Catching up part I: A Gathering of Friends

Some of the members of an online quilter's group called the Cranky Old Farts (Or Friends if you prefer) had a retreat in Denver PA a couple of weeks ago.  I have met most of these ladies on similar retreats before, so it was wonderful to see them again.  But there were also new friends to meet for the first time.  That's the beauty of these groups- you are already "old friends", even though you have never met face to face before!





I had actually hoped to get some sewing done on a project I was hoping to finish last week, so the first thing I did was set up my sewing space- my home away from home.







But when we get together, there are always a lot of fun activities to enjoy!

On the first night, we opened our "Hometown swap" packages.  Each person brings a goodie bag with items representing their home- and a few little quilty things just because.

It's as much fun to see what everyone else gets as to open your own!





We had a great show and tell of donation quilts, as well as quilts we brought just for sharing.  (Remember my ugly duckling quilt from a couple of posts ago?  This is what it was for.)

Anne's donation

Penny's- I think it's called Remembrance

Carol "Dutch's" donation

Linda is making this as a gift

The quilts were being donated to a cancer treatment group in the Hershey,PA area.






The second night, Footie led a fun activity where we all painted wine glasses.  There was a bit of grumbling about not being artistic, but we all had fun!  And the glasses are all very pretty!

My wine glass

I think this is Linda's

The back of Linda's

And, since we were in the Lancaster area, there was shopping!  Going to Burkholder's is like quilter's Nirvana!

Some of what I bought will be used for classes with Paula Nadelstern next October!!! (more on that later)











The hotel we stayed at didn't have receptacles for guests to recycle.  So I collected it and took care of it when I got home.  It wasn't hard, and didn't take up a lot of room in the car.  It might only be 20 water bottles, but every little bit helps.

I am grateful for:
A husband who lets me go on these little vacations.
Time spent with wonderful friends from around the world.  (Carol and Peter came from Australia!)
Even though my GPS went haywire and sent me on the back roads of eastern central PA, the scenery was beautiful.
My anti-anxiety "treatments" are helping.
The windows in the hotel were the kind you can open, so I could get fresh air!