Quilt Classes & Retreat Weekend

Hello and happy Monday! Yesterday I traveled home from a wonderful weekend teaching at Hollyhill Quilt Shoppe in Wilsonville, Oregon (just outside of Portland).  I was able to travel with and teach with my daughter, and we had a fabulous time!  There are always many thoughts and ideas and new things learned at these types of events by both students and teachers! And so today I thought I’d write about insights I gained from my quilt classes & retreat weekend!

 

A Favorite Corner of the Shop…

Since we flew Southwest, I was able to pack along a lot of my quilts for the event!  And Brian quickly set about creating some beautiful displays and vignettes with our quilts! This happy corner of the shop is right inside the entrance.  I loved walking in the shop each day and seeing this beautiful display!

 

Displays and More Displays!

And seeing the bolts of Clover Hollow displayed on such a cute wooden bench was a real treat for us as well!  There is just something about seeing bolts of your fabric displayed in a shop that is incredible!

Here is another display Brian created combining some of our Creekside fabrics and quilts, The Front Porch quilts, Clover Hollow, and even some Walkabout quilts and projects!

It’s all about the People!

But quilt classes & retreat weekend events are really all about the people!  And we had wonderful ladies in these classes!  This was a different format than I’ve taught in before, but it ended up working beautifully, and I loved it!  I taught Family Tree and Be My Neighbor, and one student even sewed the Be My Neighbor Mini pattern.  All of the students attended for two days and got to work on their projects and get a lot done!  I was able to share tips with the students, and learn from the students as well!  Two students even figured out a wonderful time-saver relating to one of these projects that I’ll be using when I teach in the future!  I love that we can all learn from each other.  And these women were really just fabulous individuals!

 

Behind the scenes at Hollyhill Quilt Shoppe are some amazing people!  Jan and Brian are a mother and son team who work long hours to provide the ultimate quilt shop experience.  I just love them! Christine also works at the shop and is an incredible quilter and so very kind!  We snatched a picture with Brian before leaving, but I’m sad I didn’t get a picture with Jan and Christine this trip!

 

Retreat and Class Tips and Ideas:

Many of the quilters attending the event live in the Portland area; however two of them traveled long distances and combined the retreat with family birthday events!  We were honored that they made attending the retreat a part of their vacations! If you are attending a quilt class or retreat event in the near future, you might find this post helpful.  It has some great ideas for retreats (which are helpful for quilt classes, too).  And there is also a link to the printable I download before traveling to any class or retreat to help me remember things to bring!

 

Jan and her husband Rick drove us to the airport Sunday, and on the way we stopped at a scenic viewpoint to see this picturesque view of the Willamette River.  The cool fall air combined with the beautiful setting made me really long for fall!  Being in such a beautiful area for a few days was so refreshing!

 

Hollyhill Quilt Shoppe

I had a wonderful time visiting and teaching in such a beautiful shop!  While Hollyhill is one of those destination shops you’ll want to make sure you visit…they also have a terrific website here.  And to keep up with all things Hollyhill, you can sign up for their newsletter at the top of this page.

 

A big thank you to everyone at Hollyhill Quilt Shoppe and to all of the lovely ladies who attended the retreat weekend!

Happy quilting, and thanks so much for stopping by!