Super Cinco de Mayo Derby Quilt Retreat

Saturday was quite a special day: Cinco de Mayo celebrations....The Kentucky Derby...the "Super Moon" shone bright... and The Blue Valley Quilter's Guild day retreat! Our sewing day was held at this beautiful old church in Bucyrus, Kansas.

Some gorgeous quilts were being worked on inside the well-lit fellowship hall, including this one by Cindy, my table mate.   

Nikki probably would have won the prize for 'most projects'. She had lots of colorful fabric being made into some fun quilts including this one, which she proudly modeled for us!

There was a lot of conferring over projects. Getting input and problem solving from other quilters at a retreat can really make a difference in the 'fun factor'.

Quilters need fuel to keep up their stamina and there was no shortage. The snack tables were beautifully decorated with a Cinco de Mayo theme and well stocked with chocolate, cookies, fruit, popcorn...every yummy thing that a quilter might crave.

After a catered lunch, we held our own derby race: The 1600 Inch Jelly Roll Race. Nine quilters raced each other and the clock... 

Some even wore fashionable hats as they held their foot to the pedal... 

There were creative ways of dealing with an entire jelly roll sewn end to end...

Some more effective than others....

Just one hour, twelve minutes and 56 seconds is all that it took for Lynn to get her quilt top completed and win the race! Perhaps the hat and a brand new sewing machine were her winning secrets!

Within another hour or so, the rest of the quilters had finished the race. (Except for Ysleta, who stopped sewing half way through, to have a back massage. Where were her priorities, I ask you! )  Aren't they all pretty and fun!

Yes, a good time was had by all. Tomorrow I'll show you the progress that I made on a special quilt for a special someone in my life. See you then!