The Lori Holt Retreat - recap

About 6 months ago, a friend, Ernie, was wondering 

if I would be attending the Lori Holt retreat in Utah 

this year at Thimble and Threads. 

Last October I had traveled alone to attend the retreat.

 I made great friends while I was there, Betsy, Ernie and Nattalie.

Betsy and Ernie were brewing plans for this years' retreat and I was happy they included me.

Around that exact same time, Stefanie from Little Lady Patchwork and I had been talking about traveling to Quilt Con in 2017 or Sisters Outdoor Quilt show. We weren't sure what we'd do but we wanted to do something quilting. 

It dawned on me that a Lori Holt retreat would be a perfect way to combine quilting, travel and a friend meet up.

 So we did it. We signed up!

Here we are with Lori at the end of the retreat.

On the first day that we arrived, Stefanie and I went on a short quilt shop hop.

We stopped at Pine Needles in Gardner Village, Quilts Etc., Heartfelt Hobby and Craft in Sandy.

We had the token Cafe Rio for lunch and I found out later that it was also for dinner! 

I really didn't mind. 

I'm kind of addicted to Cafe Rio salad dressing.

While we were shopping, 

I found my book Large - Block Quilts at Quilts Etc.!

If you are looking for a copy - they are in Utah :0

We had a blast and the retreat hadn't started yet!

Se my ruler pal from the Fat Quarter Shop Sew Sampler? 

I have used it at 2 retreats now. 

I love it for being in a small space because my rulers can go vertical!

Wednesday night Lori introduced all of her quilts from the Scrappy Planner.

Pictures do not do these quilts justice. Pictures rarely do any quilt justice.

I was in awe at how pretty they really are.

I loved listening to the stories that Lori told about the quilts and her life, not to mention her tips on organizing and USING your fabric.

I am pretty sure there are a lot of quilters that are afraid to cut their fabric. 

I know I am one of them for all sorts of wacky reasons. 

A couple of days before the retreat, 

I made a decision and took stack after stack of fabric I was a bit afraid to cut and I cut it up like to book suggests. 

It was liberating plus I used all those pretty prints.

This particular quilt dropped me to my knees (figuratively) during the trunk show.

 I know it's not applique, gold or fancy in any way.

It was made with low volume or what Lori calls Busy Backgrounds.

I have a ton of these prints in my stash that just never seem to 'fit' as a background.

The light bulb has gone off. I am making one of these quilts - KING size.

I NEED this for my bed. 

I just do.

Now don't get all excited now, I haven't even started it yet but it's in the queue.

Oh but wait there was more.

More? how on earth.

We were all BLOWN out of the water with not one 

BUT four new blocks that Lori had drawn up.

I wasn't expecting it at all.

Again I was stunned. I think I spent half the retreat stunned.

I made the Zinnia block first. Good Lord that pink and Lori has other plans for that one.

But doesn't she have a plan for everything? lol :)

Then I moved on the Scrappy Apple. 

I knew she would focus on her new book the Scrappy Organizer 

as they told us that about 2 weeks before. 

I pre cut what I could for that quilt so that I could have some blocks to sew right away.

Then I started to see what everyone else was making and moved on the acorn block.

So sweet.

 I know the Fat Quarter Shop will have these blocks eventually but I think the employee that makes the downloadable patterns may be on maternity leave. 

But they will be coming I've been told.

So as the weekend went, 

I sewed more scrappy apples.

 I just loved seeing all the blocks that the other gals were making. So much inspiration.

My beehive block and all three of the new ones together. 

I didn't get my crow done as I spent too much time on the scrappy apple blocks. 

It's on my do list though.

Here I am with my friends Ernie and Betsy. I miss these girls already so much that we are going to plan another retreat of some sort for 2017.

An finally a group picture. 

A few are missing as some unfortunate events caused a few to leave early but most of us are there.

I missed mentioning so many good stories, highlights and pictures but this post is already LONG.

Follow me on Instagram and you will see a whole lot more pictures and what fun was had.

One last thing I'd like to say 

If you ever get a chance to attend a Lori Holt event or retreat... do not hesitate. 

You won't regret it.  And you never know, I might meet you there!