Winter Retreat 2016

Just back from an amazing weekend up North for our second Quilting Retreat on Georgian Bay. 

Once again we were hosted by our member Adrienne Van Halem, at the home of her lovely and generous parents Murray and Bayla.

We had a big sunny room full of tables and art (paintings by Murray Van Halem) in which to sew and sew and talk and sew. 

There was some really beautiful and creative work happening in that room. 

And when we needed to lay some blocks out to see if it was working, we had lots of room for that too. And lots of other sets of eyes to see it anything "jumped out" and needed to be rearranged. 

Oh, and did I mention there was food? I meant to take waaaaaay more pictures of food, but every time we sat down to eat, I just ended up, well, eating and forget to snap a few shots of the lovely meals that our members prepared. I only managed to get this picture of dessert on Saturday night. Julie made HOME MADE marshmallows, which were divine. Pillowy and fresh and just sweet enough without being too sweet. And I made some little brownies with added cinnamon and cayenne...

…the two of which were perfect for stacking.

Amazing!

 One of the best things about a Quilting Retreat in a private home (as opposed to a convention centre or resort) is that you don't even have to get dressed before you get started sewing. 

 You can't beat rolling out of bed, grabbing a cup of coffee and getting right down to piecing.

Or hand sewing. 

 By the end of the weekend, we even had some finished tops, and projects that went from WIP's to checked off the list. 

 And the overcast and snowy day even managed to provide us with a softly beautiful Georgian Bay sunset. 

And here's the whole crew, together for a group photo before we packed our machines up and headed for home. What a great weekend. Can't wait for the next one!