Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Winter Retreat With Pam Buda

Each January Village Dry Goods, a great quilt shop in Brigham City, UT, brings in a nationally known teacher for two or three days of workshops and a catered dinner/trunk show. Last year I was able to get in to one day of Lisa Bongean's workshops and had my first, but not my last, experience with wool applique. It was so much fun that by February I was signed up for this year's full retreat with Pam Buda (Heartspun Quilts blog), of Prairie Women's Sewing Circle fame.

I think I was doing my Statue of Liberty impression here!
Via email, Pam and I had arranged to meet up at the home of one of the shop owners to have a pie making session. This took place on Wednesday. Pam is as good a student as she is a teacher and we had a great time while she created her pie--and then we ate!
Fran & Kim
It was a day to remember. Thanks again to Fran for giving up her kitchen, to my friend Kim, who drove me through the  snowy canyon to get there, and to Pam, for letting it happen in the first place. What a generous woman. It was such a treat to spend the afternoon getting to know her! You can read her account of this experience HERE.

Friday was my first day as Pam's student. We were making the quilt from her Book of Quilting Hints, Tips, Secrets & How-Tos, called "Practice What I Preach." We learned all kinds of hints and methods while making the units for this quilt. She introduced us to many new tools, too.
It was a full house--a beehive of activity!

Me, Gayle, Jami, Jean, Pam, Fran, Kim

Cindy (in the purple on the left), fed us with delicious lunches each day. There we had time to relax, visit, and get to know each other better.



We were able to make great progress on our quilt, finishing the center block and getting most of the units made to be able to finish the rest of the quilt easily. This was the display of finished centers.

I so enjoyed meeting Pam, and meeting up again with friends Kim (no blog), and Gayle (The Middle Sister blog). Gayle posted about many fun things from the retreat HERE. So fun to share these experiences with good friends!

Saturday's class was focused on Pam's new design "Settler's Puzzle". We got to see and touch this quilt that was so beautifully quilted by Linda (Quilted Pineapple blog).
 We were able to create a 4 block unit from this design. Many were opting to leave the 4 blocks unassembled so that they could sew their quilts together by rows. Yes, mine is the block with the red triangles amid all of the blue and gold. I just don't know how to make a two-color quilt. Those red triangles will come together to make the square-in-a-square blocks that you see in the quilt above.

On Saturday I had the chance to sit by Donna, who is the sister of Sandra (Textile Time Travels  blog)--both very nice women. Donna shared with us a couple of the antique quilts she had in her trunk.

I really loved this one, and had to have a photo of me fondling it.
It was such a fun time--my first overnight quilty get-away. Hopefully not my last!

Next time I will post about the overabundance of gifts involved in this retreat, and the wonderful trunk show of Pam's creations!

Until then,
Janet O.

34 comments:

  1. What a wonderful time you all had! Thanks for sharing...wish I had been there!

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  2. Sounds like a great retreat. Now you will be energised by all the info and techniques you learned. Hope the weather cleared up for your trip home.

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  3. Wow, what a fabulous time!!! Pam and I had talked about making pies - so glad that you got to share that time with her!! Thanks for sharing!!!

    Blessings and hugs!

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  4. I'm sure you are having a sewing high.

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  5. Quilting retreats are just the best, aren't they? I love the vibe that comes from a bunch of grown up kids having a "sleepover". Too much fun. Looking forward to seeing your progress with these projects.

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  6. So glad you had such a great time Mom!
    BTW...I really like your statue of Liberty pose :)

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  7. Oh what a wonderful time you all must have had! Hopefully, some year, I'll get to a quilt retreat.... love all those blocks!

    Off to see what others blogged about the retreat...


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  8. Amazing - so glad you had a great time. So much fun, inspiration, talking , sewing - bliss!!

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  9. Thanks for sharing the beautiful quilts and blocks. Wish I could have been there!

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  10. Sure can't beat the shared talents of quilting and baking! What a glorious couple of days you all had together. Love the antique quilt you are holding in that last picture!

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  11. Oh wow! Thank you for sharing. What a memorable time, one to be treasured.

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  12. its looks like you had a wonderful time. The blocks are fantastic

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  13. I've been looking forward to seeing the pictures from the retreat and they sure didn't disappoint. Thanks for sharing so many and also for linking to the other blogs. It was great to see three different takes on the experience. It really looks like you had lots of fun (including the pie making - and eating! - day. I'm glad the snowy mountain roads didn't become a danger.

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  14. Janet, it sounds like you had a fabulous time!! What's better than eating and sewing??!! You'll have to be sure to sign up for next year's retreat again!!!

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  15. Wow, it looks like you had a really super time with lots of creative bursting, thanks for sharing it all with us!

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  16. How fun to arrange one on one time with Pam. How'd that happen to come up, did she want to learn how to make pie? What kind did you make? Lovely blocks that came out of the class. I'm so happy you got to go and have some Retreat FUN!

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  17. What a fun time!! Love retreats ..... great place for inspiration! Thanks for sharing.

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  18. I am green with envy! And what did pie making have to do with the retreat? Sounds like a wonderful idea. I could use a lesson or two in pie making myself.

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  19. Sounds like a wonderful time was had by all! LoVe all the pictures of the quilts. Gorgeous! A retreat with friends ,mmmmmmm. Something to think about!

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  20. I found my answer to the pie making question by reading Pam's blog post. Oh, you make beautiful pies!

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  21. So Donna just happened to have that awesome antique quilt with her? Lucky to see it in person - it's lovely! Didn't realize you were spending the night there, but it makes sense - and made it even more fun I'm sure! I'm liking your version of the puzzle quilt - it's gonna be great - in spite of the rogue element (maybe beCAUSE of that) LOL!

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  22. Looks like you had a wonderful time. I love the quilt you caught fondling. Hugs

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  23. Oh! So fun! Pam came to our guild this year and I could not go...sure wish I could have!

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  24. Janet, sounds like you had so much fun! I know you were so excited about getting to go.
    Kristie

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  25. What fun! thanks for sharing your wonderful retreat with us. Food and quilts and friends, perfect combination. I loved seeing the projects and the great photos of you!

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  26. Absolutley the BEST show and tell of your retreat, thanks for taking us all along. I had no doubt that you would come up with a creative solution to your triangle "problem"... your quilt is going to be a standout!! I love it, well... actually, I love both of the quilts you've started; well done!

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  27. Looks like you had a FABULOUS time! Thanks for sharing!

    That retreat sounds spectacular ... I wonder if DH would be up for a road trip to Utah next January?

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  28. looks like a great time was had by all..i love the settler's puzzle quilt....love the blocks you made.....anxious to see more of your getaway...so glad you had fun, like who wouldn't?

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  29. Wow! How wonderful!!! I'll bet you are still on a quilter's high.

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  30. Wow!! Soooooooooo much fun for all!! Glad you had such a good time!!

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  31. I'm so happy that your first 'overnighter' was a happy, fun experience!! Yay! And truly it does look like y'all had a blast!! :)

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  32. Wow, Janet, sounds like a great event! I love your addition of the red on the blue and gold quilt. Will enjoy seeing these quilts come together. So good of you to teach pie making! My DS#1 turns 26 on Friday and he asked me to help make him an apple pie for the big day. Do you use butter or shortening in your crust? That antique quilt is gorgeous!

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  33. How fun was that! Thanks for sharing. The pies look delicious and the quilts are spectacular! A perfect way to begin the new year.

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  34. It looks like you all had a great time.

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