Saturday, July 07, 2007

Quilt Retreat

Back in May–when life was too busy to blog–I ran away for a weekend with some local quilters for a retreat. I've added the photos to Flickr--check out the slide show or read on–warning: it's a very image-heavy post. Click any of the images for larger versions.

This was our home-away-from-home for the weekend–part of a conference center owned by the state's Department of Natural Resources. We had this dorm to ourselves. It contained sleeping rooms, a comfy big living room and a conference room which became our work room.

Our home away from  home

Walking to the LodgeAll meals were provided and were served a short walk away at the main lodge. Fresh coffee was always waiting for us in the lobby. Meals were served family style in the dining room.




Coffee at the Lodge Dining Hall

We quilted in the conference room. The group had reconfigured it by the time I arrived, moving tables into a big circle with ironing boards and a cutting table in the center. The white board they'd shoved into the corner became a perfect design wall with the addition of the flannel tablecloth I brought. The room had big windows on two sides and lots of great light.

Work Room Work Room
Cutting and Ironing Natural light

Everyone brought their own projects and did their own thing.

Success! Cat Wallhanging  . . .  Done! Chain Piecing Reading?  At  Quilt Retreat?

On Saturday afternoon, some of us took a break for a local shop hop of three quilt shops in a nearby town.

Shop #1: The Buttonhole Inside the Buttonhole Inside the Buttonhole Shop #2 - Caroline's
Inside Caroline's Shop # 3 Old Quilt Detail of Old Quilt

Back in the work room, my makeshift design wall saw a lot of action. Eventually, I used it, too--putting together a top from my purple buckeye blocks from Colene's Penny Pincher swap.

Community Design Wall Kids Soccer Quilt Top  . . .  Done! Putting Together Some Swap Blocks

After dark, we went outside and hung out around the fire.

Fire Ring

Sunday morning after breakfast, I went for a walk to the beach. It was chilly, but beautiful.

Walking to the Beach Lakeside Beauty
Chairs on the Beach Fire Ring, Daytime View

It was great to get away and make progress on some of my projects. In addition to the progress I made on my Penny Pincher swap blocks, I finished a quilt top and back for Quilts of Valor and completed the stretched star quilt (from a swap).

A QOV from me ... Done! Stretched Stars ... Done!

Just about everyone had a lot to show for themselves at the end of the weekend.

String Quilt Top . . . Done! Another Quilt Top  . . .  Done! Kit Quilt Blocks More Blocks In Progress Minature Quilt Top  . . .  Done!

After more fun at Sunday breakfast, we packed up and headed home.

Sunday Breakfast

I couldn't resist stopping at one last quilt shop on the way home. Yes, there's quite a large quilt shop inside this nursery.

And on the way home, another Quilt Shop!

3 comments:

Marisa said...

Quilt shop inside a nursery? Wow, that's totally cool. Your photos make it look like you all really had a great time. Wish I could have a quilting get away!

Jo Raines said...

Wow! Too cool. I've told my DH we could do this on our land--build a retreat center and shop. Unfortunately, the beach is four hours away--we're in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains here.

Samantha said...

that looks like a fabulous time!

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