Retreat!!!

I think I'm ready!  I've spent as much time as possible over the past several days getting all my projects organized for a retreat.  I'll have 3 whole days to sew my brains out.  It's actually pretty exhausting, as many of you could attest to, but "sew" worth it :) ! 

Here are some of the projects and ephemera I'm taking...the wine and food is already packed in the car.  The laundry is in the dryer but there's only a couple of things I need from that load.  I just wanted it done so there would be less to contend with when I get back.  Are you like that too?  I like to get the house fairly clean and orderly so I don't come home to a mess so, the dusting and vacuuming has been done too. 

I'm looking forward to having lots of progress to report on my Bow Ties, Autumn Leaves and Scrappy Trips blocks.  I've got a couple of new projects to start too-or should I say stashed projects.  I've had fabric for a Twister quilt for a couple of years that I haven't gotten to yet and I found a project I want to make out of some flannels from my stash, too.  So, do those count as new or old projects? At least they aren't UFO's!  We had a great time last year and I got so much done I was amazed.  It was my first retreat like that and I was surprised by how much I accomplished so I packed lots of projects for this year.

In February I spent a couple of weeks out east visiting family.  I happened to be there when Nemo struck so I thought I would share a few pictures from that.   I hadn't seen that much snow in a long time!  I'm glad I was there so I could do the digging out for my 85 year old Dad.  If you caught up with me on Facebook, you already know we had to cancel his birthday party because it was the day after the storm...see the picture from that day...the one with his van totally covered in snow.

This is my Dad's back yard.  Isn't it pretty? Friday morning the snow starting.

By dinnertime it was coming down pretty heavily.

By bedtime we knew we were going to have a lot of work to do the next day!

Dug my way out to the car then took a break.  Cleared off the car, met a couple of neighbors, cleared out a path for fuel delivery and for the dryer vent.  Whew!  Thank goodness the plow guy did the driveway!  I also made a birthday cake for my Dad using his Mom's recipe! I made that while the snow was falling and had the crockpot going too.  We never lost power so we stayed inside comfy and warm....and I sewed and sewed and sewed.

Cake from my Grandma's recipe

Well, I leave you with visions of yummy cake swirling in your head.  Hope you're having a great weekend!  I'll be back next weekend with an update on what I got done on Retreat!