Loon Lake retreat part 1: the people

I think it would be near impossible to NOT have fun spending four days sewing to your heart's content, eating gourmet meals that you don't have to make, and waking up to this view every day:

But it's really the people who top it all with awesome sauce.

And this group of ladies was a saucy bunch!

 

Let's start at the beginning: the master planner, puppeteer, orchestrator of the magic, Krista of Poppyprint.  As this is a small invite-only retreat, you may want to start kissing her arse now so that you can get invited should she have a rare cancelation next year.  Let me tell you, I was on my best behavior and didn't even utter an f-sharp until the last day (I was trying to unsuccessfully sew together some very ugly fabric, but more on that later).  It seems I may have bamboozled her and now have a sturdy foothold that I never plan to relinquish!

If you ever get a chance to take a retreat planned by Krista, do it.  The woman is not only Awesome with a capital A, she is organized.  We wanted for nothing on this trip, all things were smoothly handled and just simply perfect.

For example:  I hoped to borrow a sewing machine so I didn't have to drag mine on the plane, she provided it.  I was short some Pellon interfacing, she happened to have a bolt (!!!) on hand.  I needed some buttonholes for a project that my machine couldn't do, she made them.  For wine of course.  Just look at her, hard at work......

Then there is Krista Withers, longarm arm quilter extraordinaire.  That woman can quilt the bejesus out of stuff, let me tell you, you really need to RUN over to her blog and check it out.  Love this girl.  

I do believe that I may have found a wee bit of a sister-in-mischief with her, as she backed me up as I tried to bring this schenanigans to fruition:

The two Kristas make up K1 and K2, and the missing Krista of Spotted Stones, who attended last year's retreat, is K3.  They granted my the name of K3.5, and said to get the full K4 status I have until next November to have my name legally changed from Kristie to Krista.  Am currently sorting through the paperwork.

Felicity- I could go on forever about this wonderful woman!  She has the most gorgeous eyes and the best laugh...all weekend I strived to be funny just to hear it!  She and her family welcomed me into their home on my arrival and fed me a wonderful brunch while her adorable daughter G showed me all of her precious toys and some of her very best dance moves.  Then she took me shopping for shoes....I love that she was able to find the PERFECT pair for me in seconds: "These shoes scream "Kristie" to me."  Just goes to show you how well you can know people you hadn't physically met.

We got to enjoy some extra time together on the car ride to and from Loon Lake, and just had a blast.  Never an awkward pause in conversation, just instant friends!

In addition to these handful of blogging friends I had known prior to the retreat, I got to meet a bunch of other amazing women who kept me in stitches (pardon the pun) all weekend long.  I was seated with an amazing group of five new-to-me women who took me under their wing and became fast friends.

Berene of Happy Sew Lucky has a wonderful sense of humor that I instantly loved.  And I admit I had a bit of a girl crush on her for her mad skillz.  She is a designer by trade, and has the most original ideas, and an amazing shop full of fantastic kits and patterns that I loved!  And by fluke it turns out she is the designer of my latest favorite fabric I recently purchased from Spoonflower!  Felt like I was seated next to a rock star. Check out this pincushion and needle holder she designed and has in her shop!

Janet of What Comes Next? is likely not only the nicest person I have ever met, but also the most talented   machine quilter that I have ever seen.  What she was churning out on her home machine truly dazzled me.  Loved her humour, too...we could all use a "Hit head here" pillow!

Petrushka was a hoot, constantly coming up with zingers that shocked even me.  Really?  A waitress in a bunny suit?

Vicki was the first to finish a quilt on the weekend, and an amazing one it was.

Jan was a tablemate and one of the Fab 4, a group of, you guessed it, four of us ladies, along with Susan and Ellen, who took some time each day to enjoy some fabulous hikes.  These ladies were kind enough not to leave the prairie girl in the dust. The trail around the lake was fantastic, with a moving dock that had to be pulled over to cross the lake at one point.

Luckily we made it back just before dark!

So many other amazing women met who I now call friends....Sandie, Sindy, Paula, Joann, Rebecca (Never, ever, ever.....) and more!  Can't wait to meet up again next year!

Next post- the stuff I actually made :)