This past weekend I attended my first quilting retreat at The Abbey of the Hills. I am fairly new at operating a sewing machine and had only made two simple lap quilts to date. As such, I showed up early and apprehensively entered the quilting room. I was warmly greeted by the retreat organizer who helped me get my supplies hauled in, unpacked and set up at my designated table. I busily got to work cutting stripes for my scrap quilt project. Over the course of the afternoon numerous small cadre’s of women arrived happily greeting each other while wheeling in luggage racks piled high with all manner of fabric bolts, bins and buckets choked full of quilting supplies. By late afternoon, approximately two dozen quilters were set up and busily working at their stations with several ironing boards, irons and cutting stations at the ready.
Over the past several years, while taking sewing lessons in a quilt store, I had already learned that quilters were part of a unique subculture with their own nomenclature and norms. This primer helped me ease into my first quilters retreat. My first surprise was that this group of women, most of who came from the Minneapolis area, already knew each other and had been quilting together for years. My entry into the event came thru my neighbor who is friends with several local quilters from her church but we were the only area newbies at the event.
Next, I learned that seasoned quilters come to quilting retreats armed, not with one or two projects to work on but, with whole bins full of projects awaiting attention and completion by their deft hands. One woman completed seven projects and was considering a trip back home to fetch a few more projects to top off the weekend Yikes! I also learned, as in other parts of life, there are completers and procrastinators in the quilt world. Some bring long standing projects they can’t seem to get traction on or complete. One woman had been working on a quilt for four years and was quite pleased to finally finish it over the course of the weekend. Another woman was working to complete a guild project that her guild counterpart had finished six months ago. I also learned that in addition to closets full of fabric, many quilters also have numerous finished quilt tops in storage awaiting the last steps of adding batting, backing and actual quilting by the sewers themselves or quilters with long arm machines.
A table full of sweets and salty snacks contributed by retreatants’ awaited consumption to ensure energy levels stayed high throughout the day and night. Great Abbey cooks served up three nutritious meals a day which we enjoyed while socializing and swapping sewing tips and tricks. Finally, attendees were quick to provide advice and guidance to those in need which I greatly appreciated as a new quilter.
I was also exposed to the “marathon mentality” of a quilter’s retreat which, by nature, is a time to get away from other distractions to put ones full attention on quilting. As such, these focused women sew like demons not just all day, but half the night as well. One woman proclaimed that, if need be, she was going to pull an “all-nighter” to finish a project. Of course, what all these hours sitting over a sewing machine yield is one sore body. I had to get on the floor and do stretches the first night just to lie in bed without pain. My back and neck are still burning and my wrists and thumb joints remain swollen. It will probably take a week and a full bottle of Ibuprofen to recover.
One feature of a quilting retreat is use of a quilt board used to display finished work of individual quilters as the weekend progresses. Myriad projects displayed included traditional, modern, novelty and seasonal patterned bed and lap quilts along with runners, placemats, wall hangings and tree skirts in all kinds of pattern and color combinations. Much oohing and aahing transpired as attendees viewed and commented on each finished project. I too had a “moment in the sun” upon completion of my scrap quilt top which I will now dye to get an antiqued look on, fill, back and quilt. I will then pack it up to use staying warm on our road trip back to Arizona next month and enjoy thru the winter months in Flagstaff.