Monday, May 7, 2018

Goals: (new) Retreat

Planning for a retreat with my newest quilt guild.  It's at an unfamiliar location, and extends for more days than I'm used to.  The retreat organizer said, "These are long, full days; bring more things to work on than you think you should."
Does she know who she's talking to???  I always bring too much (even when I'm just going to watch a tennis match).  I have gone completely overboard at times with how many sewing projects I bring with me, so this encouragement to "bring more" has me oddly confused.

On the list (so far)

1.  Quick Curve Ruler sampler
Worked on this at January retreat in Oregon, with the goal of finishing 4 blocks.  Finished 1 (due to distracting myself), but this is my main piecing goal for this retreat. (QCR patterns, including the Curve it Up Sampler I'm working on, available from Sew Kind of Wonderful; love this ruler!)

2.  Ruler/mat tote bag
I signed up for this class in March, but wasn't able to go due to illness.  Should be a quick make, and will be a most welcome item for toting my mats & rulers to future adventures.

3.  Black & white table runner
Finished (re)piecing the borders of this at a different retreat.  My goal here is to sandwich and machine quilt.

4.  Blanket stitch cats
The Relaxing Round Robin project of 2014 just waits around for me to be interested in hand embroidery.  Which doesn't happen often.  Last worked on over Winter Break.  Not even halfway thru those 8 pesky cats.

5.  Another Hawaiian-shirt-into-apron
This is a birthday gift, and should be a quick make.  Shirt is already cut; maybe I even cut the binding, too.

6.  Retreat project
We were told to bring red & blue strips and scraps for making some sort of string quilt.  I have a red that I'm dying to use up, so along it will come.

I think I have room for 9 projects, but I worry that the more "almost finished" projects I bring, the less I will work on my QCR sampler.  On the other hand, having a couple more items to be sandwiched and/or quilted might not be a bad way to spend retreat time.  I don't tend to "quilt" at home, due to my perceived lack of space. 

Or, I could bring a couple more of the always-put-on-the-back-burner hand stitching projects.  I find that stitching in a crowd makes the handwork less onerous.

Endless listmaking: does anyone else do this?

Thoughts?  Opinions??  Should I bring more than is listed here--maybe put the extras in a sealed box to be opened in case of emergency?  Or is this entire list and its associated angst just more evidence that my scattered brain simply refuses to stick to any sort of prioritized system?