SAMQG Spring Retreat

If you look up retreat in the dictionary there are a variety of definitions: 
    1) the act of withdrawing, as into safety or privacy; retirement; seclusion.
    2) a place of refuge, seclusion, or privacy;
    3) an asylum, as for the insane;
    4) a retirement or a period of retirement for religious exercises and meditation.

But to a quilter, a retreat is something a bit different and yet part of all of those things. We definitely do withdraw -- but not into safety, privacy, retirement or seclusion. We withdraw from our normal everyday life into a place where we have all we need to make our quilting dreams come true. We definitely go to a place of seclusion, but not a seclusion from everyone, just from non-quilters. Many would think it’s some kind of asylum and some would say we do go a bit crazy. We wake up very early in the morning, stay up very late at night and in between we sew, we build with blocks, we quilt (and we eat a little). To some of us quilting is almost like a religious exercise – creation. And I’m sure to many as we sit silently and imagine and dream and think of what we can make out of the beautiful fabric we’ve seen, it looks like meditation.

So a quilting retreat is everything in the dictionary and more. It’s a special time where it doesn’t matter what your age is, where you came from, where you’re going or what your style is. It doesn’t matter what kind of equipment you use, what kind of color palette you love, or what kind of design you’re dreaming of. It only matters that you are in a room with others who like you want to create something beautiful from fabric.

It’s so fun to watch things take shape and grow. But when you have 24 people all creating at the same time, it is difficult to capture it and still be able to do some sewing yourself. So below are some pics for you in various stages of completion. I hope you enjoy them and if you come to a guild meeting, I hope you see them completed and put to good use on a bed or a wall or somehow displayed for others to enjoy.

I'm gonna make a few apologies about these pictures. First, you won't see many people. When you're at retreat you really aren't looking your best and I am not a good photographer anyway, so rather than insult anyone with a bad photo, I only used pics with people when there was no other way to show their creation. Second, I am not adding the names of the creators of these masterpieces. Third, many of these quilts were more done when the retreat was over and I didn't get pictures of them in their latest form.