A No-Frills Retreat

I decided to invite several quilter/knitting friends to join me at a retreat at my church (with the church's permission, of course). We ran from 10 AM to 10 PM. I called it a "no-frills" retreat as I had planned no door prizes, no games, no extra frills. Some of us can't help ourselves, however, and brought little chocolates and little hand lotions for everyone.

Nine of us came and went, with sometimes as few as two in attendance. I don't think all nine of us were ever there together. We had a great time, met a new (to us) member of our online Sunshine guild, one attendee joined Sunshine, and we all got a lot done. I hope to do it again, maybe this winter.

I spent Sunday recovering: church, taking a nap, slowly getting my stuff hauled back upstairs to my sewing room, another nap.

First to arrive was my cousin, Beth. And the first project I worked on was Lotto blocks for Sunshine.

My next project was doll quilts. Tops were made; I just had to finish them. These are going to a Christmas toy collection through a friend.

Amy finished knitting this beautiful sweater (in a total of 2-3 years), and Andrea made this quilt top from start to finish in a day. We all have our share of short- and long-term projects!

Various other projects on which we made progress or which we completed:

I found out I'm older than I used to be, because it took me TWO days to recover from this retreat, rather than my usual one. And while we were on retreat, Paris was attacked. I'm so sad for France, but heartened by the responses of love. I have seen some poignant discussions on Facebook and in the news. People are amazing, and I am thankful.