Mal aux cheveux...

Not an expression you're familiar with? It's Acadian for hung over... meaning literally that you're in such a bad way that your hair aches! I am most definitely hungover, but not in the way you might imagine. I'm recovering from a quilting bender in the form of our first ever Maritime Modern Quilt Guild Retreat. Two days, two nights... so much quilting!
Yup... an entire conference room filled with quilters! So much talent in one place.
And the swag! I pitched (and many of the other retreaters went for) the idea of a swag bag exchange. Everyone who opted in made/bought a little something for everyone else in the exchange.

The result? A goodie bag stuffed with fun! And a few of our retreat sponsors sent enough treats for the entire class. Thanks, Canadian National Fabric, Dinkydoo Modern Fabrics, and Fabric Spark!

Digging into that bag was like opening one's stocking on Christmas morning.I will freely admit that many of the edibles are missing from this pic. No need to dwell on it. The rest are stuffed in that lovely purple zipper pouch!

On Saturday, we had a power hour of sewing for our charity program. Prizes were awarded most sewn in an hour. Anja @ Anja Quilts managed 37! I did 22 in 45 minutes and promptly ran out of pre-cut pieces. Dang!

We also had a number of mystery projects... not so mysterious to me as I chose them! One was this pincushion that attaches to your machine. It's from a tutorial from I Can Find the Time. I modified it a bit and used elastic instead of a ribbon tie.

Another of our mystery projects was the Goody Goody Binding Kit from a tutorial by Lella Boutique.  I used some of precious Lizzy House Natural History. I love those butterflies!

I might have gone a little overboard quilting the exterior! And Lynn @ Buttons Quilts, do you recognize that pocket fabric?

I opted not to include the strawberry scissor pocket from the original and the inside looked a little... meh. Add an appliquéd butterfly. Much better!

Q-Squared was fully present this week-end. Dena @ No Frickin' Blog Yet was sewing away on these lovely black and white and red all over blocks.

And Anja @ Anja Quilts was using some of those charm squares I gave her in the Do Bees Christmas Gift Exchange!

Somehow Q-B @ had left when I snapped the above pics. But she was très productive as well!

Here are a few random pics from my table over the course of the week-end... sometimes it's the little things that I just need to capture.

  I finished my iPhone case just in time to show it off at retreat!

  I'd been craving these all week. Good food choices? Not so much this week-end.

My plastic tote of notions. I know there are fancier, more organized ways to cart one's stuff, but this works for me.

Peppermint tea, many rolls of tape (you just don't know what you're going to need), and my pop up name tag. And Miss Amanda's entire stash under her table!

Miss Val @ Purple Boots and Pigtails made me smile with her swag buttons. Can you guess which one is one of a kind and just for me!

I will have more to share in the days to come... some MAJOR progress was made on some big projects this week-end! Stay tuned. While you're waiting with bated breath, please pop on over to our guild's blog to see a big 'ole list of our retreat sponsors. There are some fabulous Canadian shops on that list. More great places to spend your fabric budget!

Today I'm missing my quilty pals and all our shenanigans. Not to even mention those endless hours at the machine. Maybe I just need a little hair of the dog... ☺

J

P.S. If you'd like to read some other perspectives on our retreat, head over to Chezzetcook Modern Quilts, Anja Quilts, Candy Coated Quilts, Scrapmaster, or The Cuddle Quilter. I'll add more blog links as my other retreat pals get their posts up!