At the townhouse complex where I live we have a clubhouse that can be rented out. This clubhouse has a very large space perfect for good sized gatherings. It has enough space and tables available so that we can comfortably accommodate 14 quilters with machines. There are at least 3 quilters living in this complex and two of us are part of a group that gets together and sews one Saturday a month.
This past weekend I volunteered to put on a Judy Niemeyer mini sewing retreat at the clubhouse. A lot of the group were on holidays so there ended up being only 7 of us but we had a great time. Some of the group had made several of Judy Niemeyer patterns before and were raring to just get to sewing and others in the group had never done one of her patterns before. I am not a certified Judy Niemeyer teacher however I have done enough of her patterns and have attended a class with Judy herself so am not a novice to her techniques.
It is so much fun doing more difficult projects with others. The amount of laughter and shared knowledge was fantastic. One of our group had purchased a fabric and pattern many years ago when Judy Niemeyer came to Victoria to teach but hadn’t looked at the “kit” since then. There was 5 of us around the table trying to figure out which fabric was for which part of the pattern and get it all labeled. In doing this it was a unanimous decision that one of the fabrics that had been picked so long ago just wasn’t going to work and so off our friend went to an impromptu fabric shopping spree to get a better fit. She was back in under an hour purchase in hand. I can’t wait to see that quilt finished it is going to be beautiful.
We had all day Saturday and most of Sunday sewing and I can’t think of a better way to spend the weekend than sharing it with friends. Everyone got their project cut out and in “baggies” on Saturday and we all started sewing on Sunday. Some got further than others. I now have another WIP (work in progress) that I will have to put aside for now as I have signed up for a craft fair at the end of October so will need to start making things to sell for that.
Here are pictures of what was going on last weekend.
My WIP this is a pattern I picked up 9 years ago called Raindrops not sure if it is even sold any more.
I can’t remember which pattern this is however it is going to be beautiful.
Here are the start of two others as well.
For some of us we are going to have to have a second mini retreat weekend just so we can take out these projects and get them finished.
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Happy Quilting
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