Recap of the Retreat

Many of us were fortunate to spend a few days at arretreat this weekend.  It is the kind of retreat where everyone brings their own projects to work on and the only scheduled times are for the meals, (which were fabulous)

this is what the sewing area looked like just before we unpacked, 

Then we all found a place to sew and began to work on a wide variety of projects...

I can always learn from other quilters. Jennifer brought baggies that each contain all the precut pieces for four blocks each. What a great way to stay organized.

this is Arlene's Christmas tree skirt in progress, it is paper pieced

deb was working on a hand appliqué project

Some of us had a lot of pieces to press!

I loved the little table centers that Linda was working on.  Woulnt they be great in afull sized quilt? Linda? 

Bev was doing a lot of buttonhole stitch on these appliqués

here,  Florence is measuring her quilt for borders

and Loretta always has interesting projects. Here she's doing a twister with some gorgeous oranges.

and here are just a few projects from the show And tell evening

I loved Heathers rainbow flying geese

this qult top of Val's is in rich Jo Morton fabrics, and below, Elizabeth has a riot of Kaffe Fassett flowers

such a range of styles and colors

Janet sewed this bench cushion from the little gift pack of fabrics from last years retreat!

this is Gina's "Bargelly" quilt.   Betty had one too, which was also gorgeous!

Jaclyn is always productive, and got this lovely one quilted and bound, and a lot of other projects as well

I could have spent a lot of time studying this gorgeous wool appliqued one by Bonnie

this beautiful little face is Michelle's daughter

Betty has embarked on another five year hand quilting project

and this one by Nicole, above, is not only very prett, but when you see it close up, you can see that she did a whole variety of free motion quilting designs!

wendy sewed up this batik quilt amazingly fast.  I dont know if the pattern was easy or if she is a really fast sewer

Kelly did a couple of paper pieced Fractal blocks.  She had precut a big pile of pieced from her stash-- all different, so this will be a real charm quilt

And this is Nancy's beautiful paper pieced quilt from batiks.  I am looking forward to seeing it quilted.

so that was just a sampling of what people did.  Personally, I got a whole "bullseye" quilt top pieced, except for the borders, and put the binding in a queen size quilt.  I also started another project from some purple fabrics,....

It was a productive weekend, but for me the best part is getting to spend time with some amazing people and getting to know some new friends!

why do we do this?

Last weekend I attended a quilting/sewing retreat.  i enjoyed it quite a lot, even though I didn't actually do a lot of sewing.  I did do a lot of socializing, and even had some meaningful conversations with a few people.  I made me think about all the different reasons why we are involved in this past-time of sewing.   And of course, we have different reasons at different times,...

So, I am curious about what you think.  What are some of the reasons why you love to sew?

above, this was a nice color coordinated moment at my sewing station, 

At the show and tell, i think we all loved Tanya's small squares

Amazing quilt by Sandy

I loved Allisons Tortilla Strips, wouldn't it be great on a bed? 

Post-retreat Monday

This weekend was our annual quilting retreat up at Shekinah Lodge near Waldheim.

It was such a good weekend. These are a few shots of the retreat center building that we go to.

On the road, driving to the retreat

It is a large timber frame building

A view of the ironing and cutting tables

The dining area

The view from where I was sitting

Up high in the back is the upstairs landing where the knitters had a very cozy nest. They were such a nice group who came this year for the first time. 

Lots of windows

One last finish on Sunday-- Jenn 's Counterpoint.  She did get the borders on too.

These were all on the main floor of the building.  They have a very cozy lower level too, with a huge fieldstone fireplace.  

I think everyone made a lot of progress on their projects.  I was sitting across from Jaclyn who pieced four baby quilt tops, and quilted 2-1/2 of them! 

I was able to get a lot done too, so hopefully I will show a few finishes in the next few days.

We already have the dates for next year-- November 21,22, and 23rd!