Sweet retreat



Facing east toward Mt. Rainier.

I made it to the quilt retreat in my battered van with no further dents, dings or flat tires, so here's my first report:

The weather and retreat center were absolutely gorgeous! One morning after breakfast we went for a walk and stumbled onto a sudden view of Mt. Rainier (above) that took our breath away. The shadows in that photo excited me so much that I made the Twisted Nuts pose for another shadow photo, below, after dinner on the last evening. The lowering sun stretched our shadows way out over the center blocks that we had just exchanged as the start of a Round Robin project.

Twisted Nut Stitchers cast evening shadows.

The retreat was at the beautiful Cascades Camp and Conference Center outside of Yelm, WA. The Puyallup Valley Quilters have been putting on the retreat for years, but this was my first time.

This is where we slept -- and got massages on the deck.

The dormitory rooms were in this building (above), and you could sign up for massages on the deck under the awning. I got a 15-minute shoulder massage that came just in the nick of time, as my muscles were crying out in agony after being hunched over the sewing machine for hours.

This is where we ate. That smoke is from barbecue!

The meals were so good that after the closing breakfast we gave the kitchen and wait staff a standing ovation. That last breakfast included homemade cinnamon rolls warm from the oven, a fluffy ham and cheese quiche, crispy browned chunks of potato, fruit salad, orange juice and good strong coffee.



This is where we sewed.

There were about 80 of us set up for the three days of sewing in this big lodge next to the dining hall. Everyone brought extra lighting, but our little group had a few classy lamps that made it feel more homey.

The view from my sewing table was light and peaceful.

I did a couple of fruity projects: reversible carrot-apple placemats and a lemon table runner with prairie point edges. It's been years since I've used prairie points.

It's getting late, so I'll end here and include more photos of some of the other projects later.

Have a colorful day