At the Quilt Retreat

I am so glad I signed up for my first quilting retreat! It was the most fun I have had in a room full of strangers in I don't know when. Of course, they were all quilters, so I'm not sure they qualify as strangers, in fact, I actually sort of knew one of them just from seeing her around town. The ladies in the picture below were my table mates and while they agreed to the picture, I didn't tell them about my blog so pics are at a minimum.

See that beautiful machine right there with all the sticky notes on it? That's mine and I'm loving it! (The notes say things like: Straight stitch plate ON, and my needle size and such) See that black thing with the neon green feathers? I'm not exactly sure what it is, but it is my handiwork. I'm not sure who this person is that is making these quilts through me, 'cause she likes bright colors and contemporary quilts while I am a traditionalist and wear pastel or muted colors. The machine behind mine is a Pfaff, and I admit to liking it too. It has more arm space for about the same price, but I had heard a bunch of negative comments online about Pfaffs so I didn't even look at them before I got my machine.

Above is the spread of food they had catered for us. There was a lot of it and it was good! Though I was so happy to get away for 12.5 hours (yes, from 9:30am to 10pm) they could have ordered in pizza or told me to pack a lunch! This was their first all day retreat the shop had offered, so it was a learning experience for us all and it sounds like all the ladies attending loved it. I don't know if I can make a habit of going, but I'd sure like to.

My hubby was asleep by the time I got back home, poor guy, recovering from chemo and watching the baby all day. I was so excited from the experience that I went over to my neighbor's house (I think she may have been staying up just to talk to me--sweet, wonderful lady) to ramble on about the day.

I was the only one not piecing or appliquing something. Everybody oohed and ahhed over my free-moting quilting and I think finally I might just believe them when they say I have a talent or something. Up til now, I've felt like this is easy, if I can do it anyone can do it, you just have to be brave and try. I mentioned several times that I couldn't piece or intricately applique like the rest of them though. There were at least 2 long-arm owners there, possibly 4 from the comments that were made. One said "I didn't think you could do that on a sewing machine." The other responded, "I can't do that on my long-arm!"

Wait until you see what my fabulous hubby made for me.....