Our retreat was held at the National Conference Center, here in Leesburg, Virginia. With it being so close to home, how could I not attend?? Friday night, Saturday all day, and half a day on Sunday of fun projects. Everything was included, sewing machines, material and food! I just had to bring myself. Easy Peasy.
Friday night was a Mix, Make and Mingle as we made personal embroidered lanyards for our use this weekend. Everyone got their own new Janome Skyline S7 sewing machine to use for the retreat. For the embroidery needs, there were enough Janome Memory Craft 500E machines available for two people to share.
I spied one top-of-the-line Janome Memory Craft 1500 sewing & embroidery machine in the back row, so I definitely had to sit there! Wow, that is a nice machine to work with.
 |
| Precious Lopez, our host from Sew Magarbo, welcomed us to the event. |
Friday evening included a talk from Liz Johnson, Editor, from Sew4Home. She shared insights on design color choice and fabric selection.
 |
| Liz Johnson, Sew4Home |
Saturday morning's project started off with the tear-drop tote bag (free tote pattern here). Janome Educators Erin Schlosser and Miriam Coffey were on-hand to guide us through their projects. The project kit had the fabric already pre-cut for us which was an added bonus!
 |
| Each machine had a little chalkboard attached so you can claim and personalize it for the weekend. :-) |
This tear-drop tote features a pleated design with embroidered 3D flower and leaves. The interior is lined and has a zipper pocket as well.
 |
| Tear-drop Tote Finished |
We pieced the patchwork pillow top and marked it for quilting on Saturday afternoon. (The pattern for the patchwork pillow is here.) Sunday morning we came back to sandwich and quilt the top, and then complete the pillow. The cute little pom poms added some fun to this project.
 |
| Quilted, pom-pom trimmed pillow completed. |
The last project for the weekend was a personalized zipper clutch (similar clutch pattern found here). This project is first started in the embroidery hoop and then construction completed with the sewing machine.
This bag used Pellon flex foam for the batting, which I had not used before. I liked that it gave the bag some shape but was still flexible to the touch.
Overall this was a fun retreat that I would recommend if there is one in your area. Nice, casual retreat with fun projects and relaxed sewcializing. Perfect escape from this rainy weather we've been having.
 |
| Myself & Precious from Sew Magarbo. |
 |
| Love this 3-D printed vintage sewing machine! |
Happy Stitching!
No comments
Thank you so much stopping by and adding your thoughts. I read and appreciate each comment. ♡♡♡
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.