Quilt Retreat 2023 @ Newport, OR

My cousin Jennette is the one who got me started sewing quilts in 2020. She is talented in so many ways and she loves to teach others who want to learn. We started sewing together once a month and invited others to join. Our group grew to about 10 ladies and soon we were meeting up to sew twice a month. At these sewing days, each lady brings her sewing machine and works on her own project. Jennette named our group “Fabracadabra” since we make magic with fabric. 🙂 Jennette has moved to Oregon and with me traveling the country full-time, we missed our sewing time together. So, let’s have a quilt retreat! All of Fabracadabra wanted to go to Oregon to see Jennette’s property so that is where we decided to have the retreat. Back in October I was in Missouri quilting with my sister-in-law, Marsha, when I was telling her about the retreat we were planning. I said we would have to rent a conference room at a hotel where everyone stayed in order to have room to set up all the tables and machines for sewing. Marsha gave the great suggestion of renting an AirBnB. What a great idea! Jennette found several options in Newport, OR and we picked one through Vrbo that had an ocean view. The house slept 8 and with several of us sleeping in our RVs, it was just right for all 10 of us.

I love to plan menus, do the shopping, and all the cooking so I volunteered to do all that for the quilt retreat. The retreat was Monday-Saturday. Besides sewing, we did some tourist things because most of the ladies hadn’t been here before. 

*Connie Hansen Garden Conservancy is in Lincoln City. https://www.conniehansengarden.com/ It is a 1 acre garden of beauty and peace. Along the paths there are benches where one can just sit surrounded by flowers, bushes, and trees. Inside the small house there is a quilt display. How fun for our quilt group to see that! There were several quilts on the wall from the Lincoln City quilters. 

*Quilters Cove in Newport – of course we HAD to stop at a fabric shop. It is on the smaller size but jam packed with fabrics.

*Yaquina Bay Harbor. First stop was lunch at Mo’s. I had the bread bowl clam chowder, again, and it is definitely the one to beat. Then we walked around the shops. I found a neat thing in one store: the man who made Sand Art had made sand art with a liquid in it, in between acrylic panes, and in a picture frame. It has screws on the side so you can flip it. I thought Kevin would really like this so I bought one for his birthday. Funny thing is…when I got home (footnote 1) I couldn’t wait the few weeks for his birthday and ended up having him open it right then! HAHA

*Yaquina Head Lighthouse. 

This blog’s top picture is one I took at the retreat. The world lost a wonderful lady a few days before our retreat. She was part of Fabracadabra. Sandy had a heart of giving, caring, sharing, compassion, and loyalty. She is missed greatly by all who know and love her.

1. “Home” is where we park it. Home is our 2022 Alliance Avenue, 36 ft, 5th wheel.