Another Maritime Fibre Arts Retreat has come and gone. We gathered at the Atlantica Hotel at Oak Island for 3 lovely days. The event has been held there for the past 3 years and it certainly is a very suitable venue. Most of the 186 attendees gather in the large room overlooking Mahone Bay. The light is excellent with windows all along 3 sides.
I love the way the room is set up with the spinners in the middle froming a circle, around them are round table where knitters, rug hookers, felters and weavers gather. Then around the outside are long tables for the quilters (close to electrical outlets!). It works really well and is a beehive of activity. This year there were so many spinners they had another circle in the adjoining room. It was wonderful to walk through there and hear the hum of the wheels and the chatter of the spinners. I must say I was thrilled to see so many "young" spinners and knitters at the Retreat. I wish we could get some young quilters to join us!
I am part of a wonderful group of (mostly) quilters fondly known as the "Quilt Mafia". We try and get together several times a year to see what we are up too and catch up on exhibitions we have seen, books we have read and fabric we have acquired.
Alex, Barb, Linda, Laureen and Betsey
Of the 20 or so members of the Quilt Mafia there were 14 of us at the Retreat! We had a wonderful time, lots of chat, lots of wonderful food, great stories and liquid refreshments! Once again we have all booked for next year...can't wait.
I was actually able to get quite a bit done this time. I finished the beading on my Cove Quilters challenge, I finshed the binding on a Christmas wallhanging and I started a new circle project for my class that I am teaching at Quilt Canada.
My challenge - we had to blindly chose a chocolate bar from a bag and use that as our inspiration. I drew the Mars bar. I used stitches on my sewing machine I have never used before and did some beading. I am thinking of calling it "My Very Educated Mother..." (Just Showed Us Nine Planets) with thanks to Linda and Donna who taught me the mnemonic! I learned another one "Mount Vesuvius Erupts Mulberry Jam Sandwiches Under Normal Pressure".
Be sure and check my Flickr page for lots more pictures, with thanks to my daughter Kate who is a wonderful photographer.