A Little Relaxation, a Little Hard Work, at the annual Trinity Valley Quilt Guild Retreat

I spent last week with eighty wonderful quilters.  And it was fun, relaxing, invigorating and wonderful!

I always look forward to the retreat.  The facilities at Tanglewood Resort and Conference Center are wonderful.  The ballrooms are opened up and filled with tables.  We have plenty of room to spread out.  And, oddly enough, for someone who spends days on end in her studio in quiet solitude, I find the buzz of conversation and laughter in the room very exciting.  Rather than distracting me from working, I find that I enjoy it immensely.

And I don't have to make my bed or cook my meals.  Everything is done for me.  For four glorious days, I can just sew.  When I get sore from all of the sewing, I can have a massage to soothe my aching muscles.  So that I can sew some more.  It is fabulous!

Tanglewood Resort and Conference Center is on the shores of Lake Texoma, on the Oklahoma/Texas border.  Our room had a lovely view of the lake.

My roommate Rhonda and I arrived on Sunday afternoon.  And started setting up our sewing stations.    To my horror, I found that I had for some unknown (forgotten) reason removed the foot and shank of my Janome gem machine.  It was nowhere to be found.  Rats!  I couldn't sew!  And I was a two hour drive from home.

Rhonda kindly let me use her machine on Sunday evening.  She was cutting out a project.  So I was able to sew a bit.  But that wasn't a long-term solution.

Luckily there was a Walmart nearby.  I was able to buy a small new Brother on Monday.  And, bonus, it was blue:

It was even decorated with hearts.  So very cute:

OK, maybe too cute.  But it sewed, and that was all I needed it to do:

 We did more than just sew at the retreat.  We had happy hours watching the sunset.  We stayed up late and slept in a bit.  And we got punked the first morning:

I felt like I was back in college.  Or even, perhaps, elementary school.

But mostly, I sewed.  I finished two quilt tops.  The first was black and white.  And composed almost entirely of Maria Shell's polka dot units.  Here it is in progress:

 And the finished top.  Approximately 26" x 38":

Manhattan, ©2019, 26"w x 38"h

I was going to make another black and white quilt, but decided I needed some color.  So I started a log cabin.  The centers are navy blue or black and red violet:

 The finished piece:

Unnamed, ©2019, 40"w x 30"h

I started another piece, a cityscape in color, but this is as far as I got:

What a wonderful break!  But I'll be back in my solitary and very quiet studio today.  Just Boomer and I and my Bernina........