Fat Quarterly Retreat: The best bit is the people

It already feels like too long ago, but last weekend was Fat Quarterly Retreat 2013, the second retreat. and it was a blast.  There is a lot to share so, grab a cup of tea and take a seat...this is post one, a separate post about classes follows.  I arrived in London very early so my brother met me at Paddington and we went for a coffee at the V and A.  Sunny and  hot, a rare treat for the UK mid July.

Having already met a lot of people for the first time and worked out locations last year, this year was so much more familiar and relaxed all round.  There was a real mix of first timers and last year attendees and still the treat of meeting people I have known for years now online in the flesh.

L to R, entrance into the retreat: Justine, me, Trudi, Lu, Mandy and Krista- and Brioni's quilt.

L to R, Tacha, Brioni, John, Laura Jane.  John had just arrived only hours before from USA.

Justine and Katy

Early evening and warm weather took most people onto the roof terrace and into drinks, supermarket snacks and informal show and tell. 

Me, Alex (Mr Aurifil) and Krista.

Lots of oohs and ahhs at the Sibling's together quilts, bee quilts and more.  I took my Strawberry Fields Quilt as there were 4 contributors there, Lynne, Krista, Brioni and Leila.  It was still making me tear up even now.

I retired to my hotel around 8.30- tired all ready, no stamina really! 

Next day, all day classes, an informal trip to Shaukat fabrics in the afternoon- 10 mins walk from Baden Powell House.  So much Liberty that my eyes hurt from all the stimilation but still managed to buy some.  The evening was market- Sponsors and attendees and it was amazing, so much good stuff in one place.

Claire from Patch Fabrics and Leanne, Little House Martin fabrics

A big table of Oakshott, lovely to meet Michael in person.

Eternal Maker created a beautiful display on their stand and I met Sarah and Rachael at last and heard Sarah's continuing and amazing plans for fabrics at the shop, believe me there are amazing things to come.

Fabrics Galore had an amazing selection- that was the first stall I went too, I knew the navy Hello Kitty Liberty would sell out! Between Market and the raffle I sat and caught up with Leila in a quiet corner.  The sponsors- Liberty, Korbond, Abakhans, Pat at Art Gallery fabrics, Oakshott, Fabrics Galore, Eternal Maker, Moda, Amitie, Makeower, Aurifil, Village Haberdashery and many more give a huge amount of goodies so there are lots of winners.

Lynne and the big bag of swag.

Sunday, I had finished teaching so I did Mandy's needle turn class which was a treat and a lovely calm way to finish the weekend.  Meeting Krista was special, she came over from Canada so I can't expect to see her on an annual basis but having known each other online for so long she was just as I expected and very easy company.

And all too soon (although everyone is shattered at this point) it is time to say goodbye.

I wasn't as emotional as last year as I know I will be back again but it is the end of an incredible weekend of sewing and talking.  It is a funny mix of exciting and overwhelming and at times I sit in a quieter space but the buzz is like nothing else and the talent and creativity all in the one event is more than a little mind blowing.

And the booty- a lovely goody bag, packed full of treats from the sponsors.

 and my spends, Hello Kitty Liberty, Scissors ( a very similar version of the Yuwa print on a heavy cotton- both from Fabrics Galore, Liberty lawn ribbons and pink capel print from Shaukat, Simple Things floral from the lovely Jessie of Messe Jesse.  Roses and a  gorgeous vintage floral print- gifts from Mandalin Mandy, Purple Thang from Krista and crochet lace made by the very talented Sonia

Back with more pics from the classes soon xxx  Thankyou to Lynne and Jan for use of some of their pics in this post xx

Sewing Directory Meet Up

 I thought I had that Retreat feeling stored in my somewhere but I had forgotten how good it was until Saturday and the first of Fi's Sewing Directory Meet Ups at Exeter.  It was glorious!   Here are the highlights with pics mainly borrowed from Fi.  Meeting people I've know on line for a while in person is always a treat- Rachel from House of Pinheiro travelled from Kent and she was a honey!

