FQSR London 2012 in retrospect (1)

Fat Quarterly Sewing Retreat in London is over :o(

It was super great and an experience I will probably never ever forget.

So this is how it all came along...

When I arrived at the hotel in London around 2 pm the hotel bar was already filled with chatter, excitement and laughter (and maybe even a beer or two). 

B.t.w. I'm very thankful for Katy's tattoos. Easily recognizable :o) 

But I'm even more thankful for the warm reception everyone there gave me. 

We had burgers and fries for a late lunch/ early dinner...

... and instead of joining the Tikki group, Laura-Jane, Justine, Amanda and I went to visit Regent Street and Liberty. 

Great evening, Ladies, thanks for taking me along!!!

Next morning, first day of FQSR: the Main Hall of Baden Powell House Conference Centre was humming as 105 sewists were greeting each other, double checking blog names, hometowns/ -countries, comparing class schedules,...

I finally met Vicky with whom I swapped name tags privately :o)

She made this super nice name tag for me 

(look at all this incredible hand stitching!!! 

She even stitched grapes and hearts for me!)

John (aka Quiltdad) kicked the FQSR off on behalf of the FQ Team

... and classes began. My first was portholes with Lucie Summers.

Funny, entertaining and a new skill learned.

Altough a video of her making faces would have been more appropriate than pictures :o)

Above you can see the pillow I made from the sample block (envelope back was done in class, binding still needs to be sewn on).

Before lunch we swapped our samples 

(Thank you Trash for organizing this blast!!!)

And look at these incredible goodies I received from these awesome Ladies above that were drawn by number to "my" group: An embroidered hoop with Rufus the Fox by Jo "Bearpaw", a purse by Tammy, a survival London lunchbag filled with numerous stuff (sellotape, candle, battery, eraser etc.) made by Amy and a selvage flower pin by Mary. Thank you very much for these lovely samples!

After lunch, I took Lynne's Paper Pieced Pillows class and she managed to kick my skills up from "terrified" to "confident beginner". I will definitely try this again and will probably aim at a more complex block next time! Below you can see the blocks I made during her class:

To be honest, I was quite overwhelmed by then. So many new faces, new techniques and the foreign language were fairly trying. Though in a good, exciting and cheery way. I had such a great day until then and it got even better. Before we left for dinner, John started the raffle. A big trunk seemed to bursting with goodies: books, patterns, thread, jelly rolls, fat quarter bundles, charm packs, layer cakes... you name it. And lucky me won an oakshot fabric bundle in my favourite colour line (grey-ish neutrals). Yayyyy! Thanks to all the generous sponsors, there were screams, squeals and applause everywhere!

It was burgers and fries again for dinner though with different people. This is Vicky, Caroline, Gemma, Helen and me.

There was more sewing and chatting and snacking at BPHCC throughout the evening 

(scheduled until 11 pm including Jelly Roll Race and the Iron Man Competition. I wasn't able to complete my Jelly Roll Quilttop - due to too much chat ;o) - so no pictures yet)...

... and more chatting, laughing and drinking at the hotel bar afterwards.

And all that fun was just Day One!!!

I hope to see you soon for a recap of Day Two.

Happy Sewing!

Christine