Fat Quarterly Retreat 2012

If you came to the Fat Quarterly Retreat, you know what an amaazing weekend it was, and if you didn't maybe I shouldn't tell you as you have missed such a great experience- don't panic too much, I have a feeling it may well be back next year, keep everything crossed x.  I think it exceeded everyone's expectations.  Check in at 9- much hysteria, flapping, screaming, chatting, but within an hour classes were underway.  On the way in, everyone received a goody bag from the generous sponsors- some of mine didn't make this pic as I had stuff in every bag, there was even more than this!

I need to give them a shout out as there really did give us all such a treat!  Oakshott, Kaufman Fabrics, Abakhan Fabrics, Korbond, Moda, Aurifil, Liberty, Pfaff, Sizzix and maybe more- I lost count!

This was my first freezer paper group sorting out their pattern pieces.  It was busy- 28 people in my class and the same on the other side of the hall in Tacha's English paper piecing but it was fine, everyone all had enough space and access to machines- thanks to Pfaff for the 20 top notch machines they supplied, so many people including me were incredibly grateful for them!

More about my classes in another post- I want to show the amazing work people did in a post of its own!   There were special guests during the day, including a Liberty table with a free bag for everyone and once it had been sorted- lovely Karen helped a lot here- a little bundle of various Liberty fabrics was given to all on Sunday.  You can see me trying not to drool on some silk, actually called 'Kerry's Flock'- I was pretty much prepared to strip off and roll around naked in this and some of the other silks!  I just about restrained myself!

There are frequent break opportunities and the beauty of the venue, Baden Powell House is that the rooms flow and it easy to move around from class to class and to the food/drink area.  Everyone is on high octane, energy is flowing and frequent drinks and snacks are essential.  Everything they provided was excellent, really high quality and much appreciated.  It could not be a better venue- 5 mins from 2 major hotels- The Grange and The Radisson, less than 10 mins from a Waitrose and Gloucester Road tube.  All this is so important when people arrive to retreat having flown in, with their luggage and their sewing equipment.

In the afternoon it was lovely to attend a class and sit back and relax whilst listening to Lynne as our teacher!  Here she is with Carla in full teacher mode:

Such a fun class!  You pick up tips from the teachers and the class members and you get to see such a great range of machines, fabrics, tools...Neither Di nor I had out own machines so we used a Pfaff 1.5 Ambition and took turns, you can just see the back of her head below as she is working out her Union Jack.

This was Tacha's Sunday class: A hand  sewing class is a great opportunity to chat.  I was on the other side Freezer Paper teaching again.

And in the afternoon I did Lu's Porthole technique class- loved it!  I think I had packed my ipad away as I have no pictures!  But retreat is not just about the classes, it is about the people and they were all so friendly and lovely.  When the retreat started on Saturday morning, John gave us a little pep talk at the beginning and stressed the importance of community, of including everyone and that is what happened.  You could join a group of people or a conversation anywhere and be welcomed.  Or you could take yourself off somewhere quieter and be alone, no pressure, nothing to conform to- all encompassing.  And I met so many people xoxoxox to you all!  To give you an idea of how that felt, I'll leave today's post with a pic of me and Leila, it was like meeting an old friend.  We were both a little tired but dressed in our finest homemade finery, it was about 7pm, Leila had to go and meet her Mr, I had to go back to my hotel because I was so tired but you can tell how happy we were to meet- just tearing up thinking about it now!

Back with more soon x