September ReCap
This month has been so full that I thought I'd sit and just let my mind appreciate all that I have done recently! If you have ever wanted to host a quilting retreat, I'll tell you about our first ever local guild retreat. I was one of the instigators! Does that surprise you?
My heartbeat really is that I want quilters connected to community, so quilt retreats fit that perfectly. I'll tell you my tips for beginning a retreat below.
Quilting friends were asking my advice on what to take to the retreat, so I created an Amazon Storefront with items I recommend. I usually attend a sewing group or class a couple of times per month, so I've learned what helps me set up and sew away from home.
Here's that Amazon Storefront link:
I earn a very small commission when you use my Affiliate links to purchase items. Your price doesn't change. Thanks for supporting Happy Quilty People!
Retreat Planning Advice
Our guild members have traveled hours to get to quilt retreat facilities, but the planning team's hope was that we could host a local retreat that could serve more people in the area's quilting community, without all the travel.
We started by searching out hotels with meeting spaces. We looked at the spaces with 3 criteria in mind: access to good electrical supply, plenty of lighting in the event room, and space for sewing tables and cutting/ironing stations. We toured rooms and even pulled out tables to estimate how many would fit in a space. Every event venue had minimum food and beverage purchase requirements. For each venue we considered, we had to breakdown the cost per person, and we tried to plan on a minimum number of 20 attendees to cover the bases financially.
If you are working within a guild framework, you may need to get a count of how many would be interested in attending, both as a day sewer and as an overnighter. I am one of 4 Programming VPs in the guild that hosted this event. As a planning team, we decided to use our programming budget to simplify both getting the retreat approved and paying for the deposit to hold the open date we wanted.
We found an amazing location locally that hosts both spiritual retreats and weddings. The pivotal moment was asking for a reduced rate because of the guild's nonprofit status. When we moved from wedding event pricing to spiritual retreat pricing, we were so happy! I encourage you to consider spiritual retreat facilities because they are accustomed to hosting large groups that need space, but not necessarily luxury.
Here is the little walkthrough tour of the venue I put together for the attendees to be able to see the location. These rooms are set up with separate sink, toilet, and shower areas, which is wonderful for shared rooms!
This video link is private, so you won't be able to see it on the @happyquiltypeople YouTube page. I'm posting it here just for you.
Having a team made this a much easier task than if one person was handling all the things. One person handled keeping track of all the computer stuff: payments & signups, room assignments, and financial records. That is the rockstar job! I handled contacting the manager, taking the deposit, and receiving mailed payments. I also taught a community quilt block (details below). One person gathered up the supplies at the guild storage unit. Another donated a heap of door prizes. We all arrived with full vehicles: ironing boards, paper goods, prizes, electrical connections, quilt stands, etc. Having a team meant that at some point we all actually got to rest or sit and sew or visit. A team of people willing to step in and help where needed is essential.
The only things our local venue lacked that quilting retreats have is quilt design walls and a shop. We brought in quilt stands with grommetted flannel panels to stand in as design walls. We asked a local shop to set up a small store. They also taught a demo for us.
You need at least one person who loves games and bonus fun activities to help plan the events happening throughout your retreat. Having a scedule of bonus activities throughout the weekend created moments for attendees to connect. We had demos, including my community quilt, a late night jelly roll race, tickets for participation, and prizes.
If our guild or Quilts of Valor provided fabrics or jellyrolls to participants, those items were donated back to the quild. We ended the weekend with lots of items that can be sold to fundraise at the next quilt show, as well as 13 quilt tops that will be donated!
Community Quilt
Getting to teach a community quilt class was the highlight of the retreat for me. What is a community quilt? It's a quilt block multiple people in a group work together to create, ending with a quilt top in a short amount of time. If you are interested in an easy, unifying project, I'd love to teach a community quilt to your group.
Thanks for following along on my advestures! Please don't hesitate to ask if you have specific questions.
Shine Bright!
Holly Jo
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