Retreats come in all shapes and sizes. There are spa retreats and work retreats and wellness retreats—all designed for attendees to take a break from the daily grind of life. Retreats represent an opportunity to recharge, reinvigorate and, perhaps, even get back on track. Quilt retreats offer attendees a break from daily life, but they also represent something deeper and richer—an enduring sisterhood.
The word retreat can be defined as the act of escaping from some negative thing or situation, but it can also mean a place of refuge. Yes, a quilt retreat can be a place of safety and comfort, but more importantly, it offers attendees an opportunity to with draw, for a short time, from the daily grind and the difficulties of everyday life. For just a few precious days, routine chores like housework, preparing meals and generally taking care of others are left behind. A quilt retreat represents the alluring opportunity to trade everyday responsibilities for a chance to stitch, stitch and stitch some more!
Nature’s inspirational backdrop can provide another layer to a successful quilt retreat. Quilt-shop owners will, at times, plan their annual retreats away from their shops, hosting the retreat in a vacation destination instead.
Alvina Saliken of Sweet Pea Quilting in Parksville, British Columbia (www.sweetpeaquilting.ca) is one such quilt shop owner. After having to cancel the retreat she had planned in 2020 due to the coronavirus lockdown, Alvina is making plans for the future and hopes to host a quilt retreat in Tofino, on Vancouver Island, one of the most breathtakingly beautiful places in the world.
This story is from the Autumn 2020 edition of Quilter's World.
Subscribe to Magzter GOLD to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign in
This story is from the Autumn 2020 edition of Quilter's World.
Subscribe to Magzter GOLD to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign in
SWEET LAND of Liberty
Basic blocks in red, white and blue that don't have a specific fabric placement make this scrappy patriotic quilt an easy summer project.
Spring Bloom Pincushion
A pincushion can be just as decorative as it is useful. This generous-size pincushion features big bright petals and dimensional leaves that can be used to keep binding clips handy.
Petal Power
This fun throw-size quilt mixes raw-edge–fusible appliqué flowers with simple Nine-Patch blocks. The color placement within the nine-patches creates a secondary trellis pattern.
Turned-Edge Appliqué
You can master beautiful hand appliqué with these easy steps.
Petal Pillow
Pretty appliquéd felt petals spill across this simple springtime pillow. A quarter-circle arrangement of pink buttons serves as the flower’s center and adds extra texture.
Sassy Scotties Baby Quilt
Grab your scrap bag and have fun combining colorful prints for this baby quilt. A traditional Scottie block looks new and updated with bright rainbow colors.
Flowers for Larry
Big beautiful blooms in a rainbow of colors are surrounded by a bright floral border—a lovely garden that will never need weeding!
Butterfly Collection
Colorful butterflies gracefully fly across this throw-size quilt. Did you know they can fly at speeds of up to 30 mph?
Candy Neighborhood
Soft cotton-candy colors are served in Candy Neighborhood, inspiring a rainbow arrangement of trees and houses in this friendly town.
Blue Belle
Choose your favorite fabrics and make this sweet wall quilt in an afternoon. It looks lovely in a monochromatic color scheme, but try it with solids, 1930s, batiks—anything works.
LAW & DISORDER!
Foul-tempered Anderson makes waves backstage after divorce shock
OUT OF ORDER!
Anguished Anthony Anderson digs in over $25M divorce
Looking Past Revelations
Can a documentary tell new truths about the man behind the Alvin Ailey dance company?
Revelations
For Sarita Allen, a star of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and a protégée of Kathleen Stanford Grant, Pilates was key to her decades-long career.
Remembering Mari
She was known to millions as the Pilates instructor to the stars, but to her friends, Mari Winsor was not only an inspired teacher, but a sister, a force of nature and “a celebrator of life who invited everyone to the party.”
10 Great Things This Month
The Line Up
A Bellwether for Democrats
The race for a newly created Colorado U.S. House seat may depend on Latino voters and offers some clues about the November midterms