Sewing Retreat Sanity

Thanks to my quilty friend A, I got to have a bit of a sewing retreat this past weekend. She hosted at her house and A, K, C and I had hours to sew and gossip and eat. A made delicious homemade red pepper soup and there were baguettes with yummy cheese and the rest of us brought tons of sweets and snacks. It felt soooooo good to be out of the house- on my own!- and doing something I love.

I did discover a few things about this kind of sewing day, to file away for next time. 

1. It is so fun to be quilting with others who totally get why you're doing what you're doing.
2. Make sure you bring everything you mean to bring. I forgot the fabric I had precut to do some paper piecing (under the more experienced and watchful eyes of C and A) and I was disappointed.
3. You take your supplies for granted. I didn't bring my cutting mat because A and K brought/had theirs. Unfortunately, both use a tiny little cutting mat and I missed mine terribly. I even stopped cutting at one point because the small size was frustrating me. Lesson learned! I also missed my Oliso iron, but A's was pretty good so I got over it.

Here are some pictures from the day.

Lily came and visited us occasionally.

A worked mostly on some crib shoes and on being a fab hostess

K worked studiously on a pillowcase using fabric she bought on our last (her first) quilt shop hop. She is still learning and was so concentrated and open to ideas and help. She is going to be a great quilter/sewer!

C, who blogs over at The Edgy Perfectionist, was working on a tiny little bathing suit/costume for her friend who competes in body building competitions. The fabric was very loud, slippery and shiny. C's attention to detail means the end result will be awesome. I sure couldn't sew it.

I did manage to get a bunch of chain piecing on my dad's Architextures quilt done before I ran out of Kona White. I really need to invest in a bolt of that stuff.

I also made binding for the Ann Kelle quilt from the kit that I was going to use to make my work friend's quilt.

Binding all made!

And I played with my friend A's design wall a bit. I need one, seriously.

Quilt top finished. Those are A's Dear Jane blocks at the top. She amazes me. Look how tiny those pieces are!

I also did some cutting for a red and white quilt (and gave up because I hated the cutting mat) and cut out some paper piecing pieces. K commented on how many things I seem to have on the go. I showed her my little book that I use to keep all the projects and ideas straight in my head. I am always thinking about quilting and sometimes I have to get the ideas out and on paper so I won't lose the idea, and so I can concentrate on things in the order I need them. I'll have to add a new one because I found out on Saturday that some of our lovely neighbours are expecting this August. Hooray for another excuse for a baby quilt!

I can't wait to have another day like this with the ladies. A is awesome for having hosted us!

Lynn