Pumpkin Patch Retreat

(pattern found here)

Earlier this year I was asked to teach an 'in house' retreat at Tiny Stitches (where I have the pleasure of working on Wednesdays and some Fridays and weekends.) I was so excited to spend a whole weekend with the fun folks who frequent the shop. I'm not exaggerating when I say we have the best quilters anywhere! These ladies are fun, creative, kind, supportive and wonderful to be around.

I was excited to plan and prepare for the weekend. I added a smaller version of the pumpkin quilt to the menu of offerings. I swapped the oranges for reds, and we had an apple quilt! Either version could be made in either size.

I had so much fun choosing fabrics and making bundles for the shop. It made me smile every time one of the bundles was happily snatched up by one of the retreat attendees. The excitement was building and it was a joy for me to see how much enthusiasm was being thrown into this event.

Small surprise projects are a trademark of the Tiny Stitches retreats, dating back long before I arrived. So I got busy planning two small surprise projects for our time together. I wanted them to be easy and quick, but useful as well. So I drew giant candy corn patterns and assembled tea towel kits. I love seasonal towels for the kitchen and this one is going to look awesome in my kitchen. I makes me happy to know there will be matching tea towels all over town.

Then I drew up the pattern for this tiny pumpkin pin cushion. The leaves are wool and its all tied up with pearl cotton and a cute little brown button. My dining room table looked like an assembly line all last week while I sorted, stuffed and packaged all these little surprises. The goody bags also included a fat eighth bundle from the shop, candy corn candy (of course) and a bonus pattern from my postcard pattern collection.

My friend Janet (fellow TS staff) was in charge of the 'bling' and the food and she out did herself! There was yummy versions of pumpkin everything, lots of apple goodies too, and a constant flow of caffeine and chocolate.

 My sweet friend Mary (another TS staff) stayed with me all weekend and was my angel. She scooped in and refilled things that were emptied, cleaned messes that were made, answered questions, offered support and generally made my life easier and definitely more pleasant! 

The fabric flew, laughter filled the shop, and the whirr and buzz of sewing machines was almost non stop. These ladies cut and sewed and laughed and ate, and then repeated everything many times over. 

We even had one finished quilt top before it was all done!

I expect to see lots of show and tells from this weekend for a long time to come! My sincerest appreciation to each person that attended and especially to Maetha and the staff for the constant support and enthusiasm. I am so blessed to be a part of such an amazing quilting community.

Enjoy every stitch!
Diane