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Monday 4 June 2012

Hi Honey, I'm home...

Yep, home from Retreat and still trying to get it all out of my buzzing head and into some sort of order!

Firstly, trying to blog from my phone over the weekend was a bit of a fat-finger struggle, and that was when I wasn't so engrossed and blogging was the last thing on my mind.  So apologies it wasn't more, and thank you now for your comments - they were even harder to access, but much appreciated.

Secondly, the District Nurse has been to see me this morning, (for those who don't know - I had a bit of a mishap with the kettle and my forearm on Friday afternoon, perfect timing eh?), it looks and feels really horrible now, going to take ages to heal, nice big scar, and without the Retreat adrenalin I am starting to feel a bit upset and sorry for myself, so thank you for caring xxx

Anyhow, there are lots of posts going up already about the most amazing sewing weekend we have just had, so I don't expect this will be the first, or last you will have read, so apologies if you are bored already, (because I will probably be able to string this out over the whole week if I try), but if you want to see more, here we go, my Retreat overview...


It all started when I met my new/old friend Nicky on the train up to London just after 7am; she only lives about 15 miles from me, but we had never met before; and as was to prove true all weekend, it really was just like meeting old friends you'd not seen in a long time, when in fact for most of us we had never met at all - really quite surreal.

We were joined by Fiona at Victoria Station and got a cosy cab to Baden Powell House, chatting all the time like the old mates we are.

Fat Quarterly Crew were there waiting - I will say now that they all, Lynne, Katy, Brioni, Tacha and John, along with Kerry, Aneela, Lucie, Claudia and any of the other teachers and organizers, are the most awesome and inspiring bunch that you are likely to meet, and I can't thank them enough for the Retreat itself or the camaraderie and friendships the Retreat has created.  There was definitely a lot of joy for the ones who were there and lots of mention of our friends around the world who couldn't make it - there should have been a lot of quilty ears burning this weekend!

After the most manic hour imaginable, think 100 women and 2 (poor) men, all shrieking and hugging and talking at once, classes began.

Now you may have noticed my camera-shyness, so I didn't put others through the pain of the 'enforced hurry-up-and-press-the-button smile', unlike some - you know who you are!, so most of my pictures were more crowd shots.  I didn't take that many, and many of those were blurry, but I am so glad that others are already sharing theirs, so I will be favouriting many of those on flickr over the coming days I hope.

So, I took freezer paper piecing with Kerry first - I loved it - not so sure my attempts did her skills and instruction justice; it should be noted that for all classes, what would normally take about half an hour at home took about three times as long - I just can't do sewing and chattering, and hey, I can sew alone any old time right?!
After an intense meet-shriek-and try-to-eat lunch hour, including the brilliant goodie swap, I had the joy of a refreshing few hours embroidering in Aneela's class.  Now Aneela is a quiet sort, but don't be fooled by her beautiful gentle designs and soft voice, she is in fact evil with her iPad and if she's not careful I don't think I will let her be my friend any more!
Now please remember that although there were moments of calm, much of the non-class time was spent, for me, and I suspect many others, flitting between groups of people, never really getting to sit for a long chat, trying not to miss a thing. 

There was an amazingly generous raffle, Iron Women, fugly swapping and goodie bags and so much more, topping off Day One with a Brit Bee & Friends dinner.  By which point I was so exhausted from my 5.30am start that my conversational skills were that of a 2 year old.
I had a comfortable night in my lovely hotel room, and Sunday started bright and early with Lynne's Paper-piecing class; I will sum that up as 'much hilarity' and the start of something lovely.

Lunch was a rather calmer affair, followed by a fantastic frame purse session with The Tattooed Quilter (as seen on Channel4 - we so wish), I loved this class, and it was the perfect finish to my 'formal' time.
There was more chatting, photocalls and giveaways, challenge judging and general milling about before we headed out into the rain and mayhem of 20 million Jubilee celebrators(?) just after 5pm.
Now I have deliberately not name-checked all the amazing people I was lucky enough to have spent time with this weekend - because you know who you are and I would be so embarrassed if I forgot to mention anyone, because everyone was great, and also I am now already thinking of the people who I intended to spend a bit of time with and completely didn't - doh!