It was a chatty relaxed meet up.  I taught some EPP skills plus some Sizzix Big Shot action for hexagons and more with fabrics kindly supplied by Annie at Village Haberdashery.

 Kath from Sew La la, brought  fabrics  buttons and lovely sewing themed trinkets- bargains everyone of them.

Helen, Tami and friend (I want to say Sue?) busying away at their hexagons.

Hello lovely ladies!

I forgot how incredibly uplifting it is to be surrounded by people who all love the same thing.  I didn't sew many stitches as I was teaching, but really the sewing is incidental, it is the meeting up and sharing that makes these days special.  Bags to marvel over, skirts to admire, blocks and accessories to coo over.  Sponsors provided raffle prizes for some lucky winners as well as some goodies for us all to take away.  I was very lucky winning vintage 1976 Laura Ashley fabric won in the raffle (I may have punched the air) and I was also given some aptly named tea wrapped up in Liberty lawn (peacock feathers in the background)  the lovely Helen, thank you Helen and it was great to meet you at last!

I know Fi was nervous as this was the first one but it was so warmly received that she has already started planning the next Exeter  meeting.  I wasn't nervous because I know Fi is a great organiser, she intuitively brings like minded people together.  It will be a little longer this time and is pencilled in for early Autumn, I have a few ideas on what to teach too.  Thankyou to Fi x

Meanwhile, more meetings are coming up in London and Liverpool and Fat Quarterly Retreat is getting closer- 3 days of that feeling, bring it on!

Pride

I love teaching.  It is in my blood.  My dad, my mum and my aunt were all teachers.  I usually teach children, these days 4-6 year olds and younger.  I have trained teachers- they are the hardest group to work with!  But I haven't taught sewing to adults before so teaching classes at Fat Quarterly Retreat was a new experience.  What you get from teaching is pride, the right kind of pride, the sort that makes you teary and smiley when you see how someone who has never done something before can now do it and you were a little part in that process.  This is a snippet of what was made in classes.

You can click on any of these and it will take you to Flickr and details on their makers.  I didn't get pictures of them all but I saw them in class- people who had never used freezer paper before making little hour glass and spool blocks like experts.   I was so proud of you all!

And a few thankyous- to the Fat Quarterly team for inviting me to teach and for it being such a wonderful place for everyone to create.  Thankyou to Trudi and Nicky for being lovely breakfast companions- Trudi has told me the secrets of free motion quilting and I will be putting it to the test.  Thankyou to Rachel  and Hadley for their little gifts which were pinned on my cardi and now live just above my sewing machine.

It was such a blast! 

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

Fat Quarterly Retreat- Linky Party Time

It is nearly upon us and I am getting very jittery and uber excited

Meeting people, many of whom I have now known for some time, in the flesh and talking sewing all weekend, it could only be better if some of my far away overseas buds could be there as well- one day...

If you haven't visited here before, my name is Kerry, I wish I looked view 3

but instead I am not gigantically tall with hugely long legs, but smaller and sort of hippyish

I might be wearing glasses

and have my hair back- rocking the pencil bun look.

I am hoping to wear this...

maybe this too...

and this

 
So it should be easy to spot me.

I have been sewing since I was very young and my dream was to be a fashion designer.  Instead I became a teacher and revisited sewing and design through my 20s and 30s.  I am  41, by day I run music classes for children 0-3- you can see my day job here.  For someone who earns their crust singing and telling others what to do, I am surprisingly introverted and rather quiet.  I need a little time to warm up but I'll get there.  I am all prepped and ready for teaching...

which is a good thing as I bounced one baby too many at work last week and sprained my wrist.  I then had a reaction to something, possibly my newly found licorice and mint tea and my hands swelled up like sausages.  So the machine and rotary cutter have had a break, I have had to bow out of Iron Man challenge- apologies group 1.  Instead I have been taking it easy and I have done a little x stitch following Lynne showing me a gorgeous pattern in Marie Claire Idees May/June 2012 issue 90 ( Ibought a PDF copy here .  I will be taking this with me along with my Spring Carnival/Ferris wheel english paper piecing.

