Last weekend I spent four wonderful days with six of my sewing pals and about fifty other ladies from our Guild at our autumn retreat at Wesley Woods. The weather was gorgeous to boot, so on my third visit to Wesley Woods I finally had the chance to take advantage of the trails and get some hiking in.

I worked on two, actually three, UFOs….photos to come. My Kyle’s Marketplace top got finished, as did my sister’s birthday gift (only one month late!) and I finished most of my Black & White UFO, here is a sneak peek of it without the borders added:


(Ignore the camouflaged blob in the center.) A detail shot to show you some of my fabulous fabrics…(see the fussy cut Eiffel Tower?):

One of my favorite parts of this retreat is at the end of the third day we have “Show-and-Tell” so you get to see what everyone has been working on. My friend Dawn, who has only been quilting for about a year and a half, completed this Day & Night quilt for a high school graduation gift, literally started and finished the quilt top at this retreat:

Stunning! And this is my friend Teresa’s winter wall hanging…not quite finished but lovely, nonetheless!

This Kinetic Energy quilt was made by Jan, one of a trio of quilting sisters at the table next to mine…

The woman who made this top, Jan is in her 70s, her sister Peggy is in her 60s, Nora the baby sister is in her 50s. They also brought along a daughter-in-law in her 40s, and one of their daughters, in her 30s. Wouldn’t you like to be a part of that family? I petitioned them for adoption, but I don’t think they felt they needed another quilter in the family. This is her sister Nora’s Tapas quilt in progress, what a great way to use stripes!…

Janet’s sunburst flower quilt, an original design…

I loved this block from Dana’s Round Robin Row Quilt….what a great use of black and white!

And a great use of flannel batiks, made by a relatively new quilter…

Those colors are unbelievably vibrant in reality! One of the unfortunate (for me) aspects of the weekend is the endless options of good food, meals and snacks…not good for a weight watcher like myself who has a little self control problem when it comes to a table full of treats available for my pleasure 24 hours a day…(seriously, I don’t think I should ever take a cruise for just that reason!). We even had a quilt themed cake, decorated by a young baker at the local Hy-Vee supermarket. Didn’t she do a great job?

Oh well, it’s only twice a year, and I did get a lot of good exercise in on those trails.

Here’s wishing all of you the chance to go on a great retreat this coming year, quilting or otherwise!