A retreat of hexaholics

Because surely "retreat" is the correct collective noun for a group of hexaholics in the same location?

The retreat I attended in Townsville was the annual retreat of an online guild called Southern Cross Quilters. I've