 I have multiple pouches with pens, sharp stuff, thread, rulers and more...

And I am squeezing in a quick meeting with an old friend and a meal with my brother on Friday.  I am visiting all the linky blogs- I can't always comment, hands need their rest, but I am reading every single one.  I have met Mary before on our regular Car boot sale trips and Emily briefly but otherwise it is going to be an avalanche of new and familiar faces.  Truly can't wait x

FQ Retreat Supplies

I have had a funny week- feeling a lot brighter now but have been off work for 3 days with a viral thing and no voice which is no good for working with young children- so that may explain where the downer was coming from.  I have had my head/neck injections today so everything is a bit sore but they help so much it is worth it.  So I have been using the extra time to get supplies ready for Fat Quarterly Retreat.

 We will be conquering the Y seam with freezer paper piecing- these are the blocks that will be available...

There are 4 spool blocks which vary in difficutly- the easiest are 1st and 3rd working left to right.  And when you have beaten the Y seam into submission, there is a house block, plus I'll bring my Happy House block too.  The spools and house, plus full tutorial details will also be in the FQ Retreat Issue too.  So on to supplies.  I thought a picture might help!

Much is self explanatory but I may as well go through it all with a little explanation.

• Polyester stuffing- I will bring some but if you all go crazy there may not be enough.  I also use rice to give mine a bit of weight but I won't be bringing that to the retreat!
• Pigment ink fine liner, water and fadeproof, around 2mm.  this is a Unipin, Pigma Micron are lovely too.  Amazon/ebay/WHSmiths/Art shops all good for these.  Permanent markers like Sharpies are not good!  I have had the ink from these go throught the freezer paper.
• Reynolds freezer paper.  You won't need a roll.  A couple of A4 size pieces will be enough to do 4 blocks, and that would be working pretty fast!
• Piecing thread- Aurifil 50wt is my recommendation.  Fine cotton thread basically.
• Sharp fine pins. I like Clover Patchwork.
• Small rotary cutter.  This one is 28mm, you could use 45mm but it is harder.
• Scalpel or paper knife.  I will be bringing 6 or so of these, they are very sharp lightweight knives ideal for paper.  I find them easier than traditional Stanley style craft knives.  If you want one of your own, try ebay-'disposable scalpel'
• Washi or masking tape (not sellotape).  I forgot to add this to the supplies list that you all received so I will be bringing a couple of rolls along, but if you have some, bring it!  
• Thread snips or embroidery scissors.
• Small quilt ruler.  My favourite is a Creative Grids 6.5" Turn around.  you can bring larger but smaller is easier to handle for these 4" blocks
• Hand sewing needles if you are not bringing a machine.  Clover Black Gold Quilting Betweens are amazing, unlike any other hand sewing needle I have ever tried.  Their only downside is the eye is tiny and I go blind threading them!
• Fabric scraps- you may need bigger ones than you think!  Think about colours for spools.
• Seam ripper- naturally!
• Finger press- useful if you haven't got an iron.  I will bring a travel iron- which my usual sewing iron!

And to show you that hand sewing works I made two samples, the left is machined the right is hand sewn.  If you haven't done Y seams before, hand sewing at least one block is a great way to understand how everything fits together. 

And the same blocks from the front.  

If you want to stick with one block and make a pincushion, you can bring some ric rac, trim, lace or fabric to bind for a fancy edge- around 60cm or 24 inches will be plenty to go round the edge, and don't forget fabric for the back of your pin cushion.   I have lots of samples and can explain any techniques. Or you could make a few blocks to really master the technique and make your pinnies at home.  The choice is yours!  Any questions, please ask me!