Mid-Atlantic Mod

So I am just now unpacking and catching-up from an amazing weekend at Mid-Atlantic Mod.  Yup, it's been a week since I returned but I have been scrambling at work from those two extra days of being off.  I did take my nice camera, but I was having so much fun that all I managed to take was IG pics on my Nexus (sorry!)

Mid-Atlantic Mod was a joint venture put together by Andrew from the Philadelphia MQG, Jess from Central Jersey MQG, and Katie from the DCMQG, and wow did they do a fantastic job!  65 quilters from the Mid-Atlantic region got together at the Doubletree in Lancaster PA for a 4 day quilting extravaganza :)

These are just the projects I packed.  I had a laundry basket with interfacing, an ironing board, ott light and other stuff... PLUS my clothes, lol!

After packing up way too much stuff, I headed off to Lancaster.  It's a really convenient, straight shoot via Rt. 30 and took a little over 2 hours because of traffic congestion in York, PA.  Since this was my first quilting retreat I had no idea how much I could realistically get accomplished.  I guess I overestimated since I figured I could get a TON of sewing done without having to worry about dishes/laundry/vacuuming/work, etc. etc.

It was so great getting to meet other quilters whom I had only known through the online community that I ended up socializing the majority of Thursday and only managed to get two of my Briar Rose blocks constructed (more on that on Wednesday!).

Shopping for Kona solids at Burkholders.  Photo from @jtlevitt 

I got a little bit more done on Friday... especially SHOPPING!  Jess S., Jess L., Rachel and I took a trip to Burkholder's which was about a 40 minute drive (you can see more pics of our trip on Jess's post linked at the bottom of this post).  Burkholder's was giving Mid-Atlantic Mod attendees a generous 25% discount so I walked out of there with quite a bit of fabrics, some out-of-print and hard-to-find.

Sassy Tassel Pop Shop

When we arrived back at the Doubletree, the proprietor of the Sassy Tassel in downtown Lancaster had set up an amazing pop shop in the ballroom.  She had some great out of print fabrics: Tula's Parisville, AMH Innocent Crush, DS Hopevalley... /swoon.  The Sassy Tassel was also offering an awesome 25% off, AND buy 4 get on free on all pre-cuts.  Needless to say, I bought more fabric :p

Fabric Haul from Burkholder's and the Sassy Tassel.  Check out all those OOP beauties!

Kona: Cloud, Alegria, School Bus, Camellia, Sour Apple, Cerise, Kale

I really went to Burkholder's for solids, which I legitimately needed for my Briar Rose blocks.  But as you can see I came home with way more.  But at such great deals and so many OOP fabrics, who could resist?!?!

Saturday, I took two workshops: Piecing Gentle Curves with Andrew, and Modern Log Cabins with Jess L.

Piecing Gentle Curves fabric pull and results

Modern Log Cabin Block

I really don't have definite plans for these blocks yet, but it was nice to break out of my comfort zone and try new techniques.  One thing I discovered that I do really love working with solids so I'll have to be sure to keep stashing them!

Besides working on the Briar Rose quilt for my niece, I wanted to make a divided basket for a friend who just had a baby (to match the quilt I made for her).

Silly me, I decided to start the divided basket around midnight on Saturday... it's definitely hard to follow directions after a few beers and an exciting day.  I did end up finishing it on Sunday morning but unfortunately didn't get to stop by and see my friend after the retreat as planned... it came in handy for toting my fabric haul home though!

All-in-all it was such an amazing experience to meet people that were previously bloggy friends, and to make many many new friends.  Hopefully I can start attending DCMQG meetings regularly even though it's a not terribly close to my house.  The entire weekend was so inspiring, even if it wasn't terribly productive.  I will hopefully be able to return next year, and hope you'll join us too!!!

Things to remember for next year:

• participate in a few of the activities
• a cushion for the hotel chair with a fancy cover of course
• shoes with more arch support
• veggie snacks 
• more travel handmade items :)

Kickass SWAG!

There are so many things that I didn't cover in this post, so you should check out some other great Mid-Atlantic Mod recaps!  And the #midatlanticmod hashtag on Instagram :)
Jess @ Quilty Habit
Rachel @ Like to Sew (part 1) (part 2)
Miki @ Sparrow Quilts
DCMQG
Linda @ I Finally Have Time