Whew! Where to begin? I spent Monday through Friday last week in Washington, Maine at the Slow Stitching Retreat hosted by Samantha at A Gathering of Stitches. I packed way too many WIPs, my sewing and quilting stuff, a swimsuit and several bottles of wine to share. This block too me hours, partially because I was busily chatting. . . and my sewing machine was directly in front of my teacher. No pressure! :)
Maine. The location was beautiful, the weather fickle and the nights dark and relaxingly quiet.
On Tuesday I was in Alison's reverse appliqué class. I'd taken it at Quiltcon in Austin and it was fun to see how she had made changes, adding and subtracting things over the past year and a half.
I started this scarf, based on a design I sketched at the beginning of class.
I shared a cabin with Kitty Wilkin of Night Quilter. Her adorably sweet 14-month-old son stayed in our cabin at night so he could co-sleep with his Mom. Every morning I woke up to huge smiles and waves, playing peek-a-boo under quilts.
Michelle slow stitching on the porch at Camp Medomak.
Alison and Julie at cocktail hour before dinner was served.
On Wednesday I was in Chawne's class. I'd met her at Quiltcon in Pasadena; we discovered that she had been my cousin's college advisor. It was great to see her again, and her work.... well.... just look.
This was my favorite piece of all those she had up on display. Turns out it is hers, too.
So little.
Seriously, this is not an optical illusion. My finger is millimeters way from the fabric.
The colors!
A wall of wonder.
Chawne is a great teacher, continually motivating and encouraging everyone to "sew smaller". :)
The reverse side of her work is a thing in itself to behold.
Katherine and the results of her small stitching class.
The main building at Camp Medomak.
The garden and the back of the main building.
Paths and roads to the cabins.
The porch. Coffee happened here, as well as many amazing conversations and star gazing until the wee hours.
Hydrangeas with the barn in the background. Chawne's class happened in the barn.
Kitty and I stayed in the cabin called 'Chestnut'.
Three adirondack chairs were just outside Chestnut, which was another nice spot to sit, sip and watch for shooting stars.
Alison brought out her new line of temporary tattoos. . .
The screen door to the main building. The tree resonated with me as the school I attended in Oregon has a fir tree as a logo.
Lobstah night. Look for #slowstitchingretreat on Instagram and there is a picture of Chawne feeding me cole slaw from a giant serving spoon. I was happy to help a few lobster newbies crack their dinner.
We caravanned to Fiddlehead Artisan Supply in Belfast, Maine. If you have a chance to pop in, please do so. Amazing.
This is the dock on the lake at Camp Medomak. Many swam, some cooled their feet in the water. Photo by Kitty Wilkin of Night Quilter, used by permission (that's me in the grey and purple!). This is her appliqué project.
When I got home I showed all the photos to my family. Annabel (age 6) went into her art space and made this. It was nice to be able to bring the inspiration home with me.
