I met some wonderful women at the CITR Retreat I went to last year. Like minded individuals who practice what I want to preach. They have their own animals, love to can, dehydrate & generally preserve their own food. Here's a lovely picture that J took of a quilt top in progress.
Since the CITR Retreat isn't being held as a whole anymore, a few of these women decided to do their own thing & I decided to join them. I have never quilted in my life & didn't get a chance to this time but I did get a quilt top & back built. I was proud of myself considering I haven't even taken my sewing machine out of the box in about 10 years. And, that was for simple curtains for heavens sake. But, one of the ladies posted a beautiful picture of a quilt that I thought I would love to make. My colors weren't the same as what she posted but I had some really cool material I had purchased at an Estate Sale & thought it would work great, and it did!
The retreat was in VA & was associated with a Threads Run Through It Quilt Shop. It is out in the middle of nowhere & was a wonderful place to be for 4 nights & 5 days. They offer a house to rent to do your sewing & is easy access to the shop which has the most amazing fabric choices. The house beds were covered with quilts from the shop & had matching sheets & luxury quality hotel towels to use. Here are a couple of pictures.
I went to my friend's house in SC first & spent the night before heading to VA. She & her husband have a wonderful property located in a rural area & is just beautiful ... the house, grounds & her. In addition to the beautiful & well maintained property, she has several dogs, cats & a couple of horses that she & her husband absolutely adore. It was a pleasure visiting them.
All the women attending were most helpful, patient & kind with the newbie sewer among them. I even learned a few new terms along the way, but messed up a few more. Anybody out there know what a "Fat Quarter" is? I didn't and kept calling it a "Fat Bastard", one of my favorite wines. They got a kick out of it at my expense which was just fine. The lady at the quilt shop (Lori) kept trying to teach me the correct terminology since I was obviously so uninformed.
These women were awesome & very determined in their work. There were 5 of us & three of us all had the same first name (Debbie) which got kind of confusing & humorous as the days went by. Most of them did several projects & all were most beautiful.
Also, there was a very inspiring young lady there who is amazing in her own right. She is the 19 year old daughter of one of the Debbie's & loves all the same things we do. I swear she is a 30 year old in a teenager's body. She made this amazing quilt top which the shop owner quilted for her before we left!
We sewed & sewed but also went on an afternoon trip to a dairy goat farm & then into 'town' to buy T-shirts & then the 19 year old saw a restaurant that she had been for a special birthday celebration recently. It was very very good with Martini's & Cosmopolitan's to boot. The chef/owner had just come back from the coast & had a wonderful grouper dish. Sorry, no pic. Also, had a wonderful coconut cake & key lime pie that was to die for!
Anyway, it was a most enjoyable time away & I am now thinking about what I want to do for next year!
21 comments:
Having no idea how to make a quilt didn't stop me from starting one when I lived in Indiana. Four years later, we moved to Florida and I brought the unfinished pieces. A year after that, I finally made one! It's full of flaws and not accordingly "correct" in the way I did it, but it's a quilt. It's finished, and I nearly wrecked my sewing machine doing it. lol
This post has the photo of it.
http://littlelottajoy.blogspot.com/2012/11/i-was-able-to-spend-day-awake-alert.html
I put a permanent link to you at my place, under BLOGGERS BLOCK.
Yep, that sounds like me. We need to meet up. My quilt top is beautiful but I am most apprehensive on finishing it myself. I am going to meet a CraigsList offering for a quilting/sewing machine that I think will allow me to tackle it myself. Wish me luck!
What a fun experience. I know what you mean about not being experienced...I know what a fat quarter is but I sure don't know what the use of them is! (And I love that you said Fat Bastard. I do believe I've tried that wine. Once. Or maybe ten times.) The quilts are beautiful - what an inspirational trip!
DFW,
What a great opportunity to go to a class at CITR Retreat. I remember you went there before and had a wonderful time.
I hope you find the sewing/quilting machine you're looking for.
Thanks Amy. It was quite fun.
Thanks Sandy. I have found a machine on Craig's list that I hope works out.
Sounds like you had so much fun! I want to learn to quilt too, still working on the afghan I started last year. The picutres are great! The trip to the dairy goat farm sounds fun and the coconut cake sounds good too!!
Thanks Melanie. It was fun!
DFW - it sounds like you had a blast, met some really nice people and learned some more stuff! those quilts are beautiful - i would love to learn to quilt and keep promising myself that i will soon start - once we finish work on this crap-*ssed cottage - bahahahaha! it sounds like you had a lovely time visiting with your friend - those are times to cherish. i am glad that you had such a good time!
your friend,
kymber
Thank you my friend. I have been saving things to make quilts w/for years & am finally going to start cutting it up so it will take up less room.
Quilting was my first fiber arts love, so it was a treat to see all of these.
Thanks for stopping Leigh.
Sounds like a wonderful way to learn to quilt! Quilting is on my bucket list - and I hope I can get to it before I'm too old! It seems like such a great winter project. The quilts on the beds are just beautiful!
Susan, I have been saving old stuff forever. Husband is so happy that I'm finally doing something with it all so we'll have more room in the closets.
What a WONDERFUL retreat you went to! Thanks for posting all the pictures of the quilts. Love, love, love to see other people's work. It's always inspirational if not for the exact design, then for the colors used. I hope you're hooked on quilting now and will keep it up.
My daughter gave me a sign a couple of years back for my quilt room that says, "A fat quarter is not a body part."
Mama Pea,
It is a bit addictive. I pulled out the books you sent me a while back & some of the terminology makes sense. I want to make some place pot holder & place mats as my practice pieces for the actual quilting part. Love the sign!
I enjoy seeing quilts that other people have made; thanks for posting those pictures. Aren't quilt retreats fun? My friend and I try to go to one every year, and we have such a great time.
Yes, they are! Thanks for stopping by.
Quilting is like so many other hobbies. It has its own vocabulary that is totally confusing to someone new to the craft. Here's a website to take a look at that will help a bit.
http://quiltbug.com/articles/quilt-terms.htm
I'm so glad you had a good time. Watch it, though. Quilting can be addicting!! AMHIK!!
It is so true. I bought some fabric from a Craig's List ad today!
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