Farewell Aloha

It's 8:15 am Sunday, the last day of the retreat, and things are winding down. Friday morning, there were many quilters stationed at their machines by 7:30, Saturday as well, but on Sunday even quilters are sleeping in and only a few are at their machines this early.

It has been a great time, with highlights being free 5 minute chair massages, great coffee in the Food Room, great food in the Food Room, lots of belly-busting laughter, and projects pealing off those machines. (Gotta go -be back later)

OK, I am back and it's Tuesday. I got side tracked by many things and never really got to blog while I was gone. And now after two good nights sleep, phone calls to my daughters, a visit with my grandchildren, things are getting back to normal. I have been thinking about some statistics related to the retreat.

Things I could count:

90 miles round trip for most vehicles from Licking County to Coshocton
32 rooms reserved at the Coshocton Village Inn and Suites for the Aloha Retreat
73 quilters registered to attend
4 quilters unfortunately unable to attend at the last minute
5 dollar minimum donation to the local food bank
19 boxes of food donated to a local food bank
25% Discount received at Vac Shack for each quilter who donated to the food bank
60 quilters who had chair massages
48 door prizes handed out over the three days
30 items from list found by the winner of the scavenger hunt
1 special prize for winner of the scavenger hunt
12 adorable palm tree trophies handed out for special accomplishments
2 visitors who traveled to the retreat from out of state
69 Aloha stars made and returned to the committee to later be made into service quilts
1 special prize for winner of drawing from those who made Aloha stars
1095 items in 146 goody bags handed out Friday and Saturday mornings
3 vehicles to transport all the goodies and prizes and decorations to Coshocton
15 crock pots put to good use in the Food Room
240 cups of Starbucks or Caribou coffee drunk by members
3 hours early that everyone was able to get into their rooms due to the great staff at the Coshocton Village Inn and Suites

Things I couldn't count:

hugs and laughs
thank you's to the committee
projects started, projects thought about, projects finished
excellent food and requests for recipes
smiles from quilters at seeing the staff wearing leis and hawaiian shirts for our benefit
shared expertise and good advice passed from quilter to quilter
ooh's and ah's during show and tell on Sunday
hours the committee spent on the retreat
hours of fun the committee had planning the retreat
squeals of excitement and joy upon winning something, anything
yards of fabric and patterns purchased everywhere from the Vac Shack in Coshocton, Miller's Fabric Store in Charm, to a new shop in New Philadelphia.

I am exhausted just listing it all. And we are already planning for next year!

AfterGlow

Friday Night Free for All and July BFG's were great fun.

The July block from Quilting Quarterly was the trickiest one so far but Lynne ably guided us through it. Her block and Rosie's are full off sparkly fabric and they just shine.

Denise is making a double sided quilt by making two blocks, sunny and cloudy, for each month; she's planning on quilting them together and having it on her couch, turned to reflect her mood. I think it would be a great thing to train her husband to notice which side of the quilt is up as he comes in the door.

Sue gets the award for most improved; she got her entire block finished before she left and only had to tear out two pieces along the way.

The funniest story award goes to Brenda who explained why she froze the body of a family cat (double-bagged, of course) until her husband got home from a business trip.

The only one who didn't get the block done -- me. I will take some sit down time today away from the longarm to finish the last two units and complete my block. Because I found an amazing teal batik in my stash, my blocks continue to look similar to the pictures in the magazine--bright and high contrast.

Friday Night Free for All was a quiet group that got a lot done. Dinner from Clay's Cafe included Root Beer Floats for almost everyone. Nancy probably got the most done -- she is so industrious. I got one border on my Block of the Month Quilt from 2006 and made two Lucky Star centers. I think I talk too much. Other people get far more done that I do. We even had special guests from Heart of Ohio Guild who stopped by to pick up some quilts for display in the Art Walk in Newark, Ohio, on the evening of August 2. It's a free event and has some 50 artists displaying and selling their work. It should be fun.

Back to work today - time to longarm so I can pay the bills here at the Quilter's Bar and Grill.