Retreat time!

I've talked about it in several posts, and finally it was time to go to the retreat with Bonnie Hunter!  Our first class started Friday morning, so we headed to Oelwein on Thursday afternoon.  We made a stop in Independence, IA on the way.  There is a quilt shop there, called Quilters Quarters, that I haven't been to in years and wanted to check it out.  The last time I was there, she had a lot of older fabrics - some that I wished I would have bought.  I was really hoping that I would get lucky and find a bolt of my favorite red fabric, but that didn't happen.  We did find some treasures though!

Then we were back on the road and headed to our hotel.  We decided to drive around a little first and find the location of our retreat.  There were two groups for retreat - one was at LouAnn's retreat center, and the other was at the local Community Center - that's where we were.  I put the address in my GPS and it took us to a cemetery!  YIKES!  Obviously that wasn't right! Then we went to the hotel and as we were checking in, Bonnie snuck up behind me!  We had made plans to meet Nancy's brother for dinner, and invited Bonnie to go along.  We had a great meal at an Italian place in town (the problem with waiting so long to post is that I can't remember all of the details!)  When Nancy decided to come to the retreat, she had no idea that we would be so close to where her brother lives (remember, she is from California).  She saw a road sign that said his town was only 22 miles away!  It worked out perfectly and he and his wife came and met us for dinner 2 different nights.

We had class on Friday morning with Jo and Kelli - they taught their design called Points of Interest, which was published in American Patchwork & Quilting.  It is a really great quilt - it looks difficult, but it's not at all - the blocks are really fun to make.  One of the secrets is that you use the Tri-Recs rulers.  Here are a few that I have done - I only finished TWO in class, but I worked on them when Nancy and I Skype sewed last week.  The pattern used a white background, but I wanted to try using black instead.  I hope it looks ok when it's finished - I'm afraid those tan points are going to stand out like a sore thumb. 

Class ended at 1:00 - we stayed a little bit later, then we left to go to the middle school and get set up. We got a booth of sorts all ready for the shoppers that started coming at 5:00.   My presentation was at 7:00, then there was a 20 minute intermission so we could get my quilts out of the way, and Bonnie could get hers ready.  We were also open for business during that time, so Nancy took care of my quilts and I went out to my booth.  

Then it was time for the main attraction...Bonnie Hunter!  My pictures are really bad, because I snuck in the auditorium after she had started and just sat in the back row.  I know that I should have edited these, but I just did not have the time.

 The quilt below on the right is Moth in the Window, and is one that we will be working on in class.

 The String Spiderweb below is another that we will make in class.

 This hexagon quilt is just amazing.  Bonnie really makes use of every moment.  She travels so much and uses all of that time wisely.  Think about it...you can sit in an airport and on a plane, and in a car and do nothing.  Or...you can keep your hands busy and make hexies (or some other hand work), and look at the reward!

 Here is just a little bit of show and tell in class.  Bonnie has a lot more on her blog .

The community center was a great place to sew - the lighting was awesome and there was plenty of room for everyone to spread out. 

I have much more to show you, but Blogger is not allowing me to upload any more pictures, so I will finish this post another day!