I remember looking up from the window in my quilt studio, grabbing the camera and taking a series of photos of this particular sunset. There is something about the color that intrigues me in an “I want to spend more time here” way. The beauty of this particular moment sustains, refreshes, and renews. I love that I’m fascinated by sunsets, the ever changing color, and different every. single. day. I’m thrilled that this windows in either the studio or office, or out my front door provide the opportunity to visit with the sunset, to take a moment and enjoy, to rest, and have the creative “cup” filled up.
For a few years I attended a journaling retreat at a local retreat center. The woman guiding this retreat still holds a place in my heart. Her care and compassion for others speaks to me now. If I have a photo of the quilt I made for her it’s buried in the stacks of actual photos my sweetie and I have in the office…perhaps one day it will be located and shared on this page. The quilt is based on a poster that either she, or a previous retreatant made the year prior to my attendance. Sometime after the retreat I offered to take the concept of the poster and bring it to fruition. By the next journaling retreat the quilt was ready, whew made it! Funny thing: in thinking that I remembered the words (they were written down somewhere) something fascinating, mmm… serendipitious, happened. The words changed from “Journaling…a journey of the heart” to “Journaling…a journey to the heart.”
These retreats bring back such memories of some sometimes challenging personal work and being refreshed and renewed. It is these moments of refreshment that I really begin to give consideration to the idea that’s been niggling in the back of my brain for years. And now, more than ever it’s time to visit the idea of a quilt retreat, that is in part about the sewing and in part about the growing. Quilting has, both personally and professionally, allowed me to gain some serious confidence. There are things I still struggle with, of course. Who doesn’t really? So…this idea, niggling is coming closer to being a reality.
Happy quilting!
Teri
I’d love a retreat of sewing and growing!