Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Retreat Report

Ahhhhh, Retreat! Why do we call it that? I looked up the word retreat and it's defined as "a place affording peace and quiet" or "an area where you can be alone." A Quilting Retreat is anything but! I stayed up too late, sat at my sewing machine too long, rested too little, and ate too much. I got caught up with some very dear friends, laughed at lots of sillyness (even acted a little silly myself!) and came away feeling like I accomplished something. It was absolutely great and I loved it. I'm already looking forward to next time!

I had the opportunity to quilt on a Lenni Longarm Quilting System while I was there, and I liked it! My friend Angela spent most of her time there overseeing many of us taking turns getting our quilts completed. I was a little nervous at first but got the hang of it quickly. It's not every day I can quilt a twin sized quilt in only 3 hours! Here are some photos of my quilt loaded into the machine -- first the backing, then the batting and top, and even a photo of me quilting!

Poppies are my favorite flower so when Clothworks Textiles came out with this Poppy Fields line several years I bought a bunch of it not knowing how I would use it. I finally found the Big Blossom Trio pattern that was perfect for it and this is my finished quilt. I just love it, and the big news is I am actually keeping this one for ME!

I'll fill you in later on some of the other projects I worked on last week. Right now, I need a little retreat --- aka NAP!

3 comments:

Doodlebug Gail said...

Looks like you did a great job on your quilt. It looks quite big on the machine - is it?

Sandy Panagos said...

Gail, it's 65" by 76" so it's a smallish twin. Perfect for snuggling up with a book or taking into a cold car in the winter -- when Phil is driving, of course!

Sandy Panagos said...

After looking at the photos I see that the quilt does look large. That's because we loaded it lengthwise, so there would be fewer "passes" and it would not take so long to quilt.