Sew'n Wild Oaks Retreat Part Two

Hello Everyone,

 

I have so many pictures to share and stories to tell about the retreat last week at Snowflake Lodge in Arnold......during a 5-day power outage. The fun began when Lynnette and Barbara presented me with a quilt.  A perfect representation of me!  I have cleavage!

 

Their creativity was phenomenal!  They have been meeting since February to design and make it.  I love it and will treasure the quilt forever.  These two ladies are very special to me.

The room during the day.

The room in early evening.

The girls worked throughout each day and started to decorate the design walls.  Here, a new Heritage is being born.

This is the birth of Cute as a Button.

Candace did a presentation one evening in front of the fireplace.  So cozy, and it kept us warm as the temperatures headed south.

Karen is creating a Cute as a Button with cute little houses!

Just days prior to the Paradise fire, Katie took four quilts to her machine quilter in Paradise.  All four quilts were lost in the fire. This year, Sharon presented her daughter Katie with two quilts which she replicated from Katie's quilts lost in the fire.

The bond between this mother and daughter is truly amazing.  There wasn't a dry eye in the entire room, and we had to pass a box of Kleenex.

 

The girls all worked on their projects throughout the retreat.  Here, a Country Sampler is coming to life.

 

Enjoy the amazing show.  The girls brought enough quilts to fill an hour of viewing each evening after dinner.

One day, the maintenance crew spotted four bears swimming in the lake.  By the time they told us, the bears had already headed off into the woods for a picnic.

More pictures coming throughout the week.

Soon,
Lynn

Sew'n Wild Oaks Oct. 2019 Retreat Part One

Hello Everyone,

 

What a whirlwind of activity accompanied by an epic windstorm in our area and our state of California.....just in time for my Sew'n Wild Oaks October retreat.  Many warnings are sent from Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), and the State Office of Emergency Services telling you the power will be turned off due to high winds.  I received multiple texts, phone calls and emails three days prior to the wind event.  The warnings kept coming even though we had no power, no Internet, no phone......no nothing.  I patted our generator on the head every time I turned it on.

 

 

Three days before the retreat, quilter Deborah from Michigan, and I met with the manager of Snowflake Lodge, the site for the retreat.  He assured me the retreat was a "go" and the staff was committed to making the retreat happen....no matter what. 

 

Deborah and I went down to the Bistro in the center of Arnold to use their Internet.  I sent out a blanket email to the 34 retreaters to let them know the retreat was still going to take place.  I wouldn't have been at all surprised if the girls decided not to come.......I definitely underestimated my girls. They ALL made the trek to the mountains.

 

Let me tell you what life is like when the power is shut off for an indeterminate length of time.  Only one gas station is open, and two restaurants are open with limited hours.  The bank, (notice it is singular), the grocery store, pharmacy, all businesses with the exception of ACE hardware are closed.   There is an emergency center open where you can get a bag of ice if they haven't run out for the day.  Tanks of propane to run generators are worth their weight in gold. Oh, I forgot to mention the temperatures were plummeting to the low 30's every night and morning.

 

In the blanket email that I sent out to the girls, I told them they were welcome to come to Wilder's Last Resort for dinner on Sunday night.  Deborah and I turned the cabin into a soup kitchen, where the quilters could come for a cup of soup, a warm fire, good companionship, and a glass of wine. 

 

Seventeen quilters showed up for dinner on Sunday night prior to the retreat. Some of the girls drove up Monday morning for the start of the retreat.

 

Deborah and I worked tirelessly preparing food for everyone.  My friend Karen also brought a huge pot of soup from home.  We were very well fed.

 



The kitchen is always the gathering place.

Sitting by the wood-burning stove was also a coveted spot.

Quilt admirers.

My sister Gail, is sitting at the head of the table.  It was her birthday week, so what a memorable celebration she had!

Our dessert table before we dug in.

Needless to say I didn't get a wink of sleep the nights before the retreat.  The wind howled around the cabin.  I was so glad the power was off to reduce the chance of fire in our mountain community.  Since we hadn't had power for days prior to the retreat, we only received an occasional text informing us the state was on fire fanned by the horrible winds.  Roads were closing down as the fires were jumping the freeways.  Thousands of people were being evacuated.  It was the largest evacuation ever in our state.  2.8 million residents were plunged into darkness.

I turned my great room into a dormitory of air beds, as six of the girls stayed with me.  They had a big slumber party and were warmed by the fire.

How, and was this retreat going to happen??  Details tomorrow. 

Soon,
Lynn

The Adventure Ahead

Hello Everyone,

 

I've been in the dark and off-line for days due to high winds causing our electric company to turn off power to hundreds of thousands of customers across the state.  When the power comes back on, my Internet, phone, and TV provider take an additional day or two to get up and running.

 

Do you know how hard it is to get ready for a quilting retreat when the power is off?  I have 35 quilters arriving tomorrow for a 4-day retreat.......and the power is going to be turned off again today and may be off until Tuesday!

 

One of the quilters, Deborah, arrived from Michigan on Wednesday.  We packed her up and headed to Yosemite for the day on Thursday.  The air was clear and the sky was blue.  It is so much fun for us to take someone to Yosemite who has never been there before.  We have had the BEST time together!  We feel as though we've known her for years.

 

 

The view goes on for miles, and miles.....

 

This was our lunch spot.....not too shabby.

I can't wrap my head around the fact that Yosemite was carved out by a glacier over thousands of years.

This is Mazey's fifth or sixth visit to the park.  She loves it too.

The reflection of El Capitan was quite impressive on the Merced River.

 

Look very closely in the middle of this picture and you will see a bear.

Signs like this one were all through the park.  Deborah is just so fierce! She had us shaking in our boots!

Today, Deborah and I are going to be cooking and baking.  We are turning Wilder's Last Resort into a soup kitchen tomorrow for the quilters.  If the power is off when they arrive, they will be greeted by a town completely shut down.  The grocery store, bank, restaurants, and just about everything is impacted by the power outage.  We have a generator which we turn on in the early morning and evening.  We use the propane sparingly so we don't run out......since the gas company will not be open either.

Snowflake Lodge, the location for my retreat, is bending over backwards to make the retreat a success.  They are bringing in extra generators to power up the kitchen and our quilting space.  I couldn't be more thankful to their attention to detail.  We will have some restrictions which include no use of little, personal irons.  We will also have to stop quilting shortly after dinner instead of our 9pm stop time.  If we are lucky, the power will be back on by Tuesday.  In the meantime, we will be warm, well-fed, and in the pleasant company of quilters.

I will try to touch base with you again just as soon as I can.

Soon,
Lynn