Having whetted your appetites with the fabulous Peaks location earlier in the week, I’m now going to take you through the sewing portion of the retreat (what do you mean this is a sewing blog, that’s what you came for, behave!)
Thursday afternoon and evening was an open sew, where people could work on whatever they fancied, either using their own fabrics, or by shopping around the Busy Needle mobile emporium! Boxes of ‘chubs’ are available to buy by weight, while the huge scrap bins, sorted by colour, are a free-for-all. There is a plentiful supply of Aurifil thread, Quilter’s Dream batting and many little Sewline gizmos and gadgets also available for purchase, as demonstrated by my partner in crime below:
Help, save me from the scraps!
No, save me, don’t walk away, idiot!
On Friday I was up, guiding the gang through the creation of their own Aeroplane bags. Although this was an optional class, everyone took the plunge, and we had everything from solid to patchwork to quilted outers, along with additional pockets and slips to go over pull along suitcase handles. Despite Swiss customs trying to prevent us from interfacing, we came up with a number of ingenious *ahem* alternatives, and by the end of the weekend we had 10 bags all lined up ready to go, even if a few people probably felt by the end that hopping on an Aeroplane to escape it all was the way to go when lining openings, zips and irons conspired against them!
Here are the ladies all modelling their creations – didn’t they do a fabulous job?
And here they all are modelling themselves:
On Friday night we also had show and tell, where everyone whipped out their creations either in the fabric or on their tablets, and after much oohing and ahhing, it was time for everyone to sharpen their elbows, load their dice and play the fat quarter game. I have saved the photos of this latter endeavour in order to protect the innocent guilty, but suffice to say that some went home with some beauties, and others went home cursing ;o)
Saturday saw everyone attempting the Texas Teardrops pattern using a variety of applique techniques. I will not mention what this quilt was renamed, but, well, it wasn’t polite and we’ll leave it at that… Still, the incredibly speedy JJ, who had already whipped up a simple squares patchwork baby quilt including her FQ game winnings, leapt in with gusto, and by leaving time on Sunday had a completed top of tears. Everyone got inspired by L’s extremely fancy all-singing, all-dancing machine, and broke out the decorative stitches on their machines, and it’s given me a few ideas for an upcoming project too.
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| Borrowed from JJ |
On Saturday night G guided us through the ‘mystery project’ which this year consisted of the making of some roses and daisies, and Jack, feeling that there was at last something he could tackle, churned out a few of his own.
G explaining:
So we started with the paper:
Did some magic folding:
Then did it with ribbon:
Then we tried a whole ‘nother kind, please admire Jack’s robot button centre, he was most proud of it:
Sunday morning saw us finishing off the last of the weekend’s projects, then packing up, ready to head off after a few photo shoots and the final lunch of the weekend. Hugs were shared, vehicles were crammed to capacity, and off we set into the wide blue yonder, already anticipating the next time…
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| How we got the chairs back down the mountain… |
Don’t forget, if you fancy attending, the next retreat will be in April, contact Elita for more information.
That looks like a good time, tho' a bit geographically inconvenient for me 🙂
glad I'm not the only one who looked at that and thought "foof"
😉
Lovely Aeroplane bags. Glad the class went well. Will make mine…one day. But what have Swiss Customs got against interfacing?
Well, LT, I am glad to see Jack is getting some much needed attention. Keep up the good work!
Hugs,
Prudence ♥
Looks like you had a wonderful time! Everyone's Aeroplane bags are beautiful! I'm looking forward to going on my first overnight retreat in 2014!
Those aeroplane bags look brilliant!
Way to go Jack. Fine folding and I'd love the robot button too.
Hugs n stuff,
Jock
Delightful! Love!!!! that photo of the aeroplane bags!
All of the bags look fabulous…such diverse fabrics and colours !
Is interfacing illegal over there or something?
It's not illegal, just outrageously expensive and the selection is very limited!
Well done on bags, but OMG quilt fail! Just why would you???
Jack is quite the crafty bear! I'm impressed that the class finished their bags, I always end up with half finished projects when I do classes.
Oh Jack, that robot button was just inspired x (the other stuff was okay too I suppose 😉
Those bags are brilliant, well done you.
What a happy group of ladies with their beautiful bags. I'm glad Jack went along. And I do love his robot flower.
Hugs
Wilbur
You must be very proud of Jack.
I am!
I did not realize the bags were quite so big, they are lovely. It looks like a wonderful time.
Looks fabulous, and what great finishes!
Great bag they did you proud!
Fab bags, and so glad Jack got to do some making too
It looks like you and Jack had a great time and your students had a great teacher. Nice bags were made by all.
Looks like a lot of fun. I don't blame you for renaming the quilt – that shape.. 🙂
No interfacing? Seems an odd thing to stop you from bringing