Sewing Retreat Weekend

This weekend was so much fun! I was able to get away and have a fun sewing weekend with my mom and two friends. Mom and I left early Friday afternoon and met Michelle and Darlene in Hill City. We were going to Darlene's house, but because of the roads up the hill, we had to drive in, in a 4-wheel drive. We loaded all our stuff in Michelle's vehicle and headed up the hill. It's in the Black Hills and the roads were snow packed and slick after you got off the main roads. We arrived and got unloaded and started sewing while supper cooked. I decided to work on a quilt top that I've been putting off for a while because I couldn't decide which fabric to use for sashing. The girls helped me decide and I got it all sashed and the borders on that night. I didn't get any pictures to share, but the sashing totally made the quilt and I was so excited to have the top finished.
Saturday morning I took the top to work with me and picked out threads to quilt it with. Luckily I was able to find just what I wanted. I worked till 2 and then headed back to Hill City. The girls watched the sewing shows and lounged and took naps before I got back. They say they sewed for a couple hours too... but I don't think I missed much sewing time by working.
Saturday afternoon I worked on my sewing themed quilt. I've wanted to do it for a couple months, but just wasn't sure about the last 3 fabrics. I finally found them and got it cut out and ready to sew at retreat. This is a quilt for me to snuggle with in the hospital and at home, so it's a throw size. I love all the sewing/crafty fabrics in it. I was able to finish it about 8 Sat. night. It still needs 2 borders, which I have cut out, but can add at home without using the design wall.

Since Darlene has a whole wall with foam board/flannel on it for a design wall, I layed out my Cowgirls One Block Wonder. I started with the boots in the lower corner, then legs, bodies, faces, and hats going through the center, the horses on the outsides, and the cactus green at the bottom. The blue and red kind of spiral in the middle and I love how it turned out. I wasn't so sure the last time I layed it out, as all I could see was tan/brown. Now it's spread out a bit more. Everyone went to bed, but I worked on sewing the blocks into strips and finished about midnight. It felt so good to have them in strips.

Sunday morning we had omelets in a bag. They turned out to be so good and super easy. We'll definately be doing that again. Not much for clean up either. The girls made the 10 min. tablerunners, though we kept track and they were more like 45 min. tablerunners. There might be only 10 min. of sewing in them, but the prep work and pressing take longer. They were all finished by the time we had to leave Sun.

Michelle made the fall leaves tablerunner, Darlene made the apples one, and mom made the sewing themed one. They all turned out so cute. I have the fabric for mine, but wanted to get the OBW sewn together, so I skipped the project.
  
I spent the morning sewing the OBW together and was able to get it all done before we had to pack up and leave for home. It was a lot of fun sewing with the girls and I accomplished my goal - 3 completed tops by the end of the weekend. I can't wait to get them all quilted up now.

We packed up to leave early because mom and I were going to a baby shower thrown for me, by my friend Jenn. Jenn and Gaila did an awesome job of hosting and were so wonderful to me. My friends and family that came gave us some awesome gifts and we really enjoyed the party. I'll have to take some pictures of a few gifts. I left them all in their bags until Paul has a chance to look at them. The most special gift was a hand crocheted baptismal gown made by my Aunt Jane. It's just so delicate and beautiful and I can't wait for her to wear it. Jenn made me a signature quilt too which is awesome. It's purple and brown and simply awesome! I love siggy quilts.
When I got home, I unloaded everything and relaxed for a while, but at 8 I couldn't just go to bed, so I went down to cut the batting for the quilt I want to quilt this week. I cut the batting, then I thought well maybe I'll just load the backing, so I got that done and figured I might as well load the batting and top too. I got those done and it still wasn't 9, so I put the thread and bobbin in and practiced. I couldn't just practice, because the practice came out perfect with no adjustments. I started quilting and did the top row and then did another row. They both looked awesome, but I was tired and my eyes hurt, so I called it a night. I'm so looking forward to finishing the quilting on this one, so I can show it off.
All in all, I got 20 hours of sewing time in this weekend and I'm already even for hours with the last two months. I can't wait to see how many  hours I get this month. I'll be quilting away!