Retreat - Part Deux

What Happens in Paris ...

Let me tell you, six straight days of sewing can be exhausting! So it's taken me a couple of days to get back to reality as well as catch up on things like laundry and meal plans.

Last Friday I moved from the Nuts and Bolts retreat at Camp Loucon in Kentucky to the first annual Music City Modern Quilters Guild retreat at Paris Landing State Park in Tennessee.

Restaurant Patio at Paris Landing State Park

The sewing room was great -- well lit with large windows overlooking Kentucky Lake (it's on the Tennessee River but the dam is in Kentucky). We couldn't have asked for better weather, either. Quite a change from when I left home in freezing rain the previous Monday.  All the cabins had great views of the lake, as well.

Cabins 1-3 viewed from the sewing room

Most of the members had never been to a retreat, so you can imagine the amount of excitement that permeated Facebook and Instagram in the days preceding the retreat! (These youngsters are going to drag me into the 21st Century kicking and screaming!)

The Possibilities Were Endless

We were all greeted with this mug and a goody bag of treats. I brought quilting chicks for each machine.

Quilting Chick

Stephanie at Cotton Bliss had a pop-up shop to fill our every need.  I took advantage of her great price on Aurifil thread!

Cotton Bliss Pop-Up Shop

I wish I were still as limber as Melissa!

Melissa at the cutting "table"

Lots of interesting projects, several flimsy finishes and two completed quilts (she came with tops done).

Jill's paper-pieced machine

Katie D's one-hour baskets

Angela's Scrappy Trips

Jayne's Hazel the Hedgehog

Malissa's Preppy the Whale

And I had this to show for my weekend ...

One finished Geese Migration block

Actually, I accomplished much more than that. I got all the remaining flying geese units made and sewn into strips of five -- can't remember how many new blocks I was working on. The rest of the time I was selecting the fifteen 2-1/2" squares to go with the geese. I am trying to grade the value light to dark from the top down and from right to left in the squares. This block does it better than some. I have kitted up all but about three blocks. Once they are finished I can set the final layout.

BTW, if you read my last post, I found the already-finished blocks at home in the box with all the Japanese taupe fabrics sitting next to my cutting table.

All-in-all, a very successful first retreat. We are all looking forward to the next one.