Erica attends a sewing retreat

I have officially been a member of the Oklahoma chapter of the American Sewing Guild for one full year. The guild is made up of around fifty kind & wonderful women who have taken me in as one of their own (even though my attendance record for meetings is awful and my sewing skill level is a little shaky). Each year, the guild holds a three-day sewing retreat at Canyon Camp in Hinton, OK. I was interested in participating but wasn't sure if an all-weekend retreat was right for me. My friend, Brenda, encouraged me to ask if it was possible for me to register for just a day. Jane, the former President of the Oklahoma chapter and chairwoman for the retreat, made an exception for me to only attend Friday's session. Attending retreat for one day meant twelve hours of non-stop sewing (9am - 9pm). I decided to pack ambitiously and brought three projects to work on. At the end of the evening, I had only finished one of the three! As mentioned above, my sewing skills are a little shaky. LOL

Note the picture of my rugged Subaru in the outdoors. LOL

Canyon Camp is a beautiful campsite for the United Methodist Church. We were housed in the conference center which was about a quarter of a mile away from the cafeteria. (There were many other buildings and cabins but I wasn't allowed to explore too much on my own. The only downside of being the youngest member attending a retreat with fifty-two older women is that I had fifty-two "moms" looking after me.) Jane was waiting for me when I arrived -- I was late, no surprise -- she greeted me wholeheartedly with a "There she is! Erica!!" and goodie bag. The goodie bag was a handmade lunch bag filled with treats and supplies for the weekend. The Sewing Retreat Board has spent all year preparing (aka hand-making) these for us. I was lead into the main conference room to set up my sewing station and then to the kitchen for snacks. Wes made a pecan pie from scratch for me to bring to share. All the women were impressed that my husband bakes. I was placed at the end of a long table across from Brenda and her friend Karen (I think that was her name. I'm terrible!)

Top: Our sewing room. I sat in the back corner (not pictured). 

Bottom: Wes's beautiful and delicious pie amidst all the other snacks.  

When I started teaching myself to sew a couple of years ago, I noticed that everyone was 1. very eager to help me learn and give me tips & tricks and 2. astonished that a "young person" has taken an interest in sewing. The ladies of American Sewing Guild were no different. A week before the retreat, Jane emailed me a pattern of a stuffed animal (sloth) that she thought I should make during the retreat. I brought all of the supplies and decided to start on that project first. Jane came over to my station to help me get settled and started on the project. Throughout the remainder of the morning, it felt like almost everyone came up to me to check on me and ask what I was working on. This is a very close knit and social bunch so it wasn't that much of a surprise but I think a majority of the attention was fixed on me; maybe because this was my first time attending retreat and they wanted me to feel extra welcome. I enjoyed the attention and making friends but with all the chatting, I barely got anything done. Brenda later told me that the retreat is more for socializing than for sewing. I am very slow when it comes to sewing projects and this sloth project was no different. I spent the entire morning tracing and cutting my pattern and then it was lunchtime. Where did the time go!?!

We enjoyed a nice trek to the cafeteria for lunch (baked potatoes, chili and salad bar with an apple tart for dessert).  After lunch, we had our first workshop. Another woman named Brenda taught us how to make a matching coin purse and pin cushion set. I was doing great until my sewing machine broke. Oh no!!!!!! This is the same sewing machine that was giving me trouble during my sewing course at Frances Tuttle a few months ago. I thought I had fixed it and it was working fine in the morning but it was not cooperating this afternoon. The machine was not picking up the bobbin thread, instead it was forming "birds nest" knots with my thread. Luckily, I was surrounded by sewing machine pros and everyone came around to have a look. My friend, Brenda, Susan and LuElla each spent around 10 - 30 minutes sitting with my machine trying to fix it. After that, I spent another forty-five minutes or so trying to diagnose and fix the issue via help from the Internet. I followed every troubleshooting tip but had no luck. I was afraid that I would have to end my day early but Brenda (my sewing machine savior) lent me her machine to use for the remainder of the day. She claimed that she had a lot of tracing and cutting to do and wouldn't be needing it. I think she saw me about to burst into tears of frustration and swooped in to save the day.  I owe this woman so much.

Along with lending me her super easy to use digital sewing machine (I want one of these SO BAD!!), Brenda gave me a private lesson on the coin purse and pin cushion. Our teacher, the other Brenda, had completed the workshop and was busy with projects of her own by that time. I missed out on a majority of the workshop but Brenda had previously made the project before so she had no problem guiding me. The afternoon flew by and then it was dinner time before I knew it (I was still not done sewing my sloth).  We made another walk to the cafeteria for dinner (chicken tacos, Mexican rice, refried beans and a salad bar with a lemon bar for dessert). I ate quickly and returned to my sloth. I was determined to at least finish one of the projects I had brought. The project called for adhering fabric with fusible web. I had never used this before but the instructions seemed fairly straight forward so I started without asking for help. Little did I know, you need to use a press cloth when ironing on the fusible web. So, dumb little me ruined Jane's ironing board cover. I felt so awful because 1. Jane had already done so much for me, 2. she handmade that ironing board cover (read: irreplaceable), 3. it was a shared ironing board so I ruined it for all the other women who needed to iron and 4. I didn't know how to get off the ironed on sticky mess that I had made. After confessing to Jane, I went to Marilyn for help (she's previously invited me over to her house and given me fabric so I felt pretty close to her as a ally). She told me not to worry, the mess would wash out but in the meantime, we could turn the cover inside-out. The second time someone had to save the day for me. After regrouping from my mini panic attack, I finished my stuffed sloth and showed it off to all my new friends. By that time, it was getting dark and it was time for me to leave.

