Post Retreat

Well, my retreat has come and gone .... and as a newbie .... I now know what goes on there.  You know the saying:  "what goes on at retreats, stays at retreats".

It was fun.  There was a lot of laughter.  Surprising, not a lot of talking.  A room full of women .... not a lot of talking?   Something was amiss.   There was a wonderful combo of quilters from different areas of the province.  A lot of new faces to me.

There was a lot of inspiration!  It was so interesting to walk around the room and take a peek at projects being worked on.  That was a good way to meet new people and strike up a conversation.

Even the wildlife was curious.  My friend, no-blog Mary, looked out the window and spotted a squirrel.  It wanted to see what we were all doing!

 Doesn't no-blog Mary have an interesting T-shirt?  She was working on tumblers. 

At times, the room would empty of a number of people, and a stroll to the lobby would find them catching up on emails, etc.

Each evening, after dinner, would find us all back at our projects until 8:00 p.m. and some stayed even later.   This was hard for me.  I'm just not used to sitting at my sewing machine for hours on end.

We even had a mother and daughter in attendance.

The show of finished tops and quilts was spectacular.  Unfortunately, I didn't catch all the projects that got done.  Here are just a few.

Every surface of the room got used.  Anyone passing by added their two cents into the placement of circles onto this top.

What did I work on?  Well, this top below.  Do you remember how hard I have been working on switching the white sashing to the blue sashing?  Well, it was finally done and I took it with me to remove the background fabric from behind all the applique.  Not all got done, but most was removed.  I had to be especially careful with my scissors as it was so easy to be distracted.  A glass of wine and scissors is not a good combination.  Luckily, I knew when to stay 'stop' to myself and it got carefully folded up and put away.

Six protective clothing bibs were made.

The bottom left section of apple cores got sewn onto the upper section.   More apple cores got basted for another section.

But .... all my main projects in this container got left behind on my sewing table at home.  Duh, that was so stupid of me.  Still, I did manage to keep myself busy.

So, what else is on my bucket list?

Have a great day!

Retreat time

Today, I along with no-blog Mary (from Toronto) will be heading out for our first quilting retreat.  Yep, we are newbies!

We really don't know what to expect.  There have been some interesting emails going back and forth amongst some of the attendees. 

Now, trying to decide what to bring?

For sure, this project is coming along:

It will be so nice to get this project done and since it is fall .... what better project to work on?

There will be apple cores for some handwork time:

Perhaps some adult bibs will get made?  This past week, two have been made (they are shown on the right) and eight more need to get done to meet my annual donation commitment for my day quilting guild.

Those projects should keep me busy and there is enough of a variety that I shouldn't be bored.

Have a great day, eh!

Virtual Retreat

Please see the bottom of my post for an update on the completion of this top!

Did you know that Chookyblue is having a worldwide quilt retreat at her chook shed in Australia?  Everyone has been invited .... but those too far away to attend can do so by internet.  The date:  May 31/June 1.

You can go to this post to see who else is sewing along (go to the comment section and everyone who left a comment are joining in).  Over the course of one weekend, it will be amazing to see and read what quilters around the world are working on.  I look forward to doing just that when a break is needed.

Here in Canada, I am way behind the others in Australia as there is quite the time difference.  While I am gearing up for sew .... sew .... sewing .... they are winding down or in bed sound asleep.

Regardless, the time has come to start the retreat and my first goal is to put borders onto this top:

On this same post, an update will be made once the borders are on.

Updated:  9:56 p.m. May 31, 2014

Well, what a day ..... my borders are on!  This top would have been completed sooner, except for an excursion to see our grand niece at gymnastics this morning; a visit to a gardening nursery to check out some perennials to replace those that were lost this past winter; our routine after-supper walk with Miss Ashes around our home and up our back hill; and a walk at the waterfront in our city.

There was a bit of unsewing in the striped border, but once that was corrected, it was smooth sailing.

This photo shows only half of the top.  I will need to arrange a proper photo of the whole top so that you can get the complete look.  Please don't think me being conceited, but this top looks amazing!

This concludes my retreat and now it is time to go visit all the other quilters that left a comment on Chookyblue's post and check out what they did today.


Have a great day!