Longmont Quilt Retreat

Hello.

I just had the most wonderful long weekend with an amazing group of 28 women at the Longmont Quilt Retreat. The Retreat was held at the Highland Presbyterian Retreat Center in Allenspark, Colorado, organized by the Longmont Quilt Guild. Get ready for uninterrupted sewing time with meals provided. Yay!

The retreat is a load of fun. What I enjoy the most about retreating is the camaraderie among quilters. As quilters, we are unique. We have style and preference. We may fall into general buckets, such as traditional, modern, or fiber arts, etc. that define our style, but at this retreat, we ALL appreciate what we all create. It doesn't matter the level of the quilt, we all like to share. There's no quilt snobbery here. There's no room for it, because we love the art of making quilts and enjoy the fellowship with one another. That's why I love coming back to the Longmont Quilt Retreat!

As for the process of getting ready for a 4 day retreat, and yes, there is a process, I begin by determining my projects about 2 weeks out. I cut before the retreat actually starts. Sort them into shoe boxes or plastic bins. This may not seem like much, but I'm sure my husband would differ. He thinks the retreat actually last 2 weeks. :) I'm a planner, to cut before the retreat begins provides me a place of feeling organized and ready. Then, I pack up the car the night before. The morning of retreat begins with plenty of hugs and kisses with my family and a stop at Starbucks.

Thursday is "settling" day. I take the nearly 2 hour drive to Allenspark, unload, arrange my workstation and mingle. Here's a picture of my workstation. There's the bins organized and sorted by quilt project at the lower right and in the distance near my camera bag.

Friday is "time for business." Zone out to some tunes and crank out projects. We woke up to snow. During breakfast, I announced a special project and asked for volunteers. There was an overwhelming response. The response really touched me and made this retreat very special. I'll write more about this project when the quilt is finished.

 (Friday morning: We woke up to snow.)

Saturday is "harmony." For me, after two days of going to bed around midnight and waking up at 6am, the exhaustion begins to set in. There's visiting and time out to do other things. For me, it was joining some of the quilters for an hour long all body workout.

Most of the retreat was spent on the Loyal Union Sampler. By retreat end, I completed 32 blocks. I have to say, it is the hardest sampler I have ever worked on. More difficult than Tula Pink's City and Farmer's Wife. Those are the only two I've completed. But, I ended up impressing myself with my skills. I really pushed myself to make magic happen. I'll take individual pictures of the blocks and post about them soon. In the mean time here's a pile of them.

Sunday is "time for rest." After a long weekend of late nights and early mornings, we're tired and ready to connect with our families. It's time to wrap it up, pack, say our goodbyes, and hurry home to give our people a big hug and kiss.

Here's my vantage point all weekend.

A picture of my scraps from a weekend of working on my Loyal Union Sampler.

The last day was beautiful. I was ready to see my family. I missed them tons. Thank the Lord for video streaming.

I do have to say, I did have to 'adjust' back to normal life. I'm still adjusting and exhausted from the weekend. 4 days of retreating is tough stuff, but I'm already thinking and planning out the next one. I must get to bed early tonight.

In retreat recovery,
Sandra