone this year. I hope to next year.

    I tried several times to learn to knit. A high school classmate who is now a Spanish teacher taught me a couple of summers ago and it stuck. I did the prerequisite washcloths and scarves and a cap or two before branching out on socks. I learned socks via the internet. Now, I get to teach the teacher how to knit socks! She's got her yarn already.

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  8. I wish I could have been there!

    Shogun

    http://shogunsworld.blogspot.com/

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  9. It sounds like you had a lot of fun at your quilting retreat! I wanted to wish you a Happy Mother's Day tomorrow!

    Thank you so much for the very sweet comment you left on my blog post about the tatted baby booties. :)

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  10. Happy Mothers Day, Donna. Wow, I can say you are truely a great MOM for all the things you do for you kids and grandkids.

    Hope you are feeling better today and can enjoy just being Mom!

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  11. what a great write up and summary of our weekend together in Manchester :) I've been so bad and have not given a proper update on my own blog about the retreat... maybe I'll just post a link to yours! ;) LOL and tell everyone to go read about it here.

    Seriously, I am so glad I got to meet you at the retrat! :) and you were too sweet to give me your challenge project. Of course Nora saw it and immediately thought it woudl be hers - Wrong little miss! LOL

    I'm updating my blog sidebar this week and will be includeing only hGTV friends on it... so if you don't mind I'd love to add you...

    Love from Texas! ~bonnie

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