Pieceful Gathering Retreat Day 2

 Hello Everyone,

Sixty quilters from all over the US gathered in the ballroom of the Holiday Inn Hotel for the Pieceful Gathering retreat.  It was a bit intimidating when I first walked in and saw the size of the room and thought I'm going to be teaching to a lot of people!

When you go to the Chicago area, you have to have lunch or dinner at Portillos.  A few of us went for lunch yesterday to this eclectic and fun restaurant.  The wait staff thought we were having an adult birthday party.  Some of us split an Italian Beef sandwich and a Chicago hot dog.  I really splurged and had a chocolate cake milk shake and I wasn't about to share.

I spent the day teaching several sessions of Calico Cottages.

I delivered my trunk show last night.

Mr. Joe made a break for the mountains yesterday to get back to the cabin from the Bay Area.  Our son surprised him and made it up before him and cranked up the snowblower while his girlfriend manned the shovel.  They started sending me pictures during the afternoon.  This picture was taken inside the garage looking out to the driveway.  There is a car on the lefthand side which we may see sometime in the Spring.

The kids took this picture as they approached the cabin and saw the garage peeking out from under the snow.

Loni shoveled a path to get inside the cabin.  There's never been this much snow on the roof.

Two more feet of snow are in the weekend forecast.  I hope to be able to get home by Tuesday.

Soon,
Lynn

Pieceful Gathering Quilt Shop

Hello Everyone,

We had fun yesterday at Pieceful Gathering Quilt Shop.  Not once but twice.  This shop is a must go to destination quilt shop!

You can see that we are a bit bundled up as our California snowstorm followed us East and there's a slight chance of snow today.

Here I am with Katie, the owner of Pieceful Gathering.  She's the best!  What you see on FB live is who you meet in person....so fun.

I spent a lot of time in the wool room.  Just look at that wall of wool begging to jump right into my suitcase and follow me home.  I selected several pieces that will coordinate with my fabric line.

The rooms are each covered in beauty.  

The quilters are starting to trickle into town.  Several of us went out for dinner together last night.  I hit the ground running this morning.  I'll start setting up my area first thing after breakfast and I'll start right in teaching Calico Cottages.

I'll post more pictures tomorrow.

Soon,

Lynn

 

Leaving on a jet plane

 Hello Everyone,

Good morning from Crystal Lake, Chicago.  We took off yesterday morning from San Francisco and immediately headed east over the Sierra Nevada mountains.  There was snow everywhere!

The four of us quilting buddies, Debbie, Kristi, myself, and my sister Gail enjoyed a margarita first thing when we arrived at the hotel.   The flight was a quick 3-1/2 hour non-stop to Chicago.  Toting all of the luggage is such a pain and is exhausting!  I had two suitcases, one with my clothes and one with all of my teaching materials. I also had my computer, overnight bag and backpack purse.  I felt like a packhorse!

Debbie and I both live in the same town of Arnold, CA.  Her neighbors sent her this picture of her home and all of the snow that arrived over the past few days.  Arnold received 78" of snow!  More is predicted this weekend.  Dump trucks are coming to town to haul away all of the snow to help deal with this epic event.  The old-timers in town say this is how winter used to be.

We are off to the Pieceful Gathering quilt shop today.  I'll take pictures.

Soon,

Lynn