MAKE YOUR TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS NOW !

The travel to and from Branson Airport (BKG) has now opened up (finally!)  We will be gathering travel info a little later on to coordinate shuttle service.  The retreat will be providing shuttle service to and from the Branson Airport.  Shuttle service will run WEDNESDAY, SEPT 19th 9am to MONDAY, SEPT 24th, 11am.


CAR RENTAL for Enterprise, National and Alamo, as well as AIRLINE INFO can be found at www.discoverbranson.com.


AIRTRAN flies straight into Branson Airport direct from Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago Midway, Houston Hobby and Orlando.  These airport have MAJOR city connections, so Branson is just 1 flight away from many big cities across the country!


FRONTIER AIRLINES travels from Denver straight into Branson Airport.  They have LOTS of flights into Denver.  Go to their website for more info !  (As of March 1st, they are still only booking through Sept 9th).  Will contact them today for update info.


Branson is located in the middle of the country, and is easily accessible no matter where  you come from!  There are 2 airports that serve the Branson area ... Branson (BKG) and Springfield (SGF).  There's also "Walmart Airport" just outside of Bentonville, Arkansas, which is 90 miles away, and a beautiful drive through the Ozarks !  It's called Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport (XNA).  I've used this airport for flights, and it's a NICE airport!  All the Walmart executives use it for their corporate travel.


If you so choose, you can also fly into Springfield-Branson National Airport (SGF).  The airlines serving this airport are American, Allegiant, Delta and United.  If you plan on flying into Springfield, you will need to either rent a car or call for shuttle to Branson, which is not covered by the retreat costs.  I can send you info on shuttle costs to and from Springfield if you request it.  It's about a 45 minute drive down a major interstate to Branson, and is a beautiful drive.  Car rental out of Springfield are Avis, Budget, Enterprise, Dollar Rent A Car, Hertz, National and Thrifty Car Rental.  For more info on the Springfield Airport, please go to www.flyspringfield.com for airline and car rental info !


For those who wish to drive to Branson, it connects with major interstates and is centrally located.  For more info visit www.discoverbranson.com!

Are you ready to travel?  

This will give you info on the airports in the area, and helping you to keep an eye out on when they will be booking!  Also, we are just 40 mins away from Springfield airport, and 1-1/2 hours from Bentonville airport in Arkansas... nice drive !  Keep your eyes out on the websites for booking information!

Branson Airport (BKG) 

10 miles south of Branson
	AirTran
	Branson AirExpress
	Frontier

The Branson Airport, which opened in 2009, is just 10 miles south of the world-famous Branson Strip. The new airport and 58,000-SF terminal have the capacity to handle more than 1 million travelers annually. The airport is the first privately-financed and operated commercial airport in the United States.  Families and groups flying to Branson enjoy dining and auto-rental services on-site, as well as taxi and shuttle service into Branson.  

The airlines that service Branson Airport (BKG) are Frontier Airlines, Air Trans and Branson AirExpress.  These airlines are providing non-stop or 1-stop flight to Branson from most major US cities, as well as international destinations ... and any time now they will be opening the availability to make your airline reservations (they wait til about 6 to 9 months out).  So I've included some TRAVEL MAPS to let you see where they fly from and connect to. 

Service at Branson Airport (BKG)

Springfield-Branson National Airport

Springfield-Branson Natl. Airport (SGF): 50 miles north of Branson
	Allegiant
	American
	Delta
	United

Springfield-Branson National Airport opened its new 275,000 sq. ft., $117 million Midfield Terminal in 2009, has 10 airline gates and room to add 50 more if needed. Accessibility has been improved as well: flyers can walk from their car to their airplane without climbing a single stair. Allegiant Air and American Airlines are among the carriers providing low-cost flights to the airport. Springfield-Branson National Airport is roughly 50 miles north of Branson.

For more information, visit www.flyspringfield.com or call 417-868-0500.

Service at Springfield International Airport (SGF)

Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport

NW Arkansas Regional Airport (XNA): 98 miles SW of Branson
	Allegiant
	American
	Continental
	Delta
	US Airways
	United

The Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport (XNA) is another major area  airport facility that opened in 1998. The airport serves primarily the Northwest Arkansas cities of Bentonville, Fayetteville, Rogers, Siloam Springs and Springdale, but it's also less than two hours from the Branson/Lakes Area.

The airport's location also makes it convenient for visitors who also want to visit Eureka Springs, Ark. on their way to Branson, or the Joplin, Mo., area.  

This is the airport that I used when I traveled to Charlotte NC for the 2011 Circle of Friends Retreat because they had the best fares.  It's a couple of hours out of Branson, but the drive is beautiful, traveling through the Ozarks.  If you would like to rent a car, it's modern, busy, and easy to find... around here it's call "the walmart airport" because so many of the walmart executives fly through here to and from all over the country!

