Annual Quilt Retreat at the Sandbox

Last week I got to join my quilting friends for our annual quilting retreat at Gleneden Beach on the Oregon coast. It's held in the SANDBOX room at the Beachcomber's Haven in the lower room of this building. It is owned by a quilter, so she had the room set up for quilting retreats. The lighting is wonderful with windows all along the side to look out towards the ocean. We have gone there for many years and it's really fun. We have 4 apartments and it's like a little home away from home.

The weather was just beautiful most of the trip. We got to stay from Sunday afternoon until Friday morning. It's so reasonable and just so much fun.

I'm not sure which of our quilters made this lovely table topper, but it was really pretty and nicely done.

Each room takes one night to prepare the dinner meal for the whole group. Not much cooking and it's nice to stay in to share the evening meal. The food was really yummy this year.

My group usually has the Sunday dinner on the first night. This is Donna and Nancy~ two of my roomies making dinner and having some fun.

Ina always brings her little Featherweight. Those little machines are such workers that last forever. She looks pretty serious!

This is my friend Gloria in the background and Vicki was new to our group this time. She is a long arm quilter and  makes lovely quilts. She brought her coffee machine and made us wonderful coffee drinks. Thank you Vicki....what a treat!

This is one of Vicki's quilts she was making for a friend.

Gloria loves lots of color....fun fabrics to fussy cut.

Kathy got to sit by me this year. I really got to know and enjoy her during this week. She was working on a large quilt for a friend. Such pretty fabrics!

This table topper was also Kathy's creation. It was soooo pretty and interesting.

Peggy was also working on the same pattern. Sadly, Peggy's hubby Al, had a heart attack and had to have a double bypass, so Peggy had to leave. I'm sorry I didn't even get a picture of her. Al is doing well, but it will be a long haul for the patient and the care giver. Our best to you both Peggy.

More quilting friends....Karen, Roberta, Jan and our other Vicki. Jan and Vicki pump out the quilts like you cannot believe! They do beautiful work too. I didn't manage to get photos of Vicki's work! I really missed the boat!

Two more of Jan's quilts!

And, we cannot forget our Donna! Funny funny Donna who also manages to whip up so many quilts at each retreat. I can't even keep up with her!

This was a favorite of everyone. It's just so bright and cheerful.

When we went over to our room for a break, we found Joy enjoying a Coke...everything goes better with Coke...right? There were a few candy wrappers too! She said she was busted! LOL.

This is one of Joy's mini quilts. She is just getting interested in them and wants to frame this little one.
Very sweet.

Joy hated this fabric, but look how great it turned out! I just loves the print and the colors.

This is our other Nancy in the background and our youngest quilter Torie. She was just so upset, struggling with a project. We have ALL been there. It turned out really cute, but she didn't like it.

And last but not least, my good friend Nancy! We stayed up talking late every night and I always have the best time with her! I cannot believe I didn't get a picture of any of her quilts! She would have them up on the design wall and when I went to take a picture, they would be gone! She does beautiful work and also long arms quilts.

I can't show you any of my work, because my projects are going to be given away this summer at a special party for my high school buddies. I promise to share them all before I give them away. They are really cute and I am having fun making them. 

Spring Gleneden Beach Quilt Retreat

So is there anything more exciting to a quilter than a pile of fabric, fun friends and the freedom of a 5 day retreat away from home? We all headed down to Gleneden Beach on the Oregon coast with high hopes and anticipating all the good times together. This is a group that lives in central Oregon and over the years, I have met them and been included in their quilting retreats! All thanks to Jimmy as he fly fishes in the area.

This is Torie, our youngin'! She keeps us all young and keeps us in stitches...Poor thing, she is always running for us old gals or bending over to pick things up or carrying things up and down stairs. We just love her. This is her always her vacation.

Lisa and Peggy are working on a knitting project. They look pretty serious don't they? Learning to knit sox.

This was early in the retreat when everyone is just ready to sew! Thinking, working and pretty quiet.

Did you figure it out Kathy? Kathy is a new quilter that is just doing beautiful quilts.

Debra is so happy she finished her baby quilt. Look at the smile!

This is Joyce's quilt that has a sweet story. Her mom embroidered the square (note the Sunbonnet Sue)
and she put them into a quilt to give to her daughter. It is a surprise for both her mom and her daughter. I wanted to take it home but she kept an eye on me the whole time.

This is one of 3 quilt tops that Donna pumped out. She is amazing. She sits in the corner and before you know it, she has another one done! I think I talk too much.

Ina is proud of her finished top. It's really is nice and has a Mari Gras fabric that is so cute.

So 5 of us decided to do the Jelly Roll race. You take a Jelly Roll and make a quilt by sewing the strips together. LOTS of sewing. We watched a little video on in and it said we could do make it in 45 minutes....hummmmm....we didn't believe it. It took 4 hours! We all had fun...so easy and you end up with a quilt top. We had so much fun and were doing a lot of laughing. It's a fun group project.
Nancy finished her's first and was plotting out a neat border. It's so fun to see how different they turn out with the various fabrics in the Jelly Rolls.

This is mine.I was so sick of the rain when I bought mine that I had to have some spring color in my life. Nancy is helping me decide what I should do with the border and is encouraging me to try a little flange of soft pink with a bright pink border. I have never done one before, so new territory.

Ina went with a patriotic theme and made her own Jelly Roll.

 Nancy chose a rich black, brown and cream Jelly Roll and oh so striking. She is a great quilter with a good sense of color.

Torie made her Jelly Roll too with darling kid fabrics. It's going to be a gift for a little girl. Nancy hand embroidered the little girl's name on it one evening. I didn't get a picture of that but is so sweet.

Peggy did her's in batiks...blues and greens and doesn't it have a different look? That's what's so fun with these.

So after a few days, you need to have some fun. These two nuts decided to put some music on and sing. Oh my goodness, it was hysterical. I was laughing SO hard. They were using their rotary cutters as microphones. My best shots of this are on a video on my camera, but I promised I would not post it on my blog or FB.

More joined the group later....see their microphones? It was so much fun. I don't have a shot of Lisa and Debra's duet, but I promised....

And another top in progress for Donna....

Nancy's project which is soooo lovely and beyond words....

This is our little homework to learn how to make the Disappearing 4 Patch. A fun block that can be done with 4 squares of any size.

Ina has been gathering our signatures to make a little quilt, so she was putting it together. The border fabric is a water print and the backing is a beach lighthouse print...perfect!

Nancy and I had to go on an errand to get a card for one of our members who had to leave early to start her cancer treatment. We got side tracked on the way home and stopped for lunch at this cute little restaurant. It was such a pretty day.

A nice man took our picture and you can see how happy we are by our smiles. She got to come at the last minute and got to room with me. We had tons of fun together.

Yummy food too and a nice little break.

I couldn't forget Joy's darling quilt. She struggled with this for days, but pulled it all together, redid some of the squares and I think it turned out wonderful! It's done in Mary Engelbriet Christmas fabrics and I tried to talk her out of it, but.....Good job Joy!

This is just a small look at the retreat. I spent a lot of my time learning to hand applique and it's coming along. It's something I have always wanted to try. Lisa and I are working on a retreat quilt which is very similar colors, a few different choices of fabric, but it has a lot of applique. We will be meeting in May for a retreat with some different quilting friends, so we have to have section one completed. I'm almost there! It's a very cute quilt.