I set sail for one of the best weekends ever ...

The call for all hands on deck had arrived and finally it was time to cast off.

The colours had been hoisted.

And we were welcomed with open arms.


Pam had seen to every detail and made certain our quarters were well stocked with supplies.

I had such a great weekend and I just don't know where to begin. We were technically nine, but were a crew of eight, Pam, Kathy, Helen, Kris, Bonnie, Cynthia, Carolyn and me.
A few of us had cameras and took close to 400 pictures all together. Pam copied all of the photos from our disks and is going to compile a CD for everyone.
Pam had everything set up for us and so we were all able to get right in and start working on our projects - it's all about product and none of us wanted to walk the plank (they run a tight ship at the Pirate Quilters Retreat).

So here is where I have to jump ahead, because I don't have all of the photos yet.

Thursday night we had the most wonderful Lasagna dinner prepared by Pam's very own Cap'n Cook. And of course Rum Cake for dessert. It was all delish! And then it was back to work.

Friday morning we found coffee and juice waiting for us. Cap'n Cook was in the galley and prepared a fantastic French Toast breakfast. We had a busy day ahead of us and needed plenty of energy. Cynthia brought a couple of games for us to play and the first was started right after breakfast. We were all given a quilt retreat related charm and then were told that we couldn't say the would QUILT. If you did you had to give up your charm. The person with the most charms at 3pm would then get ALL the charms and a bracelet too. Kathy was the winner in the end, but let me just say that some of these quilting pirates were a bit more cut throat than others - and I am not going to name names ... Kathy and Bonnie!
Promptly at 10am we headed to the Quilter's Cupboard to stock up on supplies and then made a quick trip over to Sew Fun to get anything else we may have overlooked. And then it was back to work, breaking for a lunch of Italian Crockpot Beef sandwiches. Then back to an afternoon of sewing. The Cap'n brought in a round of Strawberry Margaritas late in the afternoon and before we knew it it was time for dinner.
The Cap'n and his 1st mate (Pam) served the crew a Chicken Enchilada dinner. And then it was time for dessert of Olallieberry Pie. The Cap'n pulled the crew together for the pie presentation and here is what was served up.

Cynthia had made pincushions for everyone!

Why that pie looks good enough to eat!

Next we had real Olallieberry Pie for dessert! YUM.

And then we played a game called Left, Right, Center.

The prize was all of these fat quarters! And I won!!! WooHoo!

We got another early start on Saturday and got busy after breakfast. A stop mid day to have a bite of lunch and then back to the fun stuff.

Cap'n Cook prepared a round of Lemon Drops and Pepper Popper appetizers.
We sewed until dinner time and then had the best BBQ Rib dinner.

The time passed quickly, but we did manage to squeeze in quite a bit of sewing. We also had some demos. Helen and Kris both did demos on hand applique. They both do exquisite work - absolutely stunning.
Pam demoed the little baskets from the Pink Penguin.
We all had so much fun. A lot of laughing, we sang the Pirate Song and the group even heard the theme song from the Super Chicken cartoon show.
It was a fantastic 4 days and it was so good seeing everyone again. The crew was absolutely the best and I hated to see it end. We are already looking forward to next time.

With rubber banana in hand ...

So here I am at the local Blood Bank this morning (right now, actually) doing a plasma/blood donation. The rubber banana is the "squeeze toy" they give you. It has been a while since my last donation. Things were just too busy with my trips to see Marlene, working on her quilt, work and, well, you get the picture. Our Blood Bank is really cool. The stations for plasma and platelet donations are set up for internet access. Very cool. The only drawback is having to type with one hand.

This weekend has been going by all too quickly. I am looking forward to some expanded quilting time in the very near future though and time with good friends.

A little bit country - a little bit quilt show ...

Once again I have gotten behind on my blog entries. The last 2 weekends have been fun filled quilting weekends.

Back on April 18, a group of us got together once again for a fantastic fun filled Sew Day. Debbie was our hostess and we were a “quiet” group of 4 (Pam, Deanna, Debbie and me). Debbie served up a wonderful lunch and had lots of goodies for us to snack on throughout the day. Alex was able to drop in for lunch - it’s always good to see her. And I was glad she could take a quick break from her Asilomar prep to stop by. We have another Sew Day on the calendar and I am looking forward to spending the time with good friends once again.

Last weekend was also quilt related sewing fun. Saturday morning started with a quick trip to a quilt show. I got to the show early and then met up with my mom and my neighbor, Rose. The show was very nice and there about 350 quilts on display. I did remember to take my camera, but very inconveniently forgot to bring fresh batteries. Wouldn’t it be nice to have batteries for sale at quilt shows. Maybe it would just help to remember them when leaving the house.

After the show I went home and loaded up the car and the dog for a weekend of country quilting. I spent the rest of Saturday and all day Sunday in the quiet and solitude of the country. I got to see the “deer family” off in the distance – too far off to get a picture with my camera and fresh batteries. And then on Sunday morning I could hear the turkeys off somewhere down the road.

There weren’t any possum emergencies in the “hood” since my last post. That’s a good thing I guess. I hope to get some more sewing done this weekend. Hope you are all able to do the same.