FQ Retreat - The Classes

Going to the Retreat wasn't just about finally meeting my online friends in person, and also meeting a huge bunch of other wonderful people too - though overall the people aspect of it was what made it so wonderful. I did not encounter one unfriendly, uninteresting person there. But we all went to learn a thing or two as well.

I did four different classes over the weekend. And I am glad that I chose every last one of them because I walked away with new capabilities. The teachers were great. Honestly, the FQ team and the teachers really were fabulous. The weekend obviously could not have happened without them, but they went beyond organising and truly included everyone, making us all welcome and helping wherever possible.

John kicked off the Retreat with a welcoming speech that set the tone for the whole weekend.
Above you can see Katy, Tascha, John and Lynne.

My first class was learning how to do Lu Summers's porthole technique.
I got this photo of one of her wonderful quilts,
and the back of Terri's head!

Lu was a great teacher and a quick demo suddenly had all of us exclaiming as we suddenly got it.

I stuck with simple circles for my first attempt.
The technique is incredibly easy and versatile once you understand how to do it.

Kat, obviously enjoying herself.

I like my heart more than my circles. The colours work  better  for me.
It just isn't quite finished yet.

In the afternoon I did framed purses with Katy Jones.
Yes, she is as cool as she looks!

I was in the class with Jude and Ceri.
Here are our three finished purses,
Jude's, mine and Ceri's.
We will skip any innuendo about the size of Jude's balls.

With their contrasting interiors.

Sunday morning I had freezer paper piecing with Kerry.
For some inexplicable reason I got a photo of her quilt, not her.
I would have liked photos of both!

Preparation for freezer paper piecing is the most time consuming part.

The piecing goes very quickly.
I never imagined that you could machine piece shapes like this.

There was time enough for me to do two simple blocks.

Though other's went straight for the four inch, incredibly detailed house block.
Those would be Laura's hand fiddling with the smallest of pieces.

 

My final class was with Brioni and Lynne.
The FQ Design Challenge.
It talked about playing with shapes, drawing out different combinations to experiment,
and me finally succumbing to Lynne and her Touch Draw enthusiasm.
Great wifi meant I could download it then and there.

Last but not least,
a fuzzy photo of Katy wearing her name tag
so Annabella could see it in action.
It is the most fabulous embroidery copying out one of
Katy's tattoo designs.

I think there are so many posts out there in blogland that everyone can see the weekend was an amazing success. The FQ team couldn't have done better. I think the only things I have left to show you are the amazing contents of the goodie bags and the lovely items I received in the Sample Swap. Liberty fans would have loved the weekend because they got a chance to not only fondle all sorts of Liberty fabrics but to go home with a sample bundle of their own. Those who travelled a distance had the joy of using brand new, out of the box Pfaff sewing machines which were kindly loaned for the weekend by Pfaff. I can only imagine that work that went into bringing all the details together to make the weekend so good. So many thanks to the FQ team and the many teachers. I appreciate all the effort and can't wait until next year.

Susan