Gathering Friends Retreat (Part 1)

Gathering Friends Retreat started several years ago as a cooperative effort between members of the Hi Desert Quilt Guild in Ridgecrest CA and the Antelope Valley Quilt Guild, my local guild that covers the Palmdale/Lancaster area. It has since evolved into a non-guild event run by Carol and Diane, two impressively organized and energetic ladies who get us all together twice a year.

Originally the retreat was held at a resort near Bakersfield; it was probably in that location for three or four years. The resort changed hands a few times, became a bit seedy, and the retreat was moved to the Hilton Garden Inn, just off the 99 freeway in Bakersfield.

The move was really good in that we have a wonderful big room to sew in, reliably clean and comfortable sleeping rooms, good food and a convenient location from which to visit all the quilt shops in the area.

One of the members of the Ridgecrest guild, showing one of her latest quilts....

I don't know who this is, but I sure liked the quilt! If you recognize your quilt, please leave a comment to this post! I think it's one of our sub-group of 10 people; we all sit together at one end of the room. The tables are arranged so we can all see each other and chat while we sew.

One of the things I like best is the sharing of finished and in progress quilts:


Dawn is one of the most prolific quilters I know -- she brought a lot of things for us to look at...

I've quilted a lot of Dawn's quilt tops -- her piecing is exquisite, as you can see from the closeup.

This is Dawn and April's mom, Theresa (you'll meet April in part 2). Theresa and Dawn make a lot of quilts together, like all of these:

I know Dawn has a full time job, so how do they get so much done? I think one of her secrets is diligence -- she starts a quilt and just keeps working on it every day until it's done! Much better than my scatter shot approach!