In my town of Healdsburg, there’s an amazing retreat center owned and run by an Episcopal diocese called Bishop’s Ranch. It’s out on a vineyard road, next to a big dairy farm dotted with black and white cows, and it’s one of the most peaceful places I’ve ever been to in my life. It has gorgeous views of vineyards and farms, and wide vistas of blue sky... It’s really lovely.
Anyway, a bunch of fun and talented quilters have run a twice-a-year quilt retreat up there for some years, and I first went last October, which was wonderful fun. Many of the same women were there for the April retreat last week (including Gerrie, in hiding after publishing her incendiary political statement) and although I wasn’t doing the retreat, I did go up on Wednesday to visit and have fun and be inspired. It worked! I had a really lovely, relaxing afternoon hanging out with them. While they slaved away at their machines (if you can call it slaving with all that laughter) I sat and hand-sewed the hanging sleeve onto a friend’s quilt for her.
So here are the pictures: happy women, hard at work doing what they love, in the company of people they enjoy:
Rita, making crazy log cabin blocks in her new Janome Gem
Pam, constructing crazy log cabin blocks which have the most charming dog fabric centers
Sidney, making a ballerina quilt for a child-friend (I couldn't figure why she was making fabric panty shields -- turned out they were the bases of ballet slippers!)
Janet, tracing a pattern (and looking happy that I was doing her hand-sewing for her)
Gerrie, quilting away on her "I've Got Your Number" quilt. I love the masking tape exclamation point over her head! Aren't I a talented photographer to get that in there?
There'd be a picture of my friend Pat here, but she was off getting a massage at the time. A quilting retreat with on-site masseuses...decadent, yes? I'm counting the days until October!
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