Well this has already turned out way longer than I was expecting, so tomorrow I will show you the things I made, and Wednesday maybe the other things I came home with, if that's OK.

I will now be trying hard to catch up with everyone else's posts and photos too and maybe putting some of my new skills into practice.  I need to cram in a Jubilee street party and some family time over the long bank holiday and maybe some sleep at some point, because I definitely need some more of that!
xxx

45 comments:

  1. taking me straight back to it Hadley, so lovely to meet you and meet everybody- let's do it all again!

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  2. Oh dear. I'm crying again. Omg. It was so amazing. Thank you thank you thank you soooooo much. I had the best weekend ever.

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  3. Aw, thank you Hadley :-) I have been waiting for your post with eager anticipation so I could see you all & hear what you all got up to & somehow feel a part of it all....by the sound of it everyone had the most amazing time & therefore it will become an annual event...I do hope so!!! Hope poorly arm is quickly on the mend for you x

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  4. It looked like so much fun... I followed along on Twitter, Instagram and Flickr on my phone from a most uncomfortable bed... Just made myself chortle thinking how very different our show and tells would be!

    Thank you for the lovely glimpses xxx

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  5. Oi Missus! It was lovely to meet you in person and chat to you, even I though you wouldn't let my camera be your friend. Thank you for my birdie brooch too, I will wear it for ever!!! :)

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  6. YOU are on MY list of people to spend time with but somehow never got to catch up with you between classes and dinners etc... Glad to have at least met if briefly! Thanks for your review. I'm not posting yet, am working at the moment and sneaking 5 mins break here and there! Once I'm done with the rush job I'll go and unpack and load my photos. Great to meet you and everyone!

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  7. Ha Hadley - great meeting you too at last - your forgot to mention the scary ride home on the train stuffed with all the silly people not at FQR but at some minor celebratory event on the same weekend - can't think what that could have been!

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  8. I sure hope you feel better soon! I had such a great time and it was so nice to meet you in person! You might even be more camera shy than I am, I was not sure that was possible.

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  9. So happy to get this update! Now take care of that arm. Burns take a while to heal.

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  10. Glad you're home safely! I really enjoyed following along with all the pictures. I'll send happy healing no scar vibes your arm's way...

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  11. I am loving reading all the FQR posts. I was sorry I didn't get to go but am enjoying seeing the pics and hearing all about it. Much more fun than sitting in the sidelines as the build up took place. I really hope they do it again next year and I can go!

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  12. Gosh I didn't know you had a crash with the kettle. Hope you feel better soon and it was so fab to meet you.

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  13. It was lovely to meet you Hadley even though we didn't really get to chat much. I hope to see you again next year :) Take care of that arm!

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  14. Sounds like an awesome, manic, well-spent weekend! Still jealous, haha. Sorry to hear about your arm - I hope you'll recover soon-ish and feel better.

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  15. Great post - thank you!! I hope your arm gets better sooner than expected and that you're being well taken care of, with lots of 'Mammy's got a poorly arm, let's hug her better' opportunities!

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  16. Ouch! sorry to hear about your arm. Hope that it heals up extra quickly and well.
    Loving your Trip Report and can't wait for the next instalment.
    xxxx

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  17. It was such a great weekend! Did the district nurse come on her bike? Bet your train was as packed as ours, and you suitcases got in the way of the crowds. Xox

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  18. I hope your arm is better soon! Burns can be so painful!
    It looks like you have a great time!

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  19. Great post Hads! Lots of lovely memories to hold on to! Hope your arm heals quickly. Jxo

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  20. It was fabulous to have met you at last Hadley and wasn't the weekend amazing. Wish I could have stayed longer, but so glad to have got there at all! Hope there is another next year!

