CCLQ @ The Bluff {Tuesday}

(9/22/15) TUESDAY was a SHOPPING DAY in Lancaster, PA.  The group took in 3 quilt shops and spent WAY more money than any of us are willing to disclose!!

Here's our group shot inside Burkholder's:

The best response was from Jean, who said,"Hey guys,

Those bags are probably full of souvenirs for those left behind???"  Riiiiggghhtt, Jean!!  Keep on dreaming!!  LOL

Outside Sauder's:

NOTE:  Ruth wasn't the only one with a shopping bag!  The rest were already in the car!!

And the one from Intercourse, PA from the end of the day:

You had a glimpse in another post and now, ALL will be revealed... (a few of) the bags:

The overview...

 ... and the details...

Joy's haul (in 3 parts) for 3 different purposes.  "Work", personal, and gift:

Deborah's restraint earned her the title of "She Who Spent the Least":

Candy spent a good deal of time shopping for Lily (ignore the browns and oranges at the top) and bought a couple of rulers with her Mystery Mad Money:

Britt even bought a BOLT of fabric!!  It goes with the fabric for her niece's quilt and she found some sale fabrics that simply HAD to come home with her:

Can you say Stonehenge?  The fabrics down the center and those in front belong to Joanna, who earned the title of "She Who Spent the Most"... Joy was truly shocked:

Below the Stonehenge fabrics, Ruth B. found some really lovely selections to add to her RED collection and some BLUE that may go well with some fabric that she has at home:

Until next time...
RETREAT!!!

CCLQ @ The Bluff {The Back-story and Monday}

This retreat has been in the works for most of the year.  We miss Ruth S. when she summers in New York and she misses us.  Somehow, we wrangled an invitation to The Bluff and the wheels were set in motion for our Retreat at The Bluff.

As the snow and ice of winter was making it difficult to schedule our weekly meetings, Candy researched transportation and lodging.  The group set a favorable date.  People "signed-up" to attend. An itinerary was set (to include a stop in the Amish country of Pennsylvania along the way.)

Winter melted to Spring...

People dropped out for one reason or another.  :o((

The departure date was changed so that one more member (who had a prior commitment) could go with us.  One DAY wouldn't hurt the rest of us to wait to leave!!

Spring turned into Summer...

"The Wedding" was over and Ruth S. was ready to concentrate on retreat.  Retreat.  Retreat!!  :o))

We took another head count of those would would be going at Joy's in July and she passed out the fabric requirements for the Mystery Quilt we will be doing.

It's open to ALL members of CCLQ who would like to participate.

And then Joy hatched a "hair-brained scheme" that she roped Jean into (since she's the one with an Art Studio.)  The plan included some Mono Prints from the NT Dye Frenzy and a variety of stamps and paints:

As Summer transitioned into Autumn...

Joy was busy working on bringing her plan into reality.

NOT!!!  (A commission quilt and 7 custom tote bags stood in the way.)

As time drew near, CCLQ members who will attend the Retreat packed for a fun-filled week of fabric shopping and quilt stitching.  YOU could probably sense the excitement from your house!!  :o))

(9/21/15) MONDAY morning, 6 sleepy quilters gathered at Ruth B's house.  We loaded cars and embarked on our journey to points north:

INSERT LUGGAGE STACK HERE!!!!  OOPS!!  PHOTO UNAVAILABLE!!!

Ella sent us off with the following email:

The big day is finally here and I am not going.

I wish all of you the best trip, the excitement of shopping, and a week of beautiful

sunsets.

Candy, may you spend your $100.00 wisely.

Ruth, please go through all the quilt shop, not just one spot.

Joanna I wish you a boat load of Stonehenge.

Joy, please pass up the scrap bags.

Britt, get your creative juices going and remember you only have so much space in the car.

Deborah, your wisdom and gentleness will surely be needed to keep this group under control. And

good luck with that.

Will be praying for your safe journey and a week of sweet memories.