All I have to show for after a full day of sewing - one stuffed animal, one pin cushion and one coin purse.

I had a wonderful time at the annual sewing retreat (even with the aforementioned hiccups). I learned a ton and met many new friends. Each and every woman in attendance was extremely kind and welcoming. They invited me to sit with them during mealtimes, showered me with encouragement and constructive criticism and showed me their finished projects and asked for my approval (like I had any idea what I was doing. LOL) At times I felt like a burden with my many requests for help and faulty sewing machine but that was just my lack of confidence creeping in. They never did anything to lead me to feel inferior. I'm not sure if Jane will invite me back after ruining her ironing board cover but I will be happy to return to 2019's retreat if they'll have me.

Erica & Lacey Learn Paper Quilling

What is paper quilling, you ask? And why would Lacey and I go to a class to learn it?
       Paper quilling is an art form where you roll thin strips of paper into coils & scrolls and then position the rolled paper pieces to form patterns, shapes and designs. The art is traceable to the 15th century and became popular in the 18th century. It was a fashionable hobby for the young women at the time. Lacey & I are fashionable young women, so we naturally gravitated toward taking a class on the art form. (Note: I actually am neither young nor fashionable, but I do love art and trying new things. The classes were free at the Metropolitan Library and I also knew the teacher.)

The top right snowflake pendant is a piece that our teacher made.

At a craft show last November, my booth was next to an artist who sold beautiful pendants and ornaments ... made from paper!! I was blown away by the fact that everything in her booth was made from paper and that she handmade each piece. The artist was Toni Swayze. She has been making paper art for over a decade and is a member of both the North American Quilling Guild and the Quilling Guild based in the United Kingdom. We talked throughout the day and she informed me that she teaches for the Metropolitan Library System. We exchanged contact information and she promised to enroll me in her next class.

Fast forward a few months and Lacey & I find ourselves in Paper Quilling for Beginners. Toni started class with a brief history lesson and showed us some examples of her finished artwork. We then learned about our quilling tools. Our main tool was a metal pick with a slot across the head. The object was to slide the end of a strip of paper into the slot and coil the paper into a small tight spiral. We made several of these spirals for practice. Once we got the hang of it, we moved onto other rolled shapes. Toni provided us with a chart of basic shapes. We made tear drops, squares and hearts. After we finished making all the simple shapes, our "assignment" was to design a flower. The pattern was a little hard to follow so I made my own flowers. Since we mastered the basic techniques in the beginners class, Toni invited us back for her advanced class a week later.

Mine are the two flowers on the bottom left and Lacey's is the one to the right. She was much better a following the flower pattern.

There were five students in the beginners' class. Only three of us returned for the advanced class. The advanced class was certainly advanced. We were all given a new quilling chart with much more complicated patterns. I don't think my technique would have granted me access to the advanced class but I knew the teacher (yay for connections, right?) and Lacey was an expert quiller. The shapes we made in the advanced class used multiple strips of paper. My favorite were the beehive (below, purple) and royal flower (below, yellow). For these two shapes, we started by rolling a large tear drop shape. We then rolled another strip of paper into small spirals and then put the spiraled paper into the large tear drop.

Mine's on the left and Lacey's is on the right.

Since this was the advanced class, Toni assumed everyone was familiar with the techniques and we moved through the chart fairly quickly. I would have preferred a more thorough demonstration, as I needed some one-on-one assistance on a few of the shapes. Since it was a small class, we finished a little early and Toni was able to spend some time working at mine and Lacey's table toward the end of class. I really struggled with the Malaysian shape, which is a spiraled tear drop curled into another tear drop. Lacey's is the perfect blue one in the picture above. My first attempt was awful so Toni gave me more paper for a second attempt. Sadly, it did not turn out much better. LOL She also showed us examples of her work that incorporated the shapes we were learning. That woman makes some amazing flowers and butterflies!

I enjoyed paper quilling and I think it was fun to learn but I do not believe I will be adding it to my collection of hobbies. It proved to be a very involved and time consuming task. It took me forever to finish the simple projects we made in class (I can't imagine how long it takes for more complicated designs!) The advanced patterns demanded too much precision. After making a handful of coils and scrolls--and most of them oddly misshapen-- the task became less fun and more tedious. I just do not have enough patience for it. Which is why I am glad people like Toni go to craft shows... if I ever need a beautiful paper pendant, I know who to buy from!

Toni generously provided us each supplies and instructions for a project to complete at home.