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  21. Sounds completely amazing! Hope that arm recovers soon, we can't let you start slacking!

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  22. It was so lovely to meet you! You've captured some lovely moments from the weekend. Hope your arm is better soon!

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  23. It was so nice to meet you, Miss Hadley! Take good, good care of that stitching arm. xx

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  24. You are awesome and did so amazing with that burnt arm. Still managed to flip a finger or two at me when you saw the camera being pointed! Not sure why because I got a fab photo or two of you.

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  25. Thank you so much for this post and for all the glimpses during the retreat. Now I want even more to be there with you all next time.
    Hope your arm heals soon.

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  26. So happy to read this although really wish I could have met you! Look after your arm H.

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  27. Sounds like you had a great time! i loved your posts, it was *almost* as good as being there. Hope your arm heals quickly

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  28. It was so lovely to meet you Hadley, I'm sorry we didn't get to hang out more and I wish I could have stayed for the Sunday too (next year, eh?) If you want to arrange a meet up in the meantime please do give me a shout, it would be fab to get together, maybe we could meet in the middle? Hope your poor arm heals up soon.
    R xxx

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  29. Thank you for telling us about it, I am glad you had a good time, and sorry about your kettle incident. Hope it heals well and quickly. Looking forward to the next installment!

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  30. Lovely to read about it, yes, this is first blog but quite possibly the irt of many! So glad you njoyed it!

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  31. Lovely to have finally met you! What a wonderful weekend.... take care & hope your arm is better soon

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  32. Sorry about your burned arm. I'll throw kisses across the pond in hopes they help it heal faster.
    Got a burning questions about blogging by phone. I'm off to Sweden & Finland this July giving me a reason to upgrade my ten-year-old phone with a new Smart Phone.
    Since this phone is way smarter than me and I and the phone are waging war over my internet accounts and logging on, I need some advice.
    When you can breathe.
    Maybe sleep without kids all over you 'cause they missed you.

    What phone do you have?
    If Smart phone, is there a better blogger app than the first free one?
    This app would let me enter a title to a post but no content. no pictures either. grrr.
    Since it is so smart, I can just talk to it and not get jumbo finger syndrome. Unless I figure it out, I will just do a verbal journal and try and post when I get back. Unless there is something better. . .
    any advice would be appreciated.
    I'm glad the FQ retreat was a rousing shriekfest.

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  33. Love this post so much Hadley. So great to meet you, mad lunatic. And love your mosaic pics. Typing on iPad so am typing like a four year old.

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  34. Nice to have met you. Really sorry about your arm and I hope that it heals soon. Great post btw. Di x

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  35. GREEN with envy... but glad you all had a wonderful time ... take care of your arm, slow and sure recovery is the best... NO rubbing/picking/scratching as it gets better xx

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  36. Love your post Hadley. Definitely need to chat more at the next retreat! x

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  37. So great to have put a face to the cheeky Mrs FlyingBlind! Definitely need to talk more at the next retreat.

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  38. Sorry to hear of your accident. I believe Heather also spent Saturday evening at A&E.

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  39. Love your mosaic pictures, lovely to meet you if only briefly, hope your arm gets better soon.

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  40. Hadley! A pleasure to have met you and what a great post! Thanks again for my lovely key fob and wish we could have spent more time laughing together!! Next year for sure yes?!

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  41. Great pictures! It seems I was a bit of everywhere. It looks like you guys had a great time.

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  42. Great summary, Hadley, I want to do it all again now! Hope you're healing nicely xx

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  43. Yay, 'twas fab to meet you, and so glad you only got my hair and tits in that pic (usually my nose and chin like to get in on the horrible act too ;o) )

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  44. Ssssoooooo lovely to meet you, and my keys look rather glamorous this morning - thank you. Really glad you had a lovely time!

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  45. Hoping your arm is doing a little bit better - so lovely to meet you Hadley and can't wait till next year!

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