Fiber Babble: I Survived Retreat

I Survived Retreat

May 22, 2011

We think alike, my father and I. "The Callender Papers" by Cynthia Voight ♦♦♦◊◊

You know, there are so many stories to tell but I'm afraid that most of them are in the "You had to be there" category.

So, let me just try to hit the highlights, 'k?

I think this will be a 'Part One' post so I don't overwhelm you with 5 days' worth of news/pictures in one post. Don't worry, though: I'm pretty sure there will only be a 'Part Two' and not parts three, four, five and fourteen.

The retreat was in Reardan, Washington, about ½ hour west of Spokane. If we were driving 'straight through' from Longview it should have taken about 5½ hours to get there. But of course, we didn't. We took 'the Gorge route' and went south into Oregon, then east along the Columbia River, then north again for awhile with the river.

Of course we had to stop at a few quilt shops along the way...

ETC-Every Thread Counts in Hood River, OR. VERY friendly staff person. The shop was smallish, but super clean and bright with a good variety of fabrics, patterns and gadgets.

We also came across this great idea - Yep, you're reading that right, Wild Flowers Quilt Shop and Liquor Store (in the booming metropolis of Ritzville, WA)!

Fabric on the right, booze on the left. What more could one ask for? (It was a very nice shop!!)

Upon arriving in Reardan, I was almost immediately accosted by a big black cat. I named the cat 'Lassie' (one of those had-to-be-there things) and during our stay, Lassie made my life kinda interesting.

Yes, Lassie is a bit scary-looking. I read a lot of woo-ee-oo fiction you know, so I may have been a tad freaky that I was singled out for 'adoption' by a glowing-eyed, long-taloned, yowl-y black cat.

As I suspected, I WAY over-packed projects for my time away. In addition to having too much to choose from, I took on the role of Cub Reporter for our forums and spent lots of time taking pictures and uploading them, so I really didn't have time to get a whole lot accomplished.

That's my story and I'm stickin to it.

Of course I did do some sewing, but for the first couple of days at least it seemed that I was ripping out more than I was stitching. I'd brought a UFO that I started many moons ago (but still in this millennium) and was aghast at the poor job I'd done on the blocks - seam allowances all over the place, un-square blocks. Eeww.

Next post will be about the group projects we completed. Maybe even an update on the fate of that embarrassing UFO...

Labels: babble, quilting

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4 Comments:

At 5/22/2011 3:20 PM,

Barb Babbled Back:

Oh wow...sounds like you had a blast so far, can't wait to hear the rest!

At 5/23/2011 5:18 AM,

Crispy Babbled Back:

Oh I bet Moon Pie loved the smell of a strange cat on "her" owners clothes!!

Unsewing IS part of the sewing process so at least you got something accomplished LOL.

Weird about the liquor store/quilt shop....quilters in Ritzville must be heavy drinkers. I wonder what their quilts look like.... LOL.

Crispy

At 6/03/2011 2:10 PM,

Anonymous Babbled Back:

So, were there straight stitches in the fabric liquor store?

That is awesome!

At 6/09/2011 12:32 AM,

Gimpy Cat Babbled Back:

I like the idea of a liquor store and quilt store in one, you could hide your liquor in your fabric ROFLOL!!!!

Love the kitty even if it was an 'otherwordly' feline. Thanks for sharing, it really is fun to read your blogs (Hint, hint hint....)

(OK for verification I have the word 'plagiest' Hmmm just what is that supposed to mean, does the program think Im a plagued poster or the plagiest one??? What is plagiest?????? LOL)