I would like to welcome
Linda Pearl
Packing for a quilt retreat - Pack with a Purpose or Wing it?
I didn't attend sleep away camp as a child, or live in a dorm in college -
so the concept of a sleep away quilt event was something
I was completely unfamiliar with when I went to my first weekend several years ago.
It was not fancy, but it was a wonderful entry into the comraderie, the silliness (?)
that is part and parcel with the quilt retreat weekend.
I submit exhibit A - the 'trophy' that was blinged up
and presented to someone for something or other at one of the first retreats
I ever went on with my guild. Each successive retreat, something is added to it -
A crown, a sash - and it becomes a game to see which
unknowing person winds up with it next.
I'm probably tempting fate to publish this a week before we leave.
Keep a good thought.
Just this morning, I got the latest in several emails about next weekend - what to pack,
what not to forget.
Then I received a phone call from a friend on the way to her springtime getaway.
She packed this morning and headed out - resting assured that she has most of what she needs
(power cord comes to my mind, ask me how I know)
and that whatever she forgets, someone most likely has.
It's amazing how many almost complete quilt shops can be found at a retreat in someone's bags.
We have the sewing equipment down to a science,
but sometimes, it's the very basics that you forget about.
I have two different prescriptions for my disposable contact lenses.
They are the first thing to go into the my luggage for the weekend -
I've had one weekend with mis-matched prescriptions and I will never have another.
There have been years when I have brought literally every UFO I could find,
some years when I came at the last minute and grabbed whatever was handy.
Some years, I got alot done, some years, not so much.
One year I slept because I badly needed to.
This year, I have taken a more objective viewpoint to what I'm taking...
I have the luxury of having a travel machine that I take with me to each retreat - on Sunday,
I'll actually take it out and make sure I have everything - power cords, feet, book,
the attachable light that hooks onto it. Wow, I'm living large here -
avoiding the mid-morning en-route panic that sets in...yes,
the foot pedal must be in the bag...where else would it be?
I have found that piecing works best for me at these kinds of events...I machine quilt
(badly, but I keep trying) on a large bed machine that I do not take with me for these weekends.
That narrows the possible projects down.
I have several deadline pieces (when don't I is the question?)...
and one of them might come with me -but all I have to do is finish the binding, so that won't last long.
Paper piecing is difficult for me because I find that I do way too much moving between the machine,
the iron and the cutting station when I'm at home...so that project probably won't be useful for this.
I could bring with me any number of the half finished projects (charity, bags, baby) that are stacked up
and waiting for work - or I could (wait for it!)
pull something out of the Bucket List quilt folder to work on.
Three and a half days of glorious, uninterrupted time to play.
The possibilities are endless - as long as I can make decision and a plan.
My friends who get the most creatively accomplished on weekends such as this pre-cut and pre-package their materials to a degree that I just don't seem to have the genetic capacity to do.
Did I mention that the Lake Shore series was born at a retreat?
That was my classic box o' fabric weekend,
when I threw everything into a plastic tub amd took it with me for the weekend.
Maybe I should go with what's working for me.
Stay tuned.
Linda
Pearl
The Patchwork Pearl
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Thank you ever so much Linda
I hope you'll all join me in thanking Linda
& I hope you'll check out her sites
and her fantastic work!
