Joyful Journey Retreat #3 -- the Wrap-Up

Hard to believe, but our 3rd annual Joyful Journey Retreat has been over a week already. We are all still on a high from such a great 5 days of fun, fellowship and LOTS of quilting!.

This year's awesome group--19 wonderful women: 

Five of these women were new to  the group, getting a chance to join when cancellations happened. They are now guaranteed to be part of the gang next year, if they want. All 5 felt welcomed immediately and took every chance to get to know the others. And the regulars got to know them too.

When I came up with this idea about 4 years ago, I wisely chose my friend Kathy Root to be the Admin--she handles the money, the bedroom and table assignments, registrations and lots of other things. She is great to bounce ideas off of and we make a pretty great team. We wanted this to be an EVENT--not just free sewing time. Each year the Retreat exceeds our expectations!

To encourage people to get to know each other, we do a few things not often done at retreats. First, we ask everyone to sit with different people at each of the 11 meals. There are only two tables but lots of chances to sit beside most everyone there, at least once.

After each meal we have "20 Questions": two different people select a question at random and answer it for all to hear. Just a few to give you an idea:

What is your greatest accomplishment to date?

What advice would you give your 20 year old self?

What is your favorite quilt that you  have made so far?

What is your best memory?

All questions are positive, open-ended, and designed to let the group know something about all of us, that might not come up in general conversation. We don't know what our question will be until we draw it. This is the one thing that has helped to form friendships and a bond that makes people want to return.

Every year we rearrange sewing table assignments to prevent the "territorial thing" that can happen from year to year. Sitting near new people is good for everyone. 

A few photos to show just a bit of the fun and productivity that occurred during our 5 day, 4 night Joyful Journey Retreat:

AdventureLand pattern by SuzyQuilts, my first finish 

Kathy with her first finished top

Saturday morning brought a light dusting of snow

Several worked on Garden Party Down Under 

Suzie caught up on her 365 Challenge in Teal 

Regular Brenda declared this her first ever "over the railing" quilt--a show entry for HQH show

First-timer Shelley made this beautiful elephant collage and we all wanted to know how--she showed us

                                                       

Audra got this far on a long-term project--beautiful!

It's a "make-up free zone", a "pj's all day are fine zone" and a "Drama-Free Zone".  And it is full of teachable moments. Everyone learns at least one new thing, including me. Much sharing and caring happens at this Event. Life advice can be offered with love by those who have experienced your troubles. 

One brought a quilt she had just picked up from a long arm quilter. The owner was not happy with the job and asked if anyone agreed with her that there were problems. When all agreed, she felt a little better but faced the daunting task of removing all the quilting so it could be redone. Many people jumped in with their stitch rippers and although it took all of Retreat, the quilting was removed and a celebration was heard when the last stitch came out--now, that's friendship:

Hard at work "un-sewing" 

Cue the "Hallelujah Chorus":

And no Retreat  report would be complete if we didn't mention the food. First, quilters bring lots of snacks to share, this is just an early photo, before everyone arrived, the counter was ultimately full:

We had 11 meals, all excellent, and most different from the last two Retreats. Three times a day the dinner bell called us to eat and we all agreed, it is the DINNER BELL we will miss the MOST!

Homemade Lasagna, full of gooey cheese--great!

Each meal we eagerly look at the Menu board to see what awaits

Those with dietary needs were accommodated, with their meals in separate dishes from the rest. They were very appreciative. 

So now we look forward to next year, March 1-5, 2023. If any of these women can't attend, we'll work our way down the waitlist. A couple who had to cancel this year hope to get back in. And there are others who want to experience what is truly a Joyful Journey, on the road of life as well as quilting.

Let's quilt.

Barbara