AQS Seam Retreat 2025 and more!

I promised Elizabeth that I will write a blog post tonight and I can’t break a promise?

It’s about time I caught up. I’ve just been having too much fun. Tonight I am happily settled in to my hotel room in Novi, Michigan ready to teach at the Original Sewing and Quilting Expo tomorrow.

So, let’s hear all about the trip I took back at the end of September…

Steve came with me for the six hour drive down to Paducah. It was surprise free which is always a good thing. I left him at the hotel when I set off for the Walker Hall Center for my lunchtime presentation, a member appreciation lunch for the local quilt guild from AQS. No one was too sure what to expect, it being the first time such an occasion had been planned.

After a sandwich and soup (and dessert!) lunch I was the entertainment with my Trip Around the World lecture. I took a couple of pictures before we started. It doesn’t matter that you tell everyone you are going to take a photo, some people just don’t co-operate.

And someone took a picture from the other direction…

I don’t often get one of those.

We had a fun time. Everyone went home with a swag bag and then there were extra door prizes and of course I gave out the usual prizes for game participants during the lecture. I think they might get a bigger turnout next year if they do it again?

All done there, I went back to the hotel and collected Steve and we drove further south to Nashville.  Steve struggled with the patchy wi-fi as we drove through Kentucky. I wasn’t terribly sympathetic as I steered through the Friday afternoon traffic 🙂

Jonathan and Lauren had finished work for the day and Lilly and Lucy were ready for our arrival. Entertainment for the weekend included a soccer game, a barbecue with friends and a visit to the Frist Art Museum where the Fabric of a Nation Exhibit from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts was still hanging.

You can follow the link to see more of the quilts but one of my favorite ones was a pieced and embroidered wool quilt dating back to the late 1830s.

My close up pics are a bit fuzzy but I think you can get the idea. Lots of chain stitch!

And one picture of Lilly and Lucy before we headed back in the car.

We put Steve on a plane home on Sunday evening but I stayed one more night before I drove back to Paducah and checked back in the Riverfront Holiday Inn ready for the first ever AQS Seam retreat. You might remember me mentioning it in previous posts (?) and now it was finally time to get my room ready and meet the students for my Contemporary Improv Piecing and Walking Foot Quilting: Let’s take the Scenic Route together! class.

We started with an evening reception at the National Quilt Museum on the Tuesday evening and got to stitching on Wednesday. Over four days we tried some basic improv exercises and then added all manner of walking foot quilting and hand stitching before finishing with either binding or facings…

Some people came with friends but most of my class had booked to come by themselves. We all quickly bonded over our stitching!

They told me later that the first day was very intense.  I had been worried in case people thought they weren’t learning enough!

Lots of improv blocks went up on the design boards.

It was good to see everyone’s progress as people became more confident and went back and worked on what appealed to them the most.

There was lots to share in our show and tell on the fourth and final day.

Time for a final party!

We all made our way to Walker Hall for desserts and lots of show and tell.

Sue Nickels and Pat Holly’s class had had a good time working on blocks for a mini Beatles’ Quilt.

I didn’t get any pictures of my class with their pieces because I was on the stage behind them but I managed to round up some of the ladies for a group photo…. There had been ten in my class…

And we managed to get an almost presentable faculty photograph… Michelle Renee Hiatt, Judith Baker Montano, Becky Goldsmith, Sue Nickels, Pat Holly and ME!!

There are lots more pics and videos over on the AQS facebook page. You might even spot my class with their pieces… They really  did work hard. If it all looks like you missed a good time you will soon be able to sign up for the 2026 SEAM retreat. I will be taking the year off but there is a great line up waiting for you on the website

All that was left to do was pack the car and drive home!

That was a lot of miles for an old lady from England?

So that was my outing to Paducah and Nashville. I got home and started the laundry… Time to get ready for my next trip. But that will have to wait for a different blog post.