AZ Retreat - The Basics

The AZ Retreat began 7 years ago in the community room at Denise's condo complex, with a group of quilters from the quilting forum on about.com. The annual event has grown over time, moved to a hotel, and this year, I got one of the coveted 32 spots.

The 7 hostesses produce a tightly organized event, with everything a quilter needs for a weekend of quilting and fun:

Ironing stations (with big boards). Those are the lotto blocks on the wall above them.



A central cutting station and a very well organized room. (That's Hilda, Cathy and Annette, in the photo).



Many design walls. The blocks on the left became one of two charity quilts I put together at the retreat. On the right was one of the row robins--this one is Ellen's, I think.



A great group dinner Friday night at Claim Jumpers. I couldn't resist taking a photo of our official retreat photographer Chris, doing her thing at the restaurant.



A cook-out lunch on Saturday, just outside the door of our sewing room.



And back inside the sewing room, a snack table that you could almost hear groaning from the weight of every kind of treat imaginable.



(It looked just this full when I left at noon on Sunday, too).