quilt retreat : the extended version

"Let me s'plain.  No there is too much - let me sum up." - Inigo Montoya, the Princess Bride

February is by far the quickest month - retreat is already  2 weeks over as I sit down to share my adventures with you!  This was our 5th year and as you may recall I had some big project plans for this retreat.  It's a work on 'whatever you want' type of retreat and I usually try to sew until my eyes can't stay open any longer.  I've learned to pack all my materials really well so by this year my suitcase was full of fabric and patterns and ideas and notions - I managed to fit the clothes I would need into the small zipper section usually reserved for socks.

lake michigan

I was up for my early morning flight out, but had to wait 3 hours! while they dealt with a mechanical issue before heading north to Chicago.  I worked out an idea for the Pantone quilt Challenge though and then nabbed a few pictures of our approach as we swung over Lake Michigan in it's wintry glory - so pretty.  Then it was onwards to the beach and our indoors sewing extravaganza!

winter sunrise

Momm & I set up our work station quickly so that we could jump right into the sewing and I started with my charm pack Twister quilt.  It was really fun and quick to put together too!  I've got some fabric ready for backing and should have this in the to-be-quilted stack pretty quickly.

Then I cracked open most of my mini charm packs, tossed them in a bucket and went to town stitching them to strips of Kona Glacier.  These will be a postage stamp quilt (or two…) and it was fun to get the first step going.  I've got these trimmed up now as sets of 2 squares and will continue to piece them together.

quilt #1

I also pulled out my layer cake of Nancy Drew fabric, coupled with Kona Shadow and the Impromptu pattern by Rachel at p.s. I quilt.  I decided to make two lap sized quilts instead of one giant quilt and had a fun time choosing fabrics.  By sewing every minute I could manage I got both of the quilt tops pieced together - borders included!

quilt #2

 Let's see, we took breaks for meals, got some awesome table favors, ate a lot of good food, watched it snow all day on Saturday, started each day with a trip to the hot tub, won fabric in door prizes and a game, and generally had an awesome time with Momm and other quilty friends.

M&D dropped me at the airport where I caught some of the Super Bowl.  I boarded my plane and we flew all the way here to Paducah before the Captain comes on to say the runway was too icy and there wasn't enough visibility to make a safe landing.  So he turned the plane around and we went back to Chicago! That's never happened to me before and I wasn't too stressed about it.  I did have to call M&D to say I was still in Chicago - no joke! - and they came to pick me back up.  

empty airport

 So Momm and I had Quilt Retreat: the extended version as I was on the night flight again.  We went to the quilt store naturally, and I picked up some of the Nancy Drew book cover panel print to use on the backing of my quilts.  Then I got right back to sewing on my mini charms and enjoyed time with Dad.  This time the flight home was uneventful and I made it back to a snow covered town and my own bed once again.

There wasn't any progress on my honeycomb or jelly roll projects but those are still high on the list for the year.  I'll be ready to deal with those soon enough!