2011 Retreat: Quiltopoly!

Dates: Join us February 3 - 6, 2011
Location: We'll be back at the Ramada Inn on San Jose Blvd. by I-295 again this year.

Welcome to the Honeybee Quiltopoly Retreat.  Gather up your supplies and tools, and head into our game world.  A huge WELCOME to all of you who will join us this year!!

Early registration opens September 4th!

Regular registration opens September 11th.

Your town Community Chest Leaders for this year’s Quiltopoly trip will be Carol Taylor, Sharon Schamber, and Kim Diehl, along with the Chance Local Leaders:
            Carolyn Allen
            Mary Jane Amato
            Martha Bainbridge
            Faye Heyn
            Lynn Provencher
            Joyce Synder
            Jan Vaine
            Nancy Wines

We are so honored to have all of these fabulous Leaders with us this year.  We are so looking forward to a wonderful year of learning new and challenging things!!! They will take you down streets you’ve never been before.

The retreat costs $225 for all meals including the Sunday banquet, the welcome party, fun and games, a souvenier bag, and three hours of class time. Additional classes are $12/hour. For those of you who would prefer "Plan B", this is $125 and includes lunches, the welcome party, and three hours of class time. Banquet tickets will be available for $25.

Fun and Games

In addition to the wonderful classes, we have the usual fun things waiting for you as well as some new activities our Town Board Committees have invented to keep you in “Stitches” and on your “Fingers”.

We will have the Thursday Night Welcome Party to meet and greet new and old residents of our town.  Thursday night we are scheduling a Show and Tell from 2010’s Quilting Safari retreat.  During this show and tell, last year’s retreat visitors get to show off their completed projects that were taught, and perhaps even we’ll see the block party quilt for the blocks that someone won last year.  You will need to fill out a registration card for your project at the Registration Desk so that the project can be announced at the Thursday night activities.

We will have Friday and Saturday evening Bingo and Strip Poker.  Be sure to bring your 2 ½” strips for the poker games.  The Dealers will have fun games and explain to anyone who has never played before so that they may also join into all the fun.  Also bring your dollars for the Bingo games.  You will see our normal bingo callers and maybe we can talk some guest callers to jump in occasionally. 

Sunday will be the Farewell Banquet with all its usual shenanigans and some new ones. Stuff your purses with everything but the kitchen sink in case you may need it for the “At Your Table” scavenger hunt. 

We’ll have a Treasure hunt that will last throughout the weekend as well.  All the information will be in your Retreat booklet you receive when you pick up your registration materials.

For the second year, we will be holding our Room Decoration Contest.  We had fabulously decorated rooms this last year for Quilting Safari and we hope you got a chance to see them all so you will have the chance to “Out Do” the winner from last year.  Can’t wait to see what you all come up with!  PLEASE remember – do not use anything that will damage or permanently mark the walls, such as nails, tacks or sticky stuff on the walls/wallpaper.  Once every room is decorated, wander around the hotel grounds and see all the interesting ways people try to match the theme and decorate their rooms.  Voting slips will be in your goody bags that you get at registration.  Drop your ballots off at the Community Center anytime before it closes Saturday night.

New! We will have our sit and sew room available so you can work on your projects in between your classes if you can find the time and if you so chose.

Quilt Sale Room and Vendors

The Quilt Sale Room will be open Saturday from 8:00-2:00. Bring your “STUFF” (blocks, tops, UFO’s, purses, etc.) and maybe take home a few bucks or spend them in the Vendor Store.  Remember that 10% of your sale is retained by the Honeybees.  Get there early as the rush for the deals starts when the doors open Saturday at 8:00 a.m. before classes start.  This year the Quilt Sale Room will be CASH ONLY; no checks or credit cards will be accepted.  The hotel has an ATM available and a bank is located across San Jose Boulevard.

We’ll have our wonderful vendors ready to tempt you with souvenirs of your Quiltopoly Retreat, as well as supplying you with anything you may have forgotten.  Also remember that Fred will be here to sharpen those scissors and knives.

Block Party

The block party for 2011 will be a house block; any house block pattern will be great.  For the background, we are letting you pick your own.  Your block should measure 12 inches finished (12 ½” when you bring it to us), 8 inch finished (8 ½” when you bring to us), or 4 inch finished (4 ½” when you bring to us).  Turn your blocks in at the registration table when you check in, or at the Community Center.  Make sure that your name is pinned on the back of each block (not on the front).  Pins will be available at the Registration Table or in the Community Center.  The blocks will be on display in the Community Center throughout the weekend.  At the Farewell Banquet on Sunday one block will be pulled from the pile or basket and the maker of that block will get all the blocks.  OH!!!! And by the way, we expect to see the blocks in a quilt next retreat (2012).  So whoever the winner is will have fun making up their own design to fit them all in and with different color backgrounds will be really fun to see!

Keep watching this site for more updates of what is to come!!!!  There may be more surprises coming!!! We look forward to seeing you all!!!!!!  Start making plans to join us and watch our website for updates.