Mini group quilt retreat at the Harbor Star.....

For the last few years once we discovered this lovely little haven, my mini group of four have been going to East Tawas, MI to this lovely old house called the Harbor Star http://www.theharborstar.com/ . It sleeps eight, but the four of us take it all for ourselves. It's like being in a dollhouse where we can play with our quilting and knitting. It's a home away from home. We love everything about it, too. There is what used to be a boy scout cottage in the backyard and she has an array of wild flower gardens all around the house.

Here are a few pictures of us working in the large workroom. It is set up for 8 people, but with only four of us, we can really spread out.

There is Nancy who is working on a Minick and Simpson pattern. She got a lot of her pieces for her blocks finished, but only got two of the blocks up on the wall. (Sharon's blocks are on the right). As you may have noticed, Nancy does not have a blog. We are trying to talk her into it since she makes the most beautiful quilts and we think she needs to share them with everyone. We're working on her though.

Then there was Vicki http://graciescastle.blogspot.com/who flew in from Florida where she is living now and brought in quite a bit of applique, but the one striking thing she was working on was her wool piece that she was making for a friend.

Our resident storyteller, Sharon, http://totallyobsessedwithallthingscreative.blogspot.com/who I believe should write a book because of the way she looks on life and everything she tells us is hysterical was in the midst of telling one of her stories when I took this picture. She was working on a great quilt, Habitat, in batiks and it will be beautiful when it is done. She did have a baby quilt that needed quilting and some applique that she had worked on earlier this past weekend.

Then there is me. Sorry, no pictures today. My goal was to work on my Hearts and Hands blocks as I haven't found much time at home lately. I laid out my stash and had all my paper piece papers ready to go and I did make some headway. I even made a couple of the applique blocks just for a break. This picture shows the blocks had I had done previously along with the new ones that I made this week.

Now, of course, we did some shopping along the way, too. I bought some yarn for socks as my girls saw my socks and each asked for a pair, so I bought self-striping yarn. Then I bought some Ben Franklin yarn to make some more bibs as I wanted something that was a little more firm/stiff for a bib versus something luxurious like I had made the blue ones in. Also, bought some of the blue fabric that will be a surprise, so I have to keep that somewhat of a secret.

Also, need to mention the beautiful gifts I received from Vicki. A roll of Moda fabrics and an adorable punch card holder that she made.

Sharon gave us each a foot spa package. I am so looking forward to using that.

After all this, we packed up to say our goodbyes. Oh...by the way....see those blocks on the design wall in the background? Well, they are still there while I am at home. Yeah....I forgot them. Called Suzie, the owner of the Harbor Star, and she said she would get them in the mail to me on Friday. Sure hope they find their way home (sigh).