Retreat

Well, I'm here in my little room, stretched out taking a small break before dinner. I'm at one of our annual guild retreats. It is so fun to have nothing else to do but sew, and chat and laugh, no cooking, no cleaning!
I don't bring any art quilting as I'd never be able to pack it all, so I concentrate on a quilt or a few Xmas gifts.
The rage this year is these fun and simple placemats.
I'm doing some placemats too, but as I watched these going together, I've been lamenting my more complicated choice. It took me all day and some of last night to get mine together (pictured further down) and I've still got to quilt and bind them!

There are 26 quilters this retreat as opposed to just over 40 who are signed up for February. It is a nice cozy number with lots of space.

As the weekend progresses, the walls get fuller.

The placemats spread through like wildfire. They were done using four colors stacked and cut, and then shuffled.

This Schnibbles quilt called Clover was done from start to finish by my friend Sue. There are 773 pieces in it!

It's fun to take a break to walk around and see what everyone is doing. There is always such variety.
I love the modern feel of the next one. And do you see that amazing tree skirt folded over the chair?

It's all so inspiring!

I'm sewing the outside black borders on my quilt right now. I got the square patch borders all sewn on.

Yesterday, I spent spent the whole day sewing 4 Christmas placemats. I'll save the quilting for home.

I started writing this post last night, but I'm just finishing it now. We've got only a couple of hours left.
I'm really going to need a rest tomorrow, but it will have been worth it! What a wonderful way to spend a weekend with friends. We've had a few people who have travelled from other guilds and one from another province. It's a nice way to develop new friendships and to get closer to those you know.

Here's one final colourful quilt that just went up on the wall. I love it!