I have been attending guild retreats for the past 10 years and have LOVED every one of them!!
In many cases over the years, I have headed to the retreat with the idea that I FINALLY had time to do some creative things. It was almost a sense of urgency that I HAD to be there!!
The last retreat, held in May, marked the end of my really busy work season and I arrived with a long list of projects that I wanted to work on.
But, in the 4 months since the last retreat, I have had lots of creative time, and I arrived at this retreat wondering if I really NEEDED this time away.
What I found was that, since I didn’t have a long list of projects that NEEDED to be finished, I was able to…..

After spending a few hours finishing up one project that has a deadline, I pulled out a circle ruler and learned that I CAN PIECE CIRCLES…..
Who knew???
I can even piece circles INSIDE of circles…..

I played more with bargello……

….and learned a bunch of new things!!
I spent some time in my planning/sleeping swing at the lake…..

I finished up the days by digging into my stash of 30-year-old marbled fabrics and coming up with a fun pattern!!
Now, could I have worked on these things in the comfort of my own home?
Definitely YES…..
….but I know that I would have been working on projects that I NEEDED to do instead of ones that were just fun.
Do you have trouble giving yourself permission to
