As in, retreat.

I will admit to some ambivalence as I was packing up for this weekend’s quilting retreat.  I was excited, sure, but also anxious.  In addition to my personal reasons for feeling bad about leaving, I was also nervous about going.  What if I didn’t have the sewing chops to keep up? What if people were feeling antisocial?  What if they didn’t liiiiike me? (Yes, when I meet new people, I’m 15 again.)

And, then, I walked in the door and Amanda Jean gave me a big hug. And there were bowls full of fabric scraps and a bunch of Singer Featherweights and cutting mats all over the place.  And I knew it was SUCH a good idea to have come.

I had never been to a quilting retreat before, but I can only hope that this is what they’re all like.  There were 11 of us from all over the place.  One person lived down the street, another came from Portugal.  But within an hour of arriving, we had rearranged all of the furniture in the common rooms at the Inn, set up tables, and started stitching away.  And with a shared love of all things fabric, we were instantly a bunch of sisters, ooh-ing and aah-ing over each other’s work and chatting in a shorthand vocabulary.

I loved the amount of time and the way it was organized.  We had a lot of free time to do whatever we wanted (read: sew and go fabric shopping), which meant a lot of whirring machines, steam shooting from irons, and chatting with new friends about a common obsession interest.  Amanda Jean did two lectures/workshops/whatever-you-want-to-call-them about scrap quilting, scrap management, and the way to get the very most out of the very littlest bits of leftover fabric.  She brought great samples, did a demo, and then sent us all off to try it out.  I felt like I left with some great new ideas, and it was nice to learn about someone else’s process and be inspired to try new things. I hope to start trying things in a whole new direction. But it was also very manageable and I didn’t feel overwhelmed by having entirely too much new information thrown at me.

All told, it was pretty much a solid 48 hours of quilt-y goodness.  And you know what? That was just right.  The rule of a good party is to leave while you’re still having fun, right? I think one more day might have ended up being too much, since there’s only so many projects and tools you can bring from home.  It didn’t feel so short that we couldn’t get things done (I got an entire quilt top cut and pieced, thankyouverymuch), but it left us wanting more (to the point that we’re already talking about next year).

The Inn itself was gorgeous. If you ever find yourself in Fort Collins, do yourself a favor and stay at the Inn at City Park. Tara and Alexis are the innkeepers and will take fantastic care of you. Just beware, you’ll feel so instantly at home that you’ll start leaving things all over the house.  And if Tara is going to be cooking for you… you may want to consider some elastic-waist pants.  Insanely delicious food and lots of it.  We were exceedingly well taken care of this weekend.  And you can feel free to geek out about all things crafty (including quilting) with Tara.  You will love her so much, you’ll want to put her in your suitcase and take her home with you.

It was a great, great weekend.  Totally worth every minute and every penny.  If you have the opportunity and you haven’t yet done something similar, I say GO.  I came back feeling refreshed and excited, both in sewing and for my own personal stores of energy.  Thanks to Tara, Alexis, Kathy, Steve, Jenny, Amanda, Jen, Christina, Kate, Katie, Diana, Cindy, and Julie for making it so very much fun.

See you next year.