Retreat Fun or En Provence is a Wrap

At the end of March I attended a quilt retreat. This was a Christmas gift from Dash along with gift cards to the store hosting the retreat. I took my Dresden project which was planned and started just for the retreat. I also took my finished En Provence top, batting and backing to quilt on the longarm.

Retreats are such fun, even for me, so shy and bashful. I sewed on my Dresdens the first day (more on those in am upcoming post) but the second day was my appointment with the longarm!

I learned how to pin the backing to the stretcher bars.

And how to thread the machine! I chose this soft lavender thread.

The longarm is nothing like I imagined. The batting gets basted onto the backing at the top, then it and the quilt top just floats. See it all bunched up at the bottom?

Here I am maybe halfway finished. I got many compliments on the quality of my piecing and my fabric choices. All told, it took about three hours to get this quilted.

After I got it trimmed up, I returned to my table, made binding and slapped it on the front. Hand sewing it to the back had to wait until I get home. I was so tired that night! My body and brain had such a workout!

Once home, I spent several hours watching TV and stitching the binding to the back. I wanted to get a photo outdoors but it won't stop raining!

The backing looks fabulous, as I knew it would, and I love the lavender dot fabric on the binding.

I learned so much doing this Mystery Quilt! So many new blocks and how to longarm quilt. I really look forward to this years' holiday season...when the next mystery comes out!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox