A Bucket List Quilt Retreat.... and new friends

So as I ended my last blog.. Wednesday morning rolled around and I rolled out around 8:20am to head to Quitman, TX for a bonus quilt retreat at Stitchin' Heaven. This place was on my bucket list. Can't thank my friend Sandy Y. enough for thinking of me and asking if one of my/our other friends might come too.  It was actually an easy drive. Just a couple of turns and I arrived in 3 hours and a few minutes.  

Stitchin' Heaven is a quilt shop and has a beautiful retreat house and cabins if there's an overflow of retreaters or a person could rent just the cabin but they wouldn't have access to the work room. When I walked in they had it set up for 40 retreaters but there's only 21 of us. Once everyone got a spot some tables were pushed around. We each had a 4'x2' table with a side table that was 4' x 18". I've already been thinking of how to arrange the runner tables to give us more space when I go back with my gals. Yes I will be booking a retreat here myself. I was told we couldn't move the main 4' tables but we can move the side tables however we want them. 

It looked really tight but it's amazing we made it work until we could spread the tables a bit more. 

And the outside area was relaxing and beautiful. Of course the rain made so we couldn't go down to the pond but hey we were sewing.

There were 2 blue and 2 green chairs on the other side.

Our rooms were spacious and comfy with luggage stands. Two to a room with it's own bath. I'm spoiled.

Plus there was a lounge area if you wanted to relax and not sew.

We walked over to the quilt shop to browse around (cough cough) You know we did more than browse. There were quilts hanging in the retreat house and all around the shop, the offices, classroom, etc.  While there our Liaison Anna Marie took the small group of us on a tour of the entire building.

 And of course we had to take a picture with Gus the Longhorn

 

We got to see everything. from the business offices, to where they laser cut the fabric for the BOM and kits, to where they plan the BOM, where they pack the kits and BOM, and shrink wrap the fabric bundles, and where they plan the cruises, the classroom and the warehouse. This place is huge and everyone was friendly and helpful.

Here's a few quilt tops that the ladies were working on. This one was done by Lisa. Wow. A lot of work went into this one and she finished this top and started another with birds in the next picture. She's good.

Here's the top Sandy Y. was working on and finished. And this one of the churn dash inside a churn dash was by her friend Gloria. 

Not sure which of the ladies was working on this one across the room but I love the bright colors.  The next one was being worked on by a gal named Tammie. It made for a perfect photo shoot frame. 

 

Now do  you see anything wrong here? Nope, the only thing wrong here was Jim used the wrong color. He had tossed it in the trash. What! Lisa dug out the several he had thrown away. LOL He then started taking them to her as he messed them up. Oh and did I mention that we had a husband and wife there. Jim was the quilter and his wife Barbara did needlework. Both were very nice. 

This is Charlene. She is the one organized the retreat for her quilt guild and Donna and I got lucky and filled the spots for two ladies that couldn't make it. Donna Marie said Charlene and I must be soul mates. We do a lot of the same things. Like taking pictures. Charlene was a lot of fun. Can't thank her enough for letting us crash their retreat. It was kinda nice not being the one in charge for once.      Donna Marie decided to get even with me while I wasn't paying attention and snapped a picture of me sewing. LOL 

Another cool thing Stitchin' Heaven does is provides us with a liaison. She came in every morning to check on us, back again mid-day and then checked on us that evening before she left for the day. Anna Marie was awesome. 

Here's me, Donna Marie and Sandy Y.  We all worked at CyFair school district. Well Donna Marie still does but Sandy and I are living the life in the country. 

And here's a picture a 3 of the cottages that you can rent or they use for an overflow from the main retreat house. They sleep 4. Cute.

Here's a cute bag that Donna Marie made. I sat my cup next to it to give you and idea of the size. I was the benefactor of one of these bags a few retreats ago when she gave me a gift in it. 

Saturday 10/28,,,And before I knew it, it was time to pack up and head home. My new friends Charlene and Tracey. Fun ladies.

Sad to leave but I plan on coming back. Bye bye Stitchin' Heaven for now.

The drive home was nice but a little wet. Found out what the big body of water was that we crossed going to Quitman. It's Lake Palestine. Big..

Somewhere outside Jewett I saw this cool log cabin sitting back off the road.

Because of the rain I didn't get to take pictures of some of the various animals/statues/figures around the town of Jewett but I got a couple. A unique little town.

     

So I get home and unload the car. Then I tell David about the retreat and the ladies. Somewhere in there I might have closed my eyes for a bit. But before I knew it John and Kelli were at the door and we were off to The Brown's Halloween Party. I should have taken some pictures of the     costumes. I mean Dolly was there and she was scared by this really tall   pumpkin creature. It was funny. There were witches, nuns, and a priest etc.   Fun evening. The moon was supernatural looking and they even built a big   bonfire.

There were no sacrifices, well not while we were there....bah haha

Nice party by Dendy and Jamie. Thanks for the invite.

That's it for now.. More adventures just waiting....

Until next blog... The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common                                       things.   ~  Henry Ward Beecher