For more information, visit www.nwara.com or call 479-205-1000.

Service at Bentonville (Fayetteville) Airport (XNA)

WANT TO WIN A BEAUTIFUL QUILT ???

THE 4th Annual Crayola Challenge Quilt Drawing has begun! Get YOUR tickets for a chance at one of these GORGEOUS QUILTS! And will benefit an AWESOME cause at the same time!!!

Our friend Quiltaholic has headed up the project for the past drawings that have benefited many charities, including the bringing Christmas for children twice, back to school clothes and supplies for children, presented funds to the Susan G. Komen Foundation, as well as Ronald McDonald Houses in different areas of the country. She has asked me to take over the coordinating of the raffle, which I am honored to do, and I will try my best to carry on the tradition that Q has set such high bars for!

So... are you READY for some QUILTS? We are celebrating the 4th Annual Crayola Challenge Quilt Drawing for the Ronald McDonald Houses, and it will be benefiting the Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Ozarks, which is located in Springfield, Missouri! And this year, we are collaborating it with the Circle of Friends Retreat in Branson!

The theme this year was " Life Is Like A Bowlful Of ______ " and we filled in the blank with the Crayola color we wanted. We also had to incorporate black and white as well, so it was a 3 color challenge!

The quilts have been sent to Quiltaholic, and will be mailed to the winners from North Carolina. There are some REAL BEAUTIES in this fun, and the gals did an outstanding job of embracing the challenge!

The drawing itself will be on Sunday morning, September 23rd at the COF Retreat! The quilts will be shown on a slide show, by coordinating numbers and names of quilt makers, so that everyone will know what quilt they have won!

You do not have to be present at the retreat to win. Winners will be notified by Monday, September 24th.

A staff member from the Ronald McDonald House in Springfield will be joining us and do the drawing of the tickets! I'm excited for them to meet SOME of the wonderful gals who make this whole endeavor possible, and for the retreat goers to see what our labors of love work for!

Also in the drawing, are 3 HUGE baskets of quilting goodies, tools, patterns, fabrics... all sorts of goodies every quilter would love. Two of the baskets are in machine totes ... a great prize or a gift for a quilter you know!


We have scheduled 29 quilts to give away! Right now there are 22 received, and the rest will be received before the drawing. These quilts are GORGEOUS and will make FABULOUS prizes for the lucky winners!

If you would like to SEE the quilts, you can check them out at CRAYOLA PICS TAB ON THIS BLOG. As all the quilts are received, the pics will be updated!


In the last raffle we had at the 2011 Circle of Friends Retreat, we raised over $4200 for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Jayardi and Quiltaholic did a fantastic job in raising funds for such a worthy cause!

Let's top that! The goal this year is $5000. Wouldn't YOU love to see us hand a check to such a worthy cause? I WOULD!!!

HERE'S THE SCOOP ON THE TICKETS!
TICKET SALES WILL BEGIN FEBRUARY 1st! For your chance at a quilt, a donation of $2 will get your name in for the drawing... and for every $5 donated, you will receive 3 tickets for The Ronald McDonald House Quilt Raffle.

All monies must be here by September 15, 2012, unless you are attending retreat. Tickets WILL ALSO BE SOLD AT THE RETREAT, and retreat ticket sales will close at 9pm, Saturday, September 22nd.

For those desiring, please make checks payable to Ronald McDonald House Charites of the Ozarks (RMHC), and post date them for September 20, 2012. I don't accept PayPal, so send it thru pony mail. For the mailing address, please go to THE MAILING LIST LINK on the side of the blog. Any cash or checks received with my name will be deposited in a bank account specifically set up for this raffle :)

If you would like to SELL to your friends, neighbors, brothers, sisters, quilting buddies ... we can send you tickets with stubs by mail. You can request them thru a PM, or an email to CRAYOLA QUILTS. You will send in the money for tickets, and return the stubs and their name will be put into the raffle. All sales to others will be tracked, so that we can tally for a special drawing... There will be a Special Quilty Prize for the person who brings in the most donations... that's tickets sold to others.

So, get out there and blog about it. Tell all your friends about it. Share with your family and co-workers. If you would like, I can send you an e-mail with all the details. That way, all you have to do is forward it to them.

WHO'S READY FOR SOME TICKETS ???Official rules for the 2012 Crayola Quilt Challenge Drawing for the Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Ozarks can be found here. Thank you for your participation for such a great cause!

Row Robin FUN !

Here's the last of the row robins that will be finished and on display at the Circle of Friends Retreat in Branson!  These are fun and creative, and interesting to see what the quilters are in to for their choices of quilts ... it's been challenging AND fun for us all!

McPatches

Mountain Laurel

Pegsami

SavedSinnr

SD Granny

Shauna's Crafty Quilter

Shawlk

TeaSea

Toryam

TX Wildflower

More Robins ... More Eye Candy !

