Retreat Wrap

Hello all!!! I'm waving at you as I run by my laptop, upload a few pictures and let you know all is well here, just all-consumed by volunteer work, Project Big Project (one of those "I'm working on it but I can't talk about it" things that drives me insane online, sorry), an impromptu visit by my far away sister and a few orders to churn out. 

My annual Loon Lake 4-day retreat has been and gone. Total success. I swear every year it gets more fun as the group becomes more and more comfortable with each other. We squeezed 29 quilters in this year and at times the sewing room was deafening - all that cackling was truly divine, though. A sure sign that people were enjoying every minute! 

 

See those scrappy Trip Around the World blocks taped to the far wall? Those were the Block Lotto blocks this year and guess who finally won? Yup, MEEEEEEE!  Apparently I even jumped for joy when I realized my luck. The guilt of walking away (as the retreat organizer) with thirty 12 1/2" blocks soon wore off. In fact I returned home and pieced the top the very next day.

I settled on a zig zag arrangement - here it is on my design wall. I'm thinking a diagonal grid every second square, with wavy stitch for the quilting. Keeping it simple and gettin 'er done for the holidays.

It just makes me all happy inside that people are willing to travel to this gathering. Kristi came all the way from Winnipeg (read her lovely post about her weekend here), Krista K3 from Anchorage and Krista K2 and Sandie from Seattle. Amazing!! Plus all of my incredibly supportive quilting friends from right here in the Lower Mainland (that's what we call Vancouver and surrounding cities), whom I adore.

The Krista's together again! K3, K2 and me, K1. 

Just some little Liberty bookmarks I made to say 'thanks' to the traveling gals for coming all this way to play.

For the first time in years I did not bring any Christmas gift projects. My plan was to focus on making one large twin sized quilt, and if that was accomplished, I brought some bee blocks along to piece as well. This was my view daily (as of 4:00 p.m.).

I haven't worked on a chain-piecing repetitive quilt project for a while and if it weren't for the pretty Denyse Schmidt Hope Valley prints I might have given up in boredom. This is a sweet pattern, though and I'm glad that I stuck with it. The scale of prints perfectly matched those used by Lori in her sample and I think that's what makes the pattern so effective.  I had two charm packs won from Amanda  (Sasikirana on IG) and found almost all of the line in my stash, which was rather shocking to me. I didn't know I liked Hope Valley so much. Thanks to scrap donations from K3 and Kristi, my selection was complete!

Just have to add the 2 1/2" borders all around and then this top can join the (long) line awaiting quilting.

Here's the nighttime show and tell shot from retreat.

Just a couple of days after retreat, my sister came to town for a conference and we spent as much of her 'free' time together as possible. Shopping, eating, having fun without kids. A very strange concept for both of us. She brought along my birthday gift (from summer) which I am in love with.

There's your update friends. See you soon!