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Table of contents
Start your packing for quilt retreat!
It’s quilt retreat and time to take your sewing on the road!
First, for quilters to go through all the trouble of taking down one work station to pack to all up, travel, and set it up somewhere else means it MUST be a lot of fun! Whether you go for the social time, productivity, shopping or a combination, making the launch from home sewing to retreat sewing can be easy!
Keep it all in one spot.
I have a friend who keep duplicates of all sewing supplies. Of course, that is the ultimate way to pack and travel. But if space and budget don’t allow for duplicates, try using a central command center.
Find a organizer that works at home and away.
The one I use, pictured above holds just about all the little tools and gadgets I need for retreat. I can even store my mini iron in the center section.
I tend to take a lot of items on quilt retreat because I want to pack (no pun intended) everything I can into those lovely few days. Overall, I like to enjoy all the aspects of a good retreat which include laughter, fabric shopping, relaxation time, yummy food, reading, movies, music, and walks, I’m still a high production type of quilter.
No sense spending time looking for supplies.
Whether in my studio or on the road I need to see what I’ve got and know where to find it.
Below is a very unofficial list of some of the things I take on retreat. I hope it helps you get ready for your next adventure of quilting on the road.
- Sewing machine (with cord, pedal, extra light bulb, bobbins, and attachments)
- Table
- Extra lighting
- Projects, preferably pre-cut
- Felt-backed table cloth for make-shift design wall
- Other supplies such as seam ripper, rotary cutter, blades, rulers, and cutting mat.
- Iron and pressing mat or board and pressing spray.
- Extension cords and electrical strips.
- Personal items, including clothes, usually get packed last for me! You might consider walking shoes, rice bag for sore shoulders, and pain relief.
- Charger cords
- Snacks
The rest of the story.
NOW for the REST of the story! Below I reveal everything that is actually in my spinning work station.
Without a doubt, I don’t use all of these items daily. But when at quilt retreat, it’s best to not be without! Starting at the top left, you see fusible web, pressing spray, mini iron, chain-piecing cutter, a very cute rice bag (made by my friend, Donna). Next you see various rotary blades, The Purple Thang, a gripper tool, bandages, rotary cutter, and two sizes of Karen K. Buckley scissors.
It is wise to clean out your organizer now and then!
Following that is a pre-cuts guide for fabric purchase emergencies, thumb tacks, pins, cord wrap, thread, Q-tips, battery, thread and button, needles, a plethora of markers and pencils, snipping scissors, and Fabric Fuse. Surprisingly, the next row starts with the back of something which apparently held batteries, a calculator, a guild directory, business cards, note pads, and another gripper tool. Lastly, there are clips for hanging design wall, True Grips (truly a favorite), and last, but not least, Martelli cutters (I am an ambidextrous cutter, so I use both left and right-handed ones).
Read more about retreats here at: One Sweet Retreat and Friendship, Laughter & Quilts, Oh My! and Seven Projects from Quilt Retreat