Here's some MORE beauties that are entered in the Row Robin now going on ... I can't WAIT to see the finished tops and surprise each of the quilters with their quilts ... will be SO SO SEW very beautiful !  Hope you enjoy !

DJ Brown

DJ Brown

Fishing Widow

Lisa P8

Lake Quilter

Headie Lamar

It's time for the ROW ROBIN FUN !!!

We're lining up MORE FUN for the retreat ... Have you ever heard of a ROW ROBIN ??? We've heard of singing robins, round robins, even batman's friend robin ... but we're gonna mix it up a little bit and have a ROW ROBIN

Have you seen the post on the HGTV Quilting Message Board for the ROW ROBIN ???  It is well under way now, and the second round of posting is in progress, but ONLY the first row can be shown. 

AngelaC

We will run 2 different row robins; a throw/lap size (approx 48” by 64”) and a small wall hanging size (approx 24” by 28 +/- inches). We have 4 groups of 7 people for the lap size and for the wall hanging size, 2 groups of 6 people.  Rows can be pieced, paper-pieced or appliquéd~ no raw edges on the appliqué and no heavy fusibles.


It started out that each participant will make their own center row, and will be bordered on the top and bottom with a 2" sashing piece for lap size, and 1" for wall hanging.  We also had to include enough sashing strips to finish the row robin to be added by each participant.

CBQ

~For the 48” (throw/lap size) quilt the center strip will be a 12” (FINISHED SIZE) row composed of blocks of the makers choosing.
~For the 24” quilt, the center row will be a 6” (FINISHED SIZE) row.

We could also include any other fabric we wanted to be used in every row, and a notebook for the next person to jot their thoughts.

CharmingSister

Each row will be a different size, with  detailed instructions for the size and placement of each row.   At the end of the robin, each quilt will be mailed to the Circle of Friends Retreat in Branson (via SavedSinnr), and then unveiled at the retreat.    Doesn't that sound like fun?

At the North Carolina Retreat last April, hostess Quiltaholic did a round robin and unveiled them in the large meeting room... all the quilts were hanging around the room above the tables, and walking in, it just took your breath away.  It was SO VERY BEAUTIFUL and really gave a GREAT atmosphere to our retreat.  I was amazed at the beauty of them all, and how 5 people could take 1 person's idea and make it so complete in the quilts.  They really were beautiful, and I don't know how many laps around the room I took just checking them all out!

So I've put a few pics of the FIRST rows in here ... and no more pics will be published after the first row ... but when the unveiling happens in Branson, you can bet there will be some gorgeous pics included!  And stay tuned ... I'll keep adding "first row" pics as the year progresses ... wouldn't want ya'll to faint from the overload of beauty!  Hope everyone has a great weekend!

A New Year Brings LOTS of Happenings!

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!  I am so thankful 2012 is here!  This year will bring lots of fun, frolic and friendships to the 2012 Circle of Friends Retreat in Branson!!!

This month is when all the juggling for registration ends ... you MUST have your registration fees in by January 31st for you to be able to come have fun with us in Branson... and we would SURE hate for anyone to miss out on the fun! 

Also along with that, I have a renewed sense of getting the word out... so look for more updates and info as time passes on ... so let's recap about last year and what's happened so far.

Registration has started for Circle of Friends ... it's the 6th annual, you know :)  If you are called up from the waiting list, go to the REGISTRATION tab to get your sign up form!

The hotel has been set, and quilters are making arrangements for their stay.  We will be staying at the beautiful Thousand Hills Resort.  It's just off the heart of the Branson strip, down by Andy Williams Moon River Theatre.  There are plenty of restaurants around, lots of shopping you can walk to, many entertainment theatres just up the road, and lots of fun to be had!  If you haven't made your hotel arrangements yet, go to the LODGING tab on how to do that!

For those of you driving to the retreat, go to the TRAVEL tab to see a chart on mileage and how far it is to Branson from where you live!  Many gals are teaming up to ride together for a fun trip across the country! :)

If flying is your choice, the airlines that service this area should be putting out their schedules for September real soon... so keep your eyes open for that!  The airlines into Branson have opened up more flight availability from different cities so I'll be posting more info as it gets here!

Have you sent off for your BRANSON INFO PACKET YET ?  The good folks over at the Branson Chamber and Visitors Bureau put this together every year, and it's filled with all the info you may want to know about and do while you're in Branson!  You can find it at  http://www.explorebranson.com/ and they will mail it to you for free!

We look FORWARD to meeting up with all y'all in Branson next September!!!  IF you have any problems or concerns, about registration for the retreat, please leave me a message with your email, and I will get back with you.

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!  THIS is the year of the 6th Annual HGTV CIRCLE OF FRIENDS RETREAT ... bringing it home to Branson!