I’ve just been looking at booking a holiday in our caravan. Chatsworth House has been on my visiting list for a long time and I think this year might be the time to visit the Peak District but I also LOVE taking time out for a sewing retreat or two every year.
The first retreat I went on was the one organised by the Bloggerati, as we call ourselves. The people behind all the interesting, educational for just plain fun stories you find on UKQU. This first retreat was a number of years ago now and we’ve met again several times since. The only one I missed was the one where I had woken on my birthday with Covid, meaning I had to miss the wonders of our sewing retreat.
This year I’ve taken over the hosting of the Bloggerati retreat and, having teamed up with a wonderful quilter, Cecilia Slinn, we have booked two to chose from in 2023.
Our retreats are to be held at Hillscourt on the outskirts of Birmingham. It is a perfect location, easily found just off the motorway network, set in some lovely grounds. If you fancy a break from the sewing room, there is a golf course opposite with some beautiful footpaths to explore. What makes this location ideal is the fact that the rooms are single en-suite meaning you don’t have to share. The food is fabulous and I’ve often heard ‘diet starts Monday’ when on retreat here. From a wide choice at breakfast: Full English, baked goods fruit and cereals. The lunches are hot and cold buffets which I always find tempting. I want to try a little of everything! Then the evening meals: Two courses can be chosen from a selection of offerings. All this along with a large, spacious sewing room which we have access to from the Friday lunchtime through to the Sunday late afternoon. It’s perfect for some ‘me time’. It’s normal for us to gather in the bar for a time after dinner but some people like to return to their sewing whilst others enjoy relaxing, talking with likeminded crafters.
We also love to tempt you with fabrics and notions so we are planning on having a trader at each of the weekends.
As said, we have two retreats planned. One Summer Retreat on 21st to 23rd July and the Winter Retreat on 8th to 10th December, just in time to finish those Christmas projects.
Cecilia and I like to offer a little extra so, along with bringing your own projects to work on, you can join in with some mini-workshops or demonstrations. In Summer we are looking at the Cathedral Window Block, by machine and by hand. Cecilia will be working with Wonky Log Cabins which involves the piecing of curves.
For our Winter Retreat we thought we’d concentrate on the often forgotten side of our craft – quilting. Cecilia, the Free Motion Queen, will share her experiences and pattern suggestions. It would be worth having some experience at Free Motion Quilting to get the most from this as we don’t have time, in two days, to do full training sessions but the aim is to build on knowledge and experience. We will also be looking at quilting from the opposite end – hand quilting. This will include looking at tying of quilts, traditional hand quilting, big stitch quilting and walking foot quilting, an often underrated method.
A retreat can be a time for getting on with that special project or finishing a UFO (Un-Finished Objects) collection. Perhaps you are determined to finish Christmas gifts before January this year or just for taking some time to build some skills or develop an art idea. Whatever you plan, retreats are an ideal time to concentrate on our craft.
If you are interested in joining us this year, you can find the full details at www.ceciliaslinn.com or www.strictlyquilting.com or email us at [email protected] or [email protected].
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