Winter Retreat 2015 - A Recap

We are still recovering from the amazing weekend we just had and we wanted to tell you all about it while the emotions and excitement are still fresh! Can I just tell you that it was the best thing Modern Textiles has ever done? As I tried to communicate with our group on Sunday - the retreat was our dream come true. To have a beautiful place where new and experienced sewers could come together and make stuff, with no judgement, just encouragement and excitement for each other was just amazing. It is the core of what we want Modern Textiles to be, and the retreat showed us that it really was possible.

The Winter Retreat started Friday evening with appetizers and snacks and our signature MT cocktail. While everone snacked, Connie and I did a little presentation on our new favorite book, Time to Make by Ginger Hendrix. Have you seen this book in our shop?

Ginger does a great job of encouraging makers of all kinds to overcome their fears and excuses and just create. Not because we're awesome at it or because we should sell a million things or because we have nothing better to do. But because it's what feeds our soul. I hope that some of the things we discussed struck a cord with the ladies there and that they went home inspired to make time in their everyday lives to create. Ginger was even kind enough to make a hilarious video just for us! At the conclusion of the talk we surprised all of our attendees with a copy of Time to Make! We totally felt like Oprah! This was just the first of many gifts and giveaways through out the weekend. Spoiling these ladies was a lot of fun and they so deserved it! We sent the ladies off to sew with a fun challenge - our latest pattern. Everyone got a stack of rather random fabrics that they were to use to sew up a Modern Textiles Journal Cover (pattern coming soon!) It was so fun to see people sew outside their box and just have fun. And the things they created! Wow! As a newbie pattern writer, can I just tell you how much it blessed me to see people go so crazy with my pattern and really make it their own. Surreal.

Saturday morning came rather quickly to some of us that sewed late into the night Friday! Chelle and Angelique were on the ball though with amazing coffee and a great breakfast. The sewing machines buzzed all day long. Connie, Jean, Becky and I had a blast moving around the room to check on sewers and offer help when needed. We also had some great demos planned so people could learn something new or get a refresh on a technique. Our demos included buttonholes, quilt as you go, sewing machine feet, sergers, free motion quilting, paper piecing and sleeve adjusting. Lunch and dinner snuck up on us, but Chelle came through again and made us all stop to eat so we could keep sewing into the night.

Sunday morning we were lucky enough to start the day with a yoga session from Jen DeMaio of Two Turtles Wellness Center. It was great to stretch sore sewing muscles and start the day refreshed and relaxed.

We enjoyed brunch and then gathered for a quick show and tell session. It was so much fun to see what everyone had made. From quilts to baby clothes, to dresses to bags and everything in between. There was so much creativity in this group! One of our lucky attendees even won a sewing machine from Blow's! We were so fortunate to have Kerry from Blow's join us for the weekend. If you know Kerry, you know not only how fun she is to be with, but what a wealth of knowledge she has. She helped with many sewing machine issues (and maybe was kind enough to clean our nasty serger for us!). Tracie was the big winner fo the sewing machine and with her first baby on the way, we are sure she will put that machine to good use!

The weekend ended all too soon. It was a great break from everyday life and I feel so fortunate to have gotten to know everyone at the retreat a little better. We are blessed with the best customers in the world - I'm sure of it! We are busy planning our retreat for next year and we want you to be there! Get it on your calendar - January 29-31, 2016.

In closing, I just want to thank some folks that made the Winter Retreat happen. First off, all the attendees. What a beautiful group of women. Everyone was so encouraging and kind. We couldn't have asked for a better group. Our amazing Event Coordinator, Chelle Lyons Hanson. She planned every detail and kept the entire retreat on track. She did an outstanding job and we could have never even dreamed of having a retreat without her. Thank you Chelle!

Our sponsors: Blow's Sew-n-Vac, Eco Chic, Unglued, Boucle and the studio made it possible for us to spoil the heck out of these ladies! We couldn't have done it without our instructors either - Jean Sando and Rebecca Amundsen. So helpful and giving, we couldn't ask for better!

The team at Rustic Oaks was awesome! Such a beautiful location with beautiful people. There is no place like Rustic Oaks. Definitely keep them in mind for any of your future event. They don't just do weddings people!

Hope to see you at our next Winter Retreat!