The Barton Bunch

This week we hosted the Barton Bunch from the Music City Quilt Guild. 

These ladies worked hard and have many wonderful projects to show for it!

This is Rose Barton.  She organizes this group and calls it the "Barton Bunch".

Her husband died in 2008 and since that time, this will be the fourth quilt she has made to raffle off to raise money for Pulmonary Fibrosis.  They have a walk to raise money also.



This quilt was made using a Shop Hop Block.  This is a beautiful tribute to her husbands memory.

Pat Simmons stopped long enough to give me a smile for the camera.

Don't let Betty Brooks mischevious smile fool you she was busy making a Mix It Up Quilt.

She got all this sewing done while she was here!

Ruth Donnell brought her handy Singer Featherweight to the retreat. That machine is a quilters favorite because it is so portable and does everything that a quilter needs.

This project isn't finished yet, but as beautiful as it looks now you just know it will look amazing when it is finished!

This beautiful hummingbird is the Joan Shay Petal Play Method.

Mary Montonet was working on a Snowbound block.  She smartly changed the pattern from applique to Redwork.

Lynn Markly had this darling piece called "My Sister."

Well, these ladies will be leaving us today and we are expecting some scrapbookers & more quilters tomorrow!

Wish you were here!

Back In Business!!

What a month we have had!  Between the tornados all over Alabama and Becky being gone back to Alaska for a while, it has been a fairly quiet month.  But we are back now and hope all of you are still with us.

We have two great groups of scrapbookers this weekend.  One from Huntsville and one from Birmingham.

Sisters enjoying their time together at the Snowbird - just like sisters should do!

             Cute Stuff!!!

Jan Valentine's creative memories group is making memories.  This is her 18th group that she has brought to the Red Rooster for a scrapbooking weekend.  Thank you, Jan!!

Digital scrapbooking.

Full House!!!

Red Rooster was full to the brim (and even overflowed down to the Snowbird) with a group of 25 scrapbooking ladies organized by Pat Morris and Sue Bartlow. They worked through the storms on Friday - ready to evacuate to the basement if the need arose. Thankfully, Smith Lake was not the tornado target - this time. We didn't even lose power!

Digital scrapbooking is very popular.

Sunday afternoon eventually has to roll around and we have to say goodbye to this group and get ready for the next. Who will it be?

Wish it was you!!

Celebrating Birthdays at the Snowbird

Snowbird had a group of very "young at heart" ladies this week. They were celebrating 2 very special birthdays - one just turned 70 and one 80. They loved to play games (they weren't at all competitive - ha!). The Snowbird Retreat is a great place for friends to reconnect and relax.

One of the ladies requested our famous salad trio consisting of chicken salad, dilled shrimp salad, and fruit salad with orange cream for their final lunch. The recipe for the dilled shrimp salad is below.

Dilled Shrimp Salad:

1 (16 oz.) pkg. shell macaroni, cooked

1 (16 oz.) pkg. frozen cooked salad shrimp, thawed and drained

4 large eggs, hard-cooked and grated

1/4 c. Celery, chopped

2 T. Green onion, minced

2 tsp. Dried dill

1/4 tsp. Salt

1 c. Mayonnaise

1 c. Sour Cream

1/4 c. Salad vinegar

3 T. Sweet pickle relish

1/2 tsp. Old Bay Seasoning

In a large bowl, combine macaroni, next 7 ingredients and relish; set aside. In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, sour cream and vinegar. Spoon mixture over shrimp mixture; toss gently to coat. Cover and chill. Sprinkle with paprika before serving. Serves 10 - 12.

Wish you were here!!

Spring is Finally Here!

We have 2 days without guests at the Red Rooster Retreat so we take advantage of that time to make much needed changes. It is time to take down the last of the "Winter Decor" from the 10 ft. ledge in our big workroom. There's just one problem: Jim, who usually does the "ledge"work, is taking medicine that makes him dizzy as a goose and Shelia, our household engineer, is very short. So that leaves me (Jennifer) a 60+ yr. old coward to climb the ladder and bring down the deer.

DID IT!! Winter is finally coming down! Now, how do we say Spring/Summer on a ledge?

Spring is here!!!

Scrapbooking Weekend!!

Snowbird had a group of scrapbookers from Priceville, AL. They did a lot of relaxing, hot tubbing, and reading along with the scrapbooking. Its always good to have a little play along with the work!!

Red Rooster hosted consultant Sandy Lovell's "Close to My Heart" Group. Creativity was rampant this weekend!

These are album covers for Road Trip albums! The button wheels are too cute!

This is a beautiful Christmas album made by one of the ladies in the group.

They even make creative cookies!!!!

Wish you were here!!

Mystery Solved!!

The ladies from Quilters Refuge shop followed steps to complete their "Mystery Quilts".  Their instructor, Aida, revealed the finished quilt named "One More Time".

It is amazing how the appearance of a quilt changes by using different color schemes.  They are all beautiful! 

The beginner in the group wasn't as fast as everyone else but she was persistent! 

The quilters left the Red Rooster after lunch and scrapbookers began to arrive (met each other at the door!).

For dinner tonight we are serving Meatloaf (Miss Mary BoBo's Boardinghouse Recipe), Macaroni and Cheese, Green Beans, Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Rolls, and Seven-layer Salad.  For dessert we have Texas Sheet Cake.

Our macaroni and cheese is an "adult" version because it has green onions, pimento, and mushrooms in it.  It is a nice change from the "kids" packaged mac and cheese.

"Adult" Macaroni and Cheese:

8 oz. Macaroni

1/3 c. Pimento Pepper, chopped

1/3 c. Green Onion, chopped

1 can Golden Mushroom soup

1/2 c. Mayonnaise

2 1/2 c. Cheddar Cheese, grated

Cook macaroni according to package directions and drain.  Combine macaroni with all other ingredients using 2 cups of the cheese.  Place in a 9 x 13 casserole and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Serves 12

Wish you were here!

Mother / Daughter Retreats are fun too!!

The Snowbird Retreat had a family reunion this week.  Shirley and her four daughters were able to get together and share some "girl time", (no kids - no husbands)  We all need that sometimes.  Danisa was celebrating a very special birthday and received the retreat as a present from her husband.

Time was spent in playing games, taking long walks, and just enjoying each others company.  Happy Birthday Danisa!!



The Quilters Refuge Group

Monday we welcomed the quilters from the Quilters Refuge shop in Decatur, AL.  The shop is doing a fun mystery quilt workshop for the group.  The quilters don't know what the finished quilt will look like and they are given the instructions one step at a time. 

 The first step was to cut and sew strips.

 Then they cut the strips into smaller strips.

We will show more steps and eventually the finished quilts as we follow the quilters progress on this mystery.

Meanwhile, here some of them are hard at work!

Wish you were here!