Quilt Retreat!!

i mentioned a little while ago that the VMQG had a sew-in, which was fabulous, and we'll be having more of them, because they were so fabulous.

however, a sew-in is not quite the same as a retreat - a retreat is a category all of it's own.

last saturday, i went to my first quilt retreat. the wonderful Krista Hennebury of Poppyprint organizes retreats on a regular basis, and she offered to organize one especially for VMQG members.

i got up very early (though i still ended up being late - surprise, surprise!) and drove up to Lion's Bay on the Sea to Sky Highway, past the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal on the way to Squamish and Whistler. the little village has a sweet community hall with lots of windows, a cozy little kitchen, and a bathroom with plywood doors on the stalls - which instantly transported me back to my childhood of socials, showers and potlucks in the community halls of little prairie towns.

we all set up our machines and equipment on nice long tables and set to work - some of us getting more accomplished than others! i couldn't decide what to bring, so i ended up bringing 4 or 5 projects, and i still barely accomplished anything. i worked on one thing for a little bit, switched to another, worked on that, switched to another, you get the picture. i did manage to get a quilt sandwiched and basted on the big raised tables, and started on the machine quilting, so that was exciting.

also exciting were the goody bags Krista put together! when i arrived, there was a simple brown bag tied with a bit of green seam binding waiting for me, innocently concealing the surprises inside. when i opened mine up, i found a bottle of Best Press, a box of fine glass headed quilting pins, a 1"x6" omnigrid ruler (awesome for paperpiecing!), a white Clover marking pen, and a little bottle of temporary basting glue Glue-Baste-It, which looks like it would be perfect for Ticker Tape Quilts (one day!). we were definitely spoiled, and that's even before we were fed!

Krista provided snacks and coffee and tea throughout the day, as well as yummy sandwiches from a local deli for lunch, and lasagna with garlic bread and multiple salads for dinner. (the quinoa salad with dried cranberries was awesome!)

We broke up the day with meals, of course, but also with a short paperpiecing demo by Sonja (remember, i made a halloween block using her super cute owl design?), show and tell, and door prizes. (because we obviously hadn't been spoiled enough!)

and i won a door prize! as Krista showed the next book, City Quilts by Cherri House, i whispered to the person beside me "oh! kalin has that book, and i'm super jealous." and then i won it!



i wish we'd thought to get a photo of all of us, but we did gather all of us who are on flickr together for a photo -

(i didn't bother to use my mediocre camera at all, so this photo is courtesy of Sonja - thanks Sonja!)

unfortunately, the evening ended early for many of us, as the predicted snow began to build up, and reports of traffic in vancouver started to worry spouses. people began leaving after dinner and trickled out slowly. i stayed until close to the end, and while yes, there was a lot of snow, and it took me twice as long to get home as it had taken me to get there that morning, it was actually really nice. i love the look of driving into snow, when it seems to be rushing straight into your windshield. the darkness meant that i couldn't see the scary cliffs going down the mountain, which was awesome, and the snow meant that people weren't driving at ridiculous speeds, like they usually do on that highway. plus, i LOVE the way the night sky looks when it's pregnant with snow, and the lights of the city reflect off of it, it's almost comforting to me.

however, it DID add more time to an already loooooong day! i'd taken a pillow and blanket with me, intending to have a nap mid-day, but i didn't. i was like a little kid - i didn't want to miss anything! next time, i HAVE to rest. i came home from the retreat and slept for 15 hours straight!