Judy L's UFO Challenge

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Patchworktime's First Annual Retreat

When Judy announced she would be hosting a retreat I quickly signed up since it was just a little over three hours away. Then the fire happened and I felt too overwhelmed to attend. I wrote Judy and begged off.

When she posted about the closeness of the event date I felt saddened that I would miss it and knew I would regret not attending. I just happened to read a post of a quilter that was visiting the DFW area and and asked her where she was. She responded and asked if I was going to Judy's retreat. I told her no and my reasons why and talked about it probably being full. She encouraged me to ask.

I posted a comment on Judy's post about the event and simpy asked "Are you full". I got one of the fastest responses I think I ever saw that said "No. Can you come?" We exchanged a few emails and then I thought about it and talked with my BFF about it. She simply said GO! With all the stress over how things are NOT going with the house everyone involved felt it would be good for me to get my face out of the house business for a weekend.

I called and made my room reservation. I tried to scrounge up a roommate but did not succeed. I then began my plans for attending. I was up late Thursday night doing laundry and getting things ready. When my eyes popped open at 5 a.m. I thought "Why not?". I got up. Packed the car and was on the road by 5:30 arriving just before 9.

I registered for my room and climbed the stairs to the meeting room. This was my first ever quilt retreat so I was not sure what to expect. I walked into a room full of quilters and several husbands. There were 2 to a table. I walked to the back corner and found a lone quilter. Who other than Cheryl. The lady that encouraged me to attend!

I got the lay of the land and went to the car to get my supplies. I had my Orca Bay in a box in a carry on type bag along with all my tools. I also brought my friends Featherweight. I setup and began happily sewing.

There was plenty of good food, good conversation and new friendships. I sewed the entire weekend making wings for the red strip parts and then assembling the "crabs" from Orca Bay. That is all I did for all of Friday and Saturday until about 9 or 10 p.m. that night. I managed to assemble three full rows before bed. When I got up Sunday morning I decided that I could quickly and easily assemble the Ohio Star rows and that is just what I did before packing up and heading off from the retreat. I missed show and tell as all I had were pieces at that point but I was sure to pull others over to see what I had accomplished before packing it up!


























19 comments:

Laura said...

Sounds like a fabulous weekend and your Orca Bay is looking terrific!

Anonymous said...

It is beautiful! It also sounded like you had a wonderful weekend.

Shari in AZ

Unknown said...

I was so glad to meet you and get to know you a bit. Even though you didn't get your quilt put together it was just as beautiful in the piecing. Hope we get to meet again next year and until then I am going to follow your blog :) Karla

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing your story. I thought about all of you having so much fun and Judy L. being busy "hosting" and maybe not being able to tell and picture a lot and you filled in some spaces.

It will lift you up and make things maybe a little easier in facing the damage from the fire and getting things right again.
Diann/KY

Deborah Hamilton said...

Wow, your blocks are beautiful! I'm sure the trip did you a lot of good.

Judy Laquidara said...

So glad you were able to come. It was great meeting you and watching your Orca Bay come together.

Dorothy said...

Woo hoo! Great job!

Krista said...

Your quilt is looking great! It was great to meet you at the retreat, and thanks for the encouragement on my Orca Bay.

PeggyB said...

I love your Orca Bay quilt. I am glad you went to the retreat. Maybe next time we can go together. I was unable to attend because the dates conflicted with my guild's show

heather said...

Great job getting all of that done. Sometimes you need big blocks of time to do nothing but sew.

SpinningStar said...

It's looking good - glad you got home safely. I enjoyed being at the next table. Good luck with the remodeling.

I am going to check out the motor of my dryer for a lint build-up. I bet there will be a lot of quilters from the retreat doing the same thing.

Liz

Anonymous said...

So glad you were at the retreat; great to get to know you F2F! I will be printing the clues for the Orca Bay....having seen yours and Krista's and, I believe, Charlene's.
Donna in KS

Sue H said...

It was great to meet you at the retreat! Your Orca Bay is going to be gorgeous, and it will be fun to watch it all come together.

Kim said...

Good for you!
It must be so hard to move on but you are doing it!

I'm proud of you. Happy sewing

Linda said...

So glad you got some good sewing time in and you were able to go to the retreat. I didn't know this was your first! Your Orca Bay is coming right along. We missed you at the church but know you were having fun too.

Anonymous said...

Looking good. You know I didn't have a lot to show the last night but now I have 1/4 of my queen sized blue ridge on my design wall. Glad to have met you. Hope to see you next year.
Melinda

Diana said...

I'm so glad you decided to go and that there was an opening. Quilting with other quilters is good for the soul. God bless. Oh, and your orca Bay is looking good!

Dar said...

Your Orca Bay colors are great! I know you had a great time -- who wouldn't with Judy as hostess. Would have enjoyed meeting you and the others. Maybe next year.

Kim said...

I'm so glad you got to go.

How are things at the house coming along?

Thinking of you, Happy Sewing