As a Certified Instructor for Judy Niemeyer Quilts I was so excited about the latest technique of the month quilt – Mariner’s Compass.  While this pattern is designed to teach a new technique each month I knew my students wouldn’t want to wait that long to finish their quilts.  So I worked with Peggy at Pinwheels and Posies in Dickinson, TX and we came up with a mini-retreat – aka Quilt Til You Wilt!  So on March 15th we started our first adventure.

We invited our students to come sew starting Friday am at 9:00 am until Midnight, we started again at 7:00 am Saturday and yep we sewed until Midnight.  Sunday was a short day for us 7:00 am until 2:00 but they sewed every minute of those 7 hours too!  Peggy kept our students well nourished from an italian sandwich for breakfast one morning to homemade chicken salad.  We also had catering from a few of the local restaurants.  One student made us chocolate dipped strawberries and we were also treated to “Nothing Bundt Cake”.  Ice cream sundaes were also a late night snack!

We had a total of 9 students, class max.  I like for each student to have their own 8’ table and their own design wall.  We also have ironing stations setup and the shop supplies all of the cutting mats.  In the evening we were able to also use the shop work tables.  3 of the students had not paper pieced before or had very little experience.  I was so tickled with how much progress they made.

Barb is using the happiest background fabric

Barb’s fabrics were picked out by friends – her quilt is going to be awesome!

Earl is exhausted after all the sewing.

Rhea’s Sails are so pretty.

Rhea’s quilt is coming along nicely

Vernell is pretty tickled – I have received emails and she is just about completely done. Class was less than 1 month ago!

I received this picture via email 2 weeks after class – as of last nights email Vernell only has a few more seams left to go!

Kay, Liz and Nancy all chose the kit – however as class progressed they each made small changes that will give there quilts a little personal touch

We had several students that chose the kit option. Here is Cheryl’s quilt Saturday night – she was unable to join us Sunday.

Donna’s in the beginning

Donna’s quilt is full of life – she was unable to do any of the homework prior to class so everything you see here was accomplished during quilt til you wilt

I love Sari’s red feathers

Sari is making this quilt for her niece. She had some of her sections already sewn before retreat started.

Shirley was unable to take the class, but wanted to inspire the students with her finished top. Lots of stonehedge fabrics used in this quilt.

We are gearing up for another session starting April 12th with a new group of students and plan to schedule more of these for the coming months.  We will also be including Glacier Star as a future Quilt Til You Wilt option.  I love teaching and there is nothing more fun that to watch the students odd shapes of fabric turn into these beautiful quilts!

Now I am off to spend the weekend quilting until I am wilting!

Denise