Zion Retreat Day 3

We've had another very fun day here at the Zion Retreat. The weather has been rainy, but we don't mind because we have stayed indoors all day sewing furiously away. We've also enjoyed the majestic views of Zion National Park out the conference room windows.


Our retreat has been held at Zion Park Inn, Springdale Utah.

Today is our last day and it's been wonderful to visit with the other women in our guild. I didn't take classes, opting instead to stay in the "Sit and Sew" room to work on my own quilts.
Pat Peters is our Guild President. She and her staff of volunteers did a great job taking care of us. Thanks Pat!

My roomie was Bev. It was fun just to sit together and visit with the other ladies near our table.

Patty, Annie and Heather came together and brought a lot of laughter into the room.
Annie was sewing away and said "My goal this year is to finish a UFO each month".

To which Heather replied: "My goal this year is to start a UFO each month" !!

I'm with Heather. No problem, I think I can do that!

These three ladies came with the coolest little tables. They just purchased them at Road To California. They are made by a company called "Sew Ezi". Because they are so small I wondered if they bounced as you sewed, but Heather said she was pleasantly surprised at how sturdy they feel. The table comes with a very nifty little case to transport them in, and they even roll on wheels.

There have been some fabulous classes offered.

Annie Unrien taught a free demo class on fusible applique, using specialty threads from Superior.

They made a small sewing kit.

Annie is a well known teacher and pattern designer in our area. She always shows great techniques that make our projects easier to do. You can find her at http://www.byannie.com/

On yesterday's post I shared with you the Celtic Quilt classes.

Our 2nd teacher that was brought in was Amy McClellan of "Under the Garden Moon". Amy also owns a quilt shop in Orem, Utah.

Amy works a lot with vintage and reproduction fabrics in her designs. This one was named after her Grandmother Clintey.

Amy showed her class a fun applique technique. They cut their shapes out on freezer paper ironed onto cereal box cardboard.

Next the fabric is brushed with starch in the seam allowances, folded over and ironed to the cardboard.

Amy also taught a scrappy civil war quilt where class members shared fabric pieces with each other.

Quite a few of Amy's patterns are made with wool.

In one of Amy's classes the students made a sewing satchel. I loved the beehive and wool embellishments on the front of the satchel.

The red ric rac is actually wool that has been cut with a specialty blade on a rotary cutter. Once the wool is cut in strips it's then stitched down by machine.

I've had a wonderful three days. When I go to retreats I never seem to be ready to head home and say good bye to all the fun and people. And I could always use a few more days to work on all the projects I brought but didn't have time to finish.

Instead I think I should be more like Heather and be happy with the goal of more UFO's.