CQ Retreat - Omaha, NE

February 26, 2008

As promised, here is the latest from the Omaha Crazy Quilt Retreat:

Hello guys and gals. This year's information on the Crazy Quilt Retreat being held in Omaha, Nebraska, July 11th - 13th, is now posted on the Crazy Quilt Society website. There are some great teachers and lots of great classes to choose from. If you are interested, go to www.crazyquilt.com and click on Retreat on the left side of the page.

I'll pass along any special information as Nancy Kirk lets me know about it. As you can see by the class listings, there are also two pre-retreat classes on Thursday July 10th (a beginner's crazy quilt class by Nancy Kirk and a Beginning Brazilian Embroidery class by Rita Goff). There are also two post-retreat classes being offered on July 14th (3 dimensional embellishments by Nancy Kirk and an advanced Brazilian Embroidery class by Rita Goff). Get your classes reserved early. Some of them will fill up very quickly!

I hope to see lots of you there this year! If you have any questions, please email me privately. My email address is below my name at the bottom of this page.

Mona from Minnesota where the temperatures have finally moderated!
cqbunch@charter.net

January 24, 2008

I have never been to this retreat, but have often wished that I had planned better in order to go. If you're interested in going this year, now the time to start planning! I am not affiliated with this conference, but feel the need to share information about it. The following is a message from Mona who has been for nine years and always provides lots of helpful information. Her contact information is included in the text, but you can also click on her name to email her.

The actual dates of the retreat are July 11 - 13, 2008, with pre-retreat classes on the 10th and post-retreat classes on the 14th. Nancy Kirk is working on getting the last of the teachers booked and is hoping to have more information posted on the website within the next couple of weeks. I can let you know that she has booked Cindy Brick and Martha Green as the two main teachers for this year. I'll let you know more as soon as I hear more from Nancy.

She has booked a block of rooms, so when you call the DoubleTree Suites Hotel to reserve your room, be sure to mention the Crazy Quilt Retreat or Crazy Quilt Society and ask to be added to their block. There are two DoubleTree's in Omaha, but one is downtown. The downtown one is NOT the hotel in which the retreat is being held. July 11th to 13th (the actual retreat dates) there will either be a hotel shuttle or Nancy will have a van and driver available from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. to pick you up at the airport and deliver you to the hotel. If you are flying into Omaha, try to get a flight that will get you there after 9:00 in the morning and before 9:00 at night. She's not sure if there will be any shuttle on the 10th or on the 14th, so be prepared to take a cab.

Show and Tell this year will be held Thursday evening during Chocolate and Chat. During past retreats, Show and Tell has taken place during the Silent Auction on Saturday. The past couple of years things have taken longer than planned, so it was decided instead to move Show and Tell to Thursday evening. That way the auctions should be done by 5:00 on Saturday afternoon and everyone will have a chance to go to dinner and still get back in time for the "make and take" classes.

I will be the "roommate" coordinator again this year. If you are in need of a roommate, email me privately at cqbunch@charter.net - put roommate request in your subject line. I will send you a short questionnaire that I ask everyone (like do you snore or do you smoke). I will match you up with someone as I get enough gals responding.

Because this is a "Suite Hotel" there are two double beds (or one king) in each bedroom and a sofa sleeper in the living room. There is a fairly good sized refrigerator in each kitchenette area, as well as a microwave and coffee pot. The past two years the hotel has been going through a major remodel and the extra vanity areas have been removed from the bedrooms. That used to give us an additional sink area to wash up, brush teeth, and put on makeup. We all let the hotel know last year that we didn't appreciate that they had removed the vanity. They now have a large mirror by the desk in the outer "living room". That will give someone an extra spot to "get ready" each morning. I've been to 9 retreats and have roomed with 3 to 5 gals each year. It's been a blast! Some gals prefer 2 to a room and some prefer 3. If you don't mind sleeping with someone else, you can double up in the bedrooms (which is what we do). As for getting ready in the mornings, some of us bathe or shower at night and that frees up the shower for those that prefer to shower in the morning instead.

When we get closer to the retreat, I'll send out a list of items that you may want to bring along. LouAnne Sassone put this list together after the first retreat. The last morning we were there, she went around and asked gals what they wished they had brought, what they brought that they wouldn't bring again, and what they were happy they brought. I'll be putting together more information as I receive it and am more than willing to answer questions. If I don't have the answer for you, I'll check with someone that can give you the answer.

Just 24 weeks and 1 day until we leave for Omaha!!

Mona Berning from freezing cold Minnesota
cqbunch@charter.net