Current US COVID related deaths: 959,412
US COVID deaths as of a little over a week ago:940,601
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On Saturday (2/11), Janice & Michael and I packed up the car (exactly how long were we going for?):
and headed off to Tennessee for our QUAP (QUiltaholics And Pat) retreat:
We arrived just after 2 PM....and everyone else was there within 20 minutes...it was great! We were all set up and sewing within an hour!!!
Let’s meet the participants:
-Nancy and Pat, who started the retreat....2 friends currently living in Chicago and South Carolina
-Jan and Arizona Mary, who (not surprisingly) hail from Arizona! Mary used to work at BP with Nancy & Pat
-Abby, Nancy's sister, living in Chicago
-Andi (Pat's daughter) and Raeann (a very special guest.....Andi's daughter and Pat's granddaughter). Andi currently hails from New Mexicao, while Raeann lives in Wyoming
-and Janice, who I invited after Pat invited me! Currently living in North Carolina
So, there's quite a wide geographic area represented!
And those participants brought gifts…..
-and gifts.....
-and gifts....
-At one point Jan tried to model/carry everything we got (but I think she only managed about half of it:
Everyone brought lots of yummy food (which I consistenly forgot to take pictures of....too busy eating it!):
And we even had a birthday party:
But what do we all really come for? We come to sew...and sew we did:
-look at the fit on these pants!
and those welted pockets!
I know it must seem like all we do is sew....but we have lots of fun as well:
-our first night celebration with amarreto martinis (courtesy of Pat):
-3 generations modeling a special gift:
When Arizona Mary was visiting me, a woman in Scrap Happy talked about a book that she felt everyone should own, called 101 quilt blocks. AZM immediately bought it, and got 7 other women to join her in making 2 blocks per week:
But the really fun part is how AZM picks out which blocks they will work on every week....check out her random number generator....TOO MUCH FUN:
And here's Pat saying: ''a snack, sewing, and a vodka gimlet....life is good''!
It was a wonderful week....with terrific ladies....I am so very glad I was invited...and can't wait until next year's retreat...
*** A good man can make you feel sexy and strong and able to take on the world!!! Oh, sorry…that’s wine….wine does that. ***
All I can say is WOW!