We’ve wrapped our third annual quilt retreat and what can we say, it was a great success! This year we filled the extra long weekend (two extra optional days!) with lots of sewing, crafty projects, and relaxation.

We had a lot of opportunities to sew for charity at this year’s retreat. There was a whole wall in the workroom designated to making blocks for three separate quilt projects. By the end of the retreat we had a full quilt top of one quilt and all the blocks made for the two other quilts. In addition to that, our members whipped out binding and pieced backings for the quilts as well. It was a team effort by all our members!

We also had a fun craft project planned to get members up and out of their seats — barn quilts! We saw the idea all over Instagram and knew it’d be a great idea to take over some of the outdoor space at Hidden Valley outside the sew room. The guild purchased the wood boards and members (special shout out to our member Eileen!!) brought in paints, brushes, and tape to share. We picked out our favorite blocks and got to work. The final products were truly awesome!

By popular demand, we splurged this year and brought in a couple masseuses to give chair massages on Saturday afternoon and evening for some extra pampering. Members booked 30 minute time slots throughout the day to take a break from sewing and relax outside in nature. A special thank you goes out to Central Coast Massage for coming out to our venue and spoiling us for the afternoon.

To keep the merriment going throughout the weekend, we decided to do crafty BINGO. The bingo board was filled with crafty objects we called out over the weekend — as well as fun action items members could cross out on their own if they completed on their own time. These action items encouraged members to pitch in, get to know each other, and have a little fun. Congrats to Bev on winning our craft BINGO prize!

Thanks to Jan for coordinating the retreat, Rochelle for creating the fun goody bags for members and booking the masseuses, and all our members for making it such a fun weekend!