Our little group of five went to the Retreat at the Farm once again…lots of sewing, lots of laughs and lots of food! This was a bittersweet retreat as it was our last one with Becky before she moves to New Brunswick. Even though we know she will be traveling to join us for occasional future retreats it just won’t be the same without her on a regular basis. Luckily, with the technology that’s available to us these days, there will be many virtual sew days together through Zoom.

Becky is also into English paper piecing like I am and because she and her husband travel all over the US and Canada to visit their 5 sons, their partners and her 2 1/2 grandchildren (LOL), we gave her a gift that would allow her to take her EPP with her wherever she goes. Since I’ve made so many bags using ByAnnie patterns I designed a bag for Becky using many of the techniques I learned from their pattern instructions. This tote has enough interior pockets to hold all the necessary supplies and completed small blocks and sections. We filled it with the tools she uses most and we hope she’ll think of us every time she uses it. We dubbed it The Becky Bag and I liked it so much I made one for myself using many of the same fabrics. Below are the interior pockets of my own bag as I forgot to take pictures of Becky’s.

Everybody accomplished a lot while we were there. Patti worked on a block-of-the-month quilt, made a really pretty heart quilt top using the Amore pattern from the book Go Bold With 3 Yard Quilts, and completed a table topper with the cutest striped Santa fabric using the 60 degree ruler.

Gail focused on finishing a quilt that she started at another retreat last year. She made her blocks using a striped fabric with horse-drawn sleighs offset with quarter square triangle blocks that created a secondary design. It turned out so well. Not only that, but she was able to complete a couple of quilted Christmas stockings…and they’re even ready for this year! LOL.

Marg made a few more zippered pouches…we’ve lost count as to how many she’s made over the years. She also worked on the most gorgeous bargello quilt by Angela Walters using the most luscious colours. This was a kit that she purchased when she went to a Doan Girls Retreat at Missouri Star Quilt Co this past summer.

The grandchildren are arriving quickly in Becky’s life right now so her focus has been on making things for them. She completed 12 receiving blankets and finished this great quilt using half square triangles in clear bright colours. The Seeds fabric in white with black seeds by Free Spirit Fabrics is a great background to all the colours. She also gave Marg a hand in organizing her wonky Christmas trees to be used in a table runner.

As for me, I quilted and bound two donation quilts for our guild, added extra blocks to my second Plaid-ish quilt and flying geese quilt to make them larger for the beds in the sleeping cabin at the cottage, completed my own Becky Bag and worked on some foundation paper piecing. Of course the others made more stuff too, but I forgot to take pictures of everything.

Like I said before, this retreat was bittersweet because we will miss Becky when she moves in December, but we know she’s going to make other quilty friends in New Brunswick…they just won’t be as wacky as us! LOL!