Sounding the Retreat

Several months ago I signed myself up for my first ever Quilt Retreat, and as the time to head off drew closer I began to regret my decision! So, I headed off with a car boot stuffed with sewing supplies and some trepidation. Getting lost on the way there did nothing to ease the apprehension I can tell you :)

The Retreat, which was held in Netherurd the Activity Centre for Girl Guiding in the Scottish Borders, is tucked away down a country lane hence the difficulty in finding it. There were 21 of us on the Retreat, only a couple of whom I had met before hence too, some of the nerves :)

Once I was set up in the bright and airy sewing room things definitely began to look up. My companions were a delight and the securing of an agreement to share a bottle of wine that night certainly lifted my spirits :)

Despite these being in close proximity spirits were the only things being lifted though :)

We had a visit from the very enthusiastic proprietor of Biggar Stitches who brought along a lovely selection of pre-cuts for our perusal

as well as these lovely quilts to showcase the charm squares, layer cakes and jelly rolls. Needless to say some retail therapy might have been indulged in!

On the second night of the retreat the organisers had arranged a mystery activity for us that everyone had to participate in.

You can probably imagine our surprise when we entered the room to find lots of these laid out for us! Nomad Beat a local music charity had been booked to give us a drum workshop, well we certainly weren't expecting that :)

It was a brilliant way to spend an evening with lots of laughter, noise and fun even if my fingers were looking a bit bruised the next morning.

Well that is my excuse for not actually finishing the project that I had taken with me, although I did make some progress so it was not entirely a lost cause in terms of stitching. (It was in terms of photographs as I completely forgot to take any of my project whilst I was there!)



These are just some of the blocks that I took with me and I am pleased to report that the quilt top is now 5 rows long and ready for the borders.

We ended the Quilt Retreat with a Show and Tell (naturally!) and confirmation of the dates for next year. Where do I sign??