Ella

Thanks, Ella!  We'll miss you!!!


After a few hours, our "cruise director", Deborah, found a quaint little place for us to refuel:

 There was even a quilt store in the row of shops:

LOOK, Dee Dee!!  They do Missouri Star:

Too bad that Rachel closes her shop on Mondays!!  Otherwise, we may have each had bags bearing her name:

We arrived in Denver, PA, around 7:30 PM and checked into our hotel.  After lugging in the items we needed, we dragged ourselves off to the Park Place Diner (for a late dinner.)  If you are ever in the area, make sure to add it to your list of places to visit!!

Until next time...
RETREAT!!!

9/22/15 - CCLQ in the Wild {In Lancaster County, Pennsylvania}

The time has arrived!!

This trip has been in the works since early in the year and SIX members of the Cherry Creek Lane Quilters are on their way to The Bluff for a quilt retreat at Ruth S's Summer Cottage on the banks of Lake Ontario in NY.

It's a LONG way to NY from NC, but Lancaster County (with all of its quilt shops) is about half way! SEW...


You KNOW that we just HAD to stop!!!


We started our shopping expedition bright and early at Burkholder's Fabric Store:

 Here we are in the SALE corner.  Some of us spent ALL of our time in these 3 rows:

Our 3 HOURS of shopping required hydration and fortification before tackling another shop:

The price was right and it was along our route to the next shop:

The next stop was Sauder Fabrics:

Good news!!  They were having a 20% off sale on EVERTHING in the store:

They displayed the ever-important indicator that Visa, Mastercard, AND Discover are accepted:

The bad news is that they are closing the store at the end of the year.  Bargains galore until then!!!

We were spent and had probably shopped enough, but Intercourse, PA was demanding a visit:

 We went straggling in...

... to the Old Country Store:

Here are the happy (and TIRED) shoppers at the end of the day:

Joy made one last stop before heading back to the hotel:

But didn't buy anything... She was all shopped out!!

This is the aftermath of our shopping extravaganza:

We each bought a FQ for our hostess who is anxiously awaiting our arrival at The Bluff:

We didn't want Ruth S. to feel left out of the first portion of our retreat week, since she was kind enough to arrange everything for the BEST portion of our retreat week!!

LOOK!!!  The hotel hosted a retreat, too.  We missed it by one day:

Until next time...
Shop with a list!!!

9/17/15 - CCLQ @ Joy's {Cheryl K.'s} House

This week, the Cherry Creek Lane Quilters invaded Joy's house.  Got rain???  Well...  No rain here AND the meeting was moved to Cheryl K's house (due to a work emergency.)  Thank you, Cheryl, for volunteering on such short notice!

Our Assistant Editor, Deborah, was in charge of the photos and notes today.  Thank you, Deborah, for taking your camera in the Editor's absence!  (I won't even say that I shouldn't miss any more meeting... because we KNOW how that works for us... it doesn't!!)

Cheryl hosted and Candy brought cookies! We missed Joy, Jean and Joanna!!!

Everyone was busy today... Take a look!

Candy has finished the top of the baby quilt for her granddaughter:

Gayle created this adorable donation quilt:

Here's a close up of the cute elephant:

Here's a second donation quilt from Gayle:

DeeDee was busy working on her mystery challenge quilt:

Remember those blue scraps Cheryl had? Look at these wonderful blocks she's created:

More blue scraps:

Ruth was busy sewing her appliqué blocks:

Deborah continues to stitch away on the Texas Star:

Deborah had a few announcements:

I shared that folks should take a look at Nancy Mahoney's website...lots of cool FREE patterns and by the way, Nancy Mahoney will give a DOQ workshop in April 2016!! Remember to sign up!

Here's a link to her website.  http://www.nancymahoney.com/

Hancocks Fabrics is having a big sale...I think Gayle was going there after lunch.

We had lunch at Rasa at Chapel Hill North shopping center.

Until next time...

Retreat!!!