What fun!

Sunday was our staff retreat and we had a great time!  As promised, I have a few pictures from the retreat.  But first, a little background information....

First, I am older but wiser.  I will NEVER try to rent a hotel meeting room during the Berkshire Hathaway week end in Omaha!  For those of you that don't have Berkshire Hathaway stock... or live in Omaha, this is the time when the "Oracle of Omaha", Warren Buffett, holds his HUGE stock holders meeting in Omaha. Thousands (and I mean THOUSANDS!) of people, from all over the United States, descend on our little city to see and hear Warren speak his pearls of wisdom and to get great bargains from Nebraska Furniture Mart and Borsheims (a big jewelry store here).  Rooms are almost impossible to find and prices sky rocket (thank you, free enterprise system).  Yup, it was a little bump in the road, but we managed.

And, perhaps even more surprising --- I got this crazy idea to COOK for the gals!!!  For those of you who don't know me personally, cooking is not on my "top 100 things to do" list - I think it's somewhere around 4,398 on my "top things to do" list... But it was a "appreciation party" for the women of Country Sampler and, after all.... "Nothing says lovin' like something from the oven"!  

Now, I did get the Betty Crocker award for Benson High School in 1972... but that's a whole other story. Anyway, the biggest surprise - at least to me - was that it turned out pretty well.  Betty would be so proud!

Soooo, here's a few picture from the gathering....

Aren't we busy little quilters??

 

This is Nancy...  Nancy is concentrating verrrry hard ---

 

This is Carla... see Carla sew.... see Carla make a scrap quilt with a billion pieces....  

This is Suzanne ... Suzanne is stitching a really cool pumpkin embroidery from CrabApple Hill.  She's going to make two of them - one for each store - right, Suzanne???  She's always been my favorite. 

This is Sharon.  Aren't these just the cutest purses EVER??  I overheard Sharon telling a customer that she's worked at Country Sampler for 15 years.  I told her that was impossible - I am only 32 years old.  Nobody starts a quilt shop when they're 17.  She just laughed and rolled her eyes.... Big sigh.

And here's some of our show 'n share.... this one's from Jane (on the left)....

Here's Sharon again with a birthday present for her granddaughter ... lucky girl!

 

And this is from Tanya (on the left).  I LUST for this quilt.  It's one of those I always thought I would make... maybe next year.   

 

Here's a close up.  It's all hand appliqued and hand quilted.  Another BIG sigh....

Now I was verrry pleased with the way the day went - a great little retreat at a local hotel for the day.

....That was before Deb Miner sent me this picture from the last retreat she attended in Germany (She and her husband are stationed there and Deb worked with us.).  This is where they held their retreat....

                         YUP, it's a castle...

 

  We don't have very many castles in Nebraska.... BIG SIGH......

  

Comments

[Karen M]

Love the pictures, Thanks for sharing them with us. Karen M

[Ginnie Kadavy]

Love the pictures - love your comments - love your blog.......wish I was as talented as the Country Sampler gals.

[Sandy]

Thanks for sharing pictures. Looks like everyone worked really hard and had a lot to show for it. Glad you found a place to stay, even if it wasn't a castle.

[Robin]

You know there is a castle just outside of Glenwood, my husband and I have stayed there. I bet they would host a quilting retreat and for breaks you could walk the grounds, they are beautiful! I think it is Castle Unicorn, worth looking in to!

[DebM]

-smile- ah, but my heart is still in Nebraska! Thank you so much for sharing the photos ~ it's great to see everyone having fun and making more awesome projects for us to aspire to.