Our time at the 2019 Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival, which you read about in the last post, quickly came to an end....oh, but so much more quilting fun was in store for the next day!
Here we are ready to start our secret sewing project day: Barbara, Chris, and Deb: 
Chris first showed us the project she had selected for the day's sewing. She's holding up her almost completed heart pillow for our example. Instructions for making your own are on Chelsea Stratton's blog: 
To increase the excitement, below is the pile of prizes to be awarded throughout our day of sewing: 
Our sewing retreat was located in Chris's beautiful sun room, bright and airy and perfect for our sewing table setup. I was pretty much all smiles, all day: 
We had to be alert! We never knew when Chris would bring out the ol' bullhorn and call a winning number! So. Much. Fun! 
One of the first prizes was a mini design board for our heart pieces. You can find instructions to make your own either on Lori Holt's Bee in My Bonnet blog Part 1 and Part 2 or on Fat Quarter Shop's YouTube channel.
Barbara was so excited when her number was called: 
Here we are with our design boards ready to start sewing. The boards came in quite handy when we transported our pieces back and forth to the ironing board: 
Yes, we did get lots of sewing done...as you can see two of my hearts sitting there with my design board in use...but time out for another prize! Yay for opening gifts throughout the morning! 
What wonderful prizes...in addition to the design board there were pins, sewing machine needles, seam ripper, a magnetic pin holder from Pleasant Home...and fat quarters!! Thank you, Chris! 
Well, after all this excitement and sewing, we worked up an appetite. Butternut sausage soup and ham/cheese pie wedges were on our delicious lunch menu: 
And what do you think the guys were doing all this time?
Well...the day we girls were at the quilt festival, the menfolk all went to a indoor shooting range and practiced shooting handguns. They said they "had a blast."
And while we were home sewing, they conducted a gun-cleaning party out in the garage. Here's Tom with Chris's dad, who also went on the shoot with them: 
Must keep the guns clean! 
Uh-oh, someone took a break and commandeered the bullhorn! 
And Barbara wins again! And this time a wonderful packet of fat quarters! I won fabric, too! 
By the end of the afternoon, we were basting our pillows and ready to start quilting the front: 
A good day's work! We will finish the remainder back at home: 
And some good accomplishment for the guys, too! They also installed a new weather vane for Chris on her garden shed: 
All in all, it was such an enjoyable Quilty Girls' Weekend ~ 2019...both at the festival and at the sewing retreat at home. Being with friends made it the most fun of all! And I have a beautiful heart pillow for my bed to always remember our special time!
Thank you, Fred and Chris, for opening your home and hearts to us! I love making memories with y'all!
~Deb
OHHHH what a fun walk down memory lane!! I absolutely loved that you have pictures of the guys! They sure had a good time didn't they?! (We should have had a picture of all the ice cream and cookies they ate too...LOL) :)
The pillows turned out wonderfully and what fun to sew with girl friends!! You and mom did a fabulous job!!!
Our Lord is so good to allow these sweet friendships and YES!! we look forward to making MANY more memories!
Posted by: Chris | Thursday, March 14, 2019 at 10:35 AM
Looks like you had a lot of fun! :)
Posted by: Tammy | Thursday, March 14, 2019 at 11:48 AM
Hi Deb, I just got a big crockpot of 7 can Taco Soup on to cook and the kitchen all cleaned up. I am ready to relax a bit and was so pleased to see the e-mail with your blog. What a fun day you had. It is so important to have good friends. I've recently joined a women's group at church on Thursday mornings and I'm really enjoying it. Thanks again for sharing your quilt making.
Posted by: Barbara J. | Thursday, March 14, 2019 at 03:01 PM
I'm not surprised that you were all smiles,
all day! The three of you ladies possess a notable talent! I enjoyed every one of the pictures, as well! Hats off to the men for a job well done regarding the weather vane!
Posted by: Jackie Simpson | Thursday, March 14, 2019 at 07:20 PM
Hi Deb! What fun pictures! Your lunch looks absolutely yummy! I love butternut squash anything : )
Blessings,
Sharon
Posted by: Sharon Baksa | Friday, March 15, 2019 at 06:56 AM
What fun times you had that weekend. Love all the beautiful sewing that went on. How sweet of your friend to award prizes and put so much time and effort into your special weekend.
I can certainly see why you look so forward to your Quilty Girls Weekend every year.
Posted by: victoria | Friday, March 15, 2019 at 04:14 PM