Oh quilt retreat.....I look forward to it like an 8 year looks forward to Christmas.  For real.....I count down until it comes and the minute its over, I begin the count down for the next year.

I started going to quilt retreat in 2010, though it has been going on MUCH, MUCH longer.  I just am lucky enough to get to go now.  I think I did an earlier post about my MIL getting me a bread machine as I was going through cancer treatment....well, she also got me a sewing machine.  And not just any machine, its a BabyLock Grace.  I have come to be VERY particular about machines....wow, I could do a whole blog (or 5) about this, but this post is about quilt retreat.  I will leave it at this: if you are having trouble sewing, its probably your machine...NOT YOU!!!

Anyways, when I tell people about quilt retreat, they always ask what it is.  Sometimes its hard to explain.  It is a 3-day "retreat" that Liz (Keenan's aunt) hosts every year where about 20-ish wonderful ladies get together to eat, I mean, sew!  We all work on the same quilt and this is where it throws people off.  In the end, we each have our own quilt, they just look the same or are very similar.  So, when we arrive, we each have our own kit with all the things needed to make our quilt top.  Each kit is the same, but we are each making our own quilt.  Does that make sense?  Doing it like this allows us to order more fabrics so there is more variety in our quilt!  Some years, Lori (my MIL who cuts the kits each year with help from some ladies) collects money and orders the fabrics herself and other years, we are given a specific amount and type of fabric to buy, like 2 yards green batik and 2 yards blue batik.  Not going to lie, I like it when we just give her money and she orders it all, like this year :).  So, we all get together starting Thursday afternoon and eat, I mean sew until Saturday afternoon.  It is so fun.  This year we are making a quilt from this line of fabric called "Countdown to Christmas" and it will be a log cabin design.  Sadly, I have not finished my quilt yet.  I normally finish it during the retreat, but I got a call on Friday morning that my Grandmother was ill.  Then, within a week, there had been 3 deaths between my and Keenan's family so I did not finish it.  Also, it is tough to just get out my machine if I don't have a significant amount of time to devote to quilting.  I am very close and I promise to get a pic up whenever I finish it!!!