QUAP quilting retreat

I’m ba-a-a-ack!!  It was a wonderful trip…I can’t wait to tell you and show you all about it!  I was up at 5:30 AM on Saturday to get showered and pull everything together before Pat arrived at 6:30.  My little baby found a new place on her cat perch to settle into:  

Janice & Dennis were also up to help pack the car: 

a few bolts....just in case I ran out of things to do!

and wish us good-bye, and they left shortly afterwards for the long trip home to Connecticut.  Our first stop was Hancock’s of Paducah (in Kentucky)…a MASSIVE store with everything and anything you might want in the way of fabric.  I met the rest of the crew (5 other people….more on them later) and we shopped for an hour or 2.  Though I thoroughy enjoyed browsing at H of P, I ended up buying nothing  :-).  After that, we headed to our B&B 

Pat with one of the workers

For the evening (I shared a room with Pat and her daughter Andi):  

a fainting couch...it felt just like home!!!!!

We all sat around the pool: 

Pat, southern Mary, Andi (Pat's daughter)

Andi, Arizona Mary, Abby

Arizona Mary, Abby, me, Nancy (behind umbrella pole), Pat, southern Mary, Andi

eating appetizers and drinking a variety of items, and totally enjoying the ambiance:

this is Lucy

of Lucy & Ethyl

2 turtles who just float around the pool all day  :-)

before finally ordering dinner:

Pat, Andi, Nancy, Abby, me, Arizona Mary

We got up early Sunday morning (4/30) and all congregated in the living room, reading, talking, knitting, whatever…waiting for breakfast.  This B&B is rated as one of the 10 best breakfasts in the state, and I can well believe it.  In fact, I’m not sure I even want to see a breakfast that is any better!

We were totally stuffed when we headed off to hit 2 wineries (for wine tastings and of course...a bit of wine buying :-) 

Andi & Pat

on our way to our ultimate goal....the quilt retreat.  We stopped at a grocery store before getting there...and I HAD to take a pic of another phenonmenon I've never seen...a drive through window at a liquor store!!!:

We finally made it to the quilt retreat for our 5 PM check-in time:

Our sewing room was great!  Lots and lots of space for each of us:

How long are we staying exactly???

So....let's go back to the wonderful ladies I met at this retreat...I told them they needed a name for the group...so we settled on QUAP...quilt-a-holics...and Pat (since Pat continues to insist that she is not really a quilter :-).  First up Nancy...orgainizer of the whole thing:

I think Nancy might possibly be the fastest piece-er/quilter of anyone I have every met!

Next is Nancy's sister Abby:

who I definitely share a color esthetic with:

Then there's Andi, Pat's daughter:

showing off her pearly whites (at my request) and a finished purse!

who did her best to talk care of all of us and make sure we always had everything we needed.  

Arizona Mary:

who truly is a ray of sunshine...she makes me smile every time I look at her as she has the BIGGEST AND BEST SMILE ever!

and finally southern Mary:

who obviously shows her love through food as she brought so much FABULOUS food to share!!

We finished tons of projects while we were there:

pillow shams to match a quilt made last year

the beginning of a bed quilt for pat

yes, needs borders, but Loree will use for a border demo next week

yes, same layout, but different centers than last quilt pic

There was lots of great food consumed:

Pat's healthy (?) lunch one day

yummy chicken casserole

a beautifully made frittata (by Mary) for breakfast

and just lots of fun in general:

I am in AWE of Mary and Nancy's quilting talents:

It was a  long 8 hour drive home on Thursday...and although I had loads of fun....it is good to be home to my regular life.