Mary Lou's Happy GO Lucky RETREAT for 2013

Isn't this the prettiest flower pot you have ever seen? Jeannine from Millwood close to where I live came to my Idaho retreat and she had never done easy hoochy piecing and look what she did! She has style and she is fun!
    I have at least one retreat each year in Idaho. Next year we will be having it in Spokane instead. We have new handouts and people work on story quilt and hoochy piecing of flowers, cats, birds, fish and other fun things. I sometimes show how I embellish and we talk about how to choose fabric and what you may not understand about the color wheel. I divide it up like relatives and it is easier to understand I think. Luckily I came from an art and painting background and I see things like a painter first and quilter second. We have amny people who come more than once and always some new girls who fit in perfectly. I can bring books and ideas from home and some quilts that never go on the road too so that is always fun.  This year the weather was wonderful. We did two field trips during the working part of the week to the quilt shop and later the next day to the Coeur d'Alene hotel for lunch. I pay for drinks and desserts there. It is a beautiful lake that everyone should see. All in all it is a ton of work for Mark and I but we love doing this and Tina who comes in from LA to cook works hard too. It is really one of my favrotie weeks of the year. Hope you can make it next year.

Judy, Sandi and Sandy are hard at work....creativity is filling this room!

Food is always a big part of my five day retreat and this was my favorite salad. It was served with choices of dressing and a hot pan of french onion bread (the best stuff I have ever eaten). Tina flew in from LA again this year to cook for us for the week. She had great food and presentation. Everyone got my handouts and also the recipes for the week...it was very fun. Connie my Girl Friday made notebooks with the Eiffel tower on the front since Paris was the theme. Next year it is Cowgirl Quilters...

Dinner is served-chicken and linguini with tossed green salad and fresh hot bread

Here Miss Tina takes a break from cooking with basil strawberry water....

These are hot capachino muffins with spread that tasted like light coffee and mini chocolate chips in it....really good and she had a large bowl of fruit....

Cupcakes anyone???

Carol from Arizona completes a fun flower-

Sandy an alumi is making a new cow that is going to be quite wonderful...she has tons of ideas. and she made MOOlon Rouge for you girls that follow the cows...she has until the end of August to complete it....So far it is pretty wonderful

Breakfast fruit...we had hot muffins (different kinds) each day with fruit...and the last day a really good strata that Tina made...

Jennine hard at work....her nickname is J-9....I think I misspelled her full name again...J9 is easier. :0)

Quilts by the new girls are off and running...great colors and good jobs with a new technique for them...

 Carol falls in love with her fabric!

Sandi another alumni put together her swapped fish blocks from my swap group...she is putting a mermaid into the blank spot (or something else clever) and then she will do a great border...love those fish!

Mari Linfesty my friend who had come to my retreats many times did this quilt of swapped birds and Flower Power Flowers...she has made many wonderful quilts from the swaps....Mari is very clever and a riot-the alphabet is in my "Out of the Box with Easy Blocks book)

Carol, Wendy and Sandy work along....

Here is Wendy's Mooey Christmas...it is going to have a Christmas tree and ornaments and lots of other fun things...her body is going to be a present....so great!
The cow pattern is in the "Out of the Box with Easy Blocks Book"

I took a photo of Sandi's desk because she works like I do....

Foxglove anyone???Easy hoochy piecing...so fun!

Mari sews along and makes us all laugh....

Here Kathy works on a great story quilt about going to Washington DC with her Granddaughter and seeing fireflies for the first time...Lincoln Monument and Washington Monument will go in there and her border and colors are fabulous...
Kathy is an alumni too and they drive from California to Spokane so they can take home great things from the Farm Chicks show and Artfest which are the day before the retreat

 

Judy is an alumni and she is a docent for the Monterey aquarium and is doing a "Trusty Rusty" quilt and has so many awesome seashells and creatures in it that we all just watched as it developed into a really wonderful quilt....

Cindy works on her blocks and she increased her stash at the quilt shop we visited...she had fabulous colors and fabrics and she was alot of fun...everyone was positive which was really great and the group really pulled together as friends fast....

We swap fairy gifts in my longer workshops and this was my gift from Wendy and Sandy and I loved how they presented it....went along with out fun theme

 

Chili verde cooking away all day and served with rice and tortillas plus guacamole, cheese, salsa, lettuce etc....

I brought beads and charms to make bracelts one day.....the photo is missing people because I took it the day after and not everyone wore their works for art...these were a big hit (thank you June for the idea)

Kathy, Sandi and Carol get ready to dish up....

Part Of Kathy's darling and happy border