Today is PACKING DAY because my quilt retreat starts TOMORROW!!!!

I love our guild retreats and am really looking forward to this one. The last few months have been very hectic and stressful; honestly, I am still feeling that. I was talking to my husband about it this morning and saying that maybe I shouldn’t go but instead stay home and get stuff done.

His comment was so sweet. He said that I should go so that I would be FORCED to relax and recreate!!

Do you ever get to that stage??

So, this morning I am loading up my machine and all of my projects……

Fabrics for a “Winnie The Pooh” baby quilt that I need to make……

Fabrics for my challenge quilt……

…AND…all of the embellishments I hope to play with!!

There is the marbled fabric quilt that I started last time…..

…..and the scrap quilt that I have worked on for the past 2 retreats.

Finally, one of my clients picked up her tax return and left me a bag of goodies, including these fun fabrics…..

Maybe I will find an easy pattern and whip up a charity quilt!!

Honestly, I hope to spend some of my time sitting in the big swing overlooking the lake, thinking deep thoughts…..at least until I fall asleep!!

SO…….

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

Well, I am giving you that permission right now, so stop reading and get to it!!!!

And just like that, it was over!!!

That is often how I feel about quilting retreats. I anxiously wait for the day to arrive, I sew madly while I am there and then…..it is time to go home!!

These past 5 days were the perfect example of a great retreat.

We have a wonderful room to work in with lots of light and space to spread out…..

The food, while not always healthy, is amazing…..

I worked on several projects that I will show in upcoming posts, but I did try one new background technique that I will DEFINITELY use again….

I normally take at least one walk each day, but this time I chose to be lazy and sit in a swing by the lake and watch the ducks and geese….

It was SO relaxing!!

On one of my very short strolls, I came across this boarded up window….

Don’t you just love how the boards have weathered!!

There were a bunch of finished tops before the week was over, but these two were my favorites….

Linda put her Kaffe fabrics to good use and created this gorgeous top….

…and Mary and Pat each finished their sweet nativity scenes…..

I find this quilt so appealing!!

I taught a short lesson on making half-square triangles and enjoying answering some questions about the technique.

On the way home, I stopped by a local quilt shop that is part of a feed store!! Yep, you can buy your horse feed, tomato plants or work boots up front…..

and your fabric in the back…..

Now THAT is the perfect store!!

So, everything is back in place in my studio, my travel quilting stuff is put away and I will start the process of anxiously awaiting the NEXT retreat in September!!