This year is passing so quickly. Easter has come and gone and the garden has started to grow even with all the rain. It’s about now I start to look forward to summer, hoping for a little sunshine to make us all feel better.
Cecilia Slinn and I have been arranging this summer’s June Retreat and can’t wait to share what we have been working on. Cecilia is bringing a Project Bag and, to accompany this, I’m bringing my Block Nanny carry folder. What’s a Block Nanny, I hear you ask? It’s a folder/bag in which you can keep your individual blocks flat, clean and safe, when traveling to and from workshops or even to hold them in one place at home. There are fleece liner panels which help hold the blocks in place and it’s perfect for keeping track. I do have a tendency to get a bit distracted with new ideas, loosing the blocks of the quilts I haven’t quite finished. The Baltimore quilt I’ve been working on has been safely stored in the Block Nanny and it works, I haven’t lost a block yet!
Going back to Cecilia’s Project Bag, this has plenty of pockets to keep all your workshop requirements safe and also takes a plastic box, as shown, to store things in. I particularly like the slip pockets for a cutting mat. These can really be affected by heat in a car so keeping them flat, when the weather gets a bit warm, is really important.
I have a friend, we’ll call her Emily (not her real name!) who sews and quilts along with her Mother in Law. They had a table set out in the conservatory, covered by a lovely silk tablecloth. A gift from the MOLs friend from the Orient. One summer’s day, Emily was busy cutting out strips and squares for her new project, using the cutting mat on the table. It was only a while later, when tidying up, that they realised that the tablecloth was now a collection of ribbons! The heat of the sun had caused the rotary cutter to cut right through the mat to the tablecloth! I’ve also seen cutting mats left in cars be twisted out of shape by the heat so having a bag to keep them flat is a worthwhile investment.
The retreat is due on 14th to 16th June and is being held at Hillscourt Conference Centre. A great location, not far off the motorway network on the outskirts of Birmingham. The rooms are single en-suites, and full board is included from the Friday evening though to the Sunday lunch. Breakfast is a good selection of traditional cooked, cereals or continental options. Lunch is a hot and cold buffet and for the two course dinner, there is a choice from three selections. We also have the conference hall for sewing from Friday lunchtime through to Sunday afternoon.
You can join in with the projects or bring your own. The patterns will be provided for you to choose so if you have a quilt you really need some time to get finished, what better than to bring it along. I can’t quite decide what I’m going to take with me. I should be finishing some quilts by quilting them. Queenie, the new sit-down long arm, has been helping with this but she’s not exactly transportable so I may just have to start a new project! Oh no, that means shopping!
For more details about the retreat you can find them here or email either Helen at [email protected] or Cecilia at [email protected].
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