Wednesday, November 16, 2011

WIP Wednesday/Retreat Report

Warning! Long post ahead!

I'm back home and, having gone to sleep at about 8pm last night, I am nearly caught up on the sleep I *didn't* get on the weekend.

Friends, it was absolutely fabulous. From 3pm Friday until 2pm Monday, all I had to think about was quilting. No meals to make, no cellphone reception, nothing but eating, chatting and quilting. Lots and lots of quilting. Also, chatting. And laughing.

Krista did a wonderful job of planning - the location was wonderful (snow on Saturday that we watched fall as we sat cosily sewing away in the great hall) and the food was delicious. Here's what the work room looked like - LOTS of activity, eh? Those windows let in so much lovely natural light, and the view was marvelous - when I raised my head from my work, I could see the trees and Loon Lake. Gorgeous!

retreat work room

Here's my work area, with one of the preschool quilts in progress (and a bag of delicious chocolate-covered pretzels in the background):

quilting in progress

Speaking of the preschool quilts, here's my "what I planned/hoped to do vs. what I actually got done" list and it's not half bad if I do say so myself!

Preschool quilts. I wanted to get all 3 basted and quilted. GOAL EXCEEDED! Not only are all three quilts quilted, but I cut the bindings for all 3 and two of them are sewn on. Here's a peek of the quilting on one of the tree quilts. VERY happy with how these have turned out.

preschool quilts quilting

Stash Trad block. Goal met - the block is dunzo:

Pine Tree block for Krista Poppyprint

Habitat Challenge. Wanted to get all 4 pillow covers made. HAHAHA. Annnywayyyyyy, I got one more pieced, and the fourth cut out/planned. Not bad. This happened late in the retreat and I forgot to photograph my progress. Below is a photo I took just now - didn't even press the darn thing for you. This is likely not going to be done in time for the VMQG meeting on Thursday. Ah well. I'll bring what I've got.

habitat progress

Commission Quilt. Wanted to get the top done at least, and only managed to get the tree cut out and fused. Not too shabby.

Mom's placemats. Didn't get worked on at all. But with all the progress I made on the quilts, I will have these done for Christmas no problem.

And finally, I used up more of my luck by winning one of the door prizes - a copy of Modern Blocks, which I got signed by one of the designers, Krista of Spotted Stones. I've got it sitting on the back of one of the quilts, with the World's Most Perfect Backing Fabric (from IKEA).

using up my luck

Krista and another Flickr friend, also named Krista (!!) came from far away to spend the weekend, making it all the more enjoyable. I also want to shout out to my work space partner and roommate Sindy, who introduced me to the wonderfulness that is chocolate-covered pretzels. Dang those are yummy.

Linking up with Lee and Monika again!

WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

21 comments:

  1. Grrrrrrr I'm so jel. (That's UK kidspeak for jealous)

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  2. So awesome! It looks like you guys had a lot of fun :) I love your Stash Trad block, I need to get on that pronto! And I'm now craving some chocolate-covered pretzels, yum!

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  3. Congrats on getting so much done! The venue looks and sounds amazing!

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  4. Jealous here! I have SO many projects in the works that I would die to have uninterrupted time to work on like that.

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  5. I'm jealous too but so glad you have fun!

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  6. Looks like you had a ton of fun!

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  7. Chocolate covered pretzels = best.snack.ever. It looks like a really lovely place for a retreat. I would love to spend a weekend sewing and laughing with you all!

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  8. wow - you did get a lot done! That room just looks wonderful to sew in, and snow falling on cedars - does that make it perfect when you're inside busily sewing away? Does in my book! Jealous does not describe it!

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  9. Wow, that looks like an awesome time! Your projects are looking amazing.

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  10. All I can say is thank goodness those pretzels were too far away for my reach! You were so productive!!! Way to go on meeting so many retreat goals - it was a blast having you with us this year and I'm already pining for next November.

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  11. It looks like you had a blast of a time and managed to get loads done, I aspire to be that productive!

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  12. That looks like such a wonderful time! The school quilt is adorable. Thanks for linking up to WIP Wednesday. : )

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  13. what a room! my gosh what a lot of STUFF in the room. lol I love the natural light. That yellow and white fabric makes me so happy! My favorite colors.
    ~Monika

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  14. wow! what an awesome retreat space!! That looks like heaven. You got some awesome progress done on those preschool quilts.

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  15. Sounds like you had an amazing time, Felicity! Congrats on meeting so many goals! I've never been on an overnight retreat, but it sounds heavenly!

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  16. You were extremely productive on the retreat , congrats on accomplishing so much ! What a wonderful facility with all that natural light streaming in ,lucky you:-)

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  17. Your retreat sounds divine! Wow, a whole weekend to sew. Lucky you! And you took advantage of that time fabulously. Well done on your finishes!

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  18. I love that Tree of Life block, looks great :) And that's so wonderful that you got so much done on your retreat! I'm quite jealous!

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  19. Awesome job! I'm impressed by your progress.

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  20. Wow - sounds like a fantastic time - jealous here too!

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  21. Looks like a lot of fun! You got so much accomplished!

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