Wednesday 23 September 2015

Quilt Retreat

I went to my first ever quilt retreat at the weekend. It was a bit like a cross between a school camp and a work conference, but there was no flying fox and no boring lectures.  It was just a weekend of sewing with friends.  Fortunately the retreat was still in town, so it was quite easy to get real coffee each morning.


I arrived at the retreat at 6pm on Friday night and some people were already sewing up a storm.  A number of my friends had taken 3, 4 or even 5 projects to retreat with them.  The supportive environment, and lack of family and pet distractions, resulted in some long overdue projects being finished at retreat. Here's a small selection of our weekend work from Instagram.



I only took 2 projects. I chose to work on my la passacaglia and a new wool felt applique Christmas quilt.


I'm going use this great low volume background with a tiny bit of silver sparkle in it, and add a bit of red with gold sparkle.  It won't be all traditional Christmas fabrics, but I do want to incorporate these three above.  


I cut out all the leaves and birds, and started preparing some of the flowers.



I chose not to take my sewing machine, and instead did hand sewing all weekend.  I really enjoyed getting to know some of the guild members better, and look forward to going again next year.

Here's how my la passacaglia is looking now that I've joined some of the rosettes up:


And another section I've just started on:


 It feels good to be joining up the rosettes, but I'm still a long way from finished.  I'm quite slow at choosing the fabrics because I really don't want to have to unpick any rosettes.  Therefore I'm taking my time and choosing carefully, trying to balance the colours and patterns.

This is how my kitchen floor looks some days:



16 comments:

Julie said...

Wow = that joined section of your LP project is fabulous.

Unknown said...

Was the retreat at Silverstream Wendy?

Oops-Lah said...

I haven never been to a sewing retreat; something I wanted to do for a long time. Nice to hear you had a fab time and your new project as well as your LP look great.

Oops-Lah said...

I haven never been to a sewing retreat; something I wanted to do for a long time. Nice to hear you had a fab time and your new project as well as your LP look great.

Vonna Pfeiffer said...

Oh my word...your work Wendy is flawless. STUNNING!
I'm glad you had fun at retreat!

Linda said...

Those rosettes are just gorgeous! Glad you enjoyed your Retreat. Sounded lots of fun.

Sandi said...

I'm so glad you had a great time at your first retreat Wendy! In a few weeks I'm off to our annual retreat at the Harrison Hot Springs Spa and Hotel. So fun to be fed with the creativity in the room, I've only missed it once, beacause I broke a bone in my foot and couldn't weight bear. We recently upped to four days and three nights!

Carli The Quilter said...

I love retreats! Your rosettes are gorgeous and such progress is made when you don't do all the other household things.

Liz said...

I've never been to a retreat, and your experience is making me jealous! Your La Passacgalia is coming along so nicely! Love it's vibrancy!

Sue said...

Love your Passacagalia blocks Wendy. I am about to make a start and am now going thru the choosing of fabrics dilemma! :-) Your Wendy Williams little quilt looks great!

Wendy said...

I'd love to go to a retreat, they sound like great fun. La passa is coming on niceky and looking great!

HeathersSewingRoom said...

I like the vibrancy that you are getting in your La Pass quilt. You are doing really well with your fabric choices as I think this quilt needs at lot of time spent on the colour and fabric placement.

Granny Maud's Girl said...

Only two projects and no sewing machine on retreat?! I admire your restraint. (Mind you, I think I did something similar when I took Alice's appliqué on retreat with me!) I hope you had fun.

Helen@Till We Quilt Again said...

Looks like you had a wonderful time! We have one coming up shortly--if you lived near a bit closer---I would ask you to come!!! Again your colors are amazing!!!!

Rochelle aka Bella Quilts said...

Your la Pascagallia blocks are beautiful. You have such a great eye for color. I can see how you love bright colors...the Christmas applique in wool is filled with the same brights. Can't wait to see more of both.

Anne / Springleaf Studios said...

Popping over from Finish it Up Friday. Your work is so colorful and fun. As the previous commenter said, you have a great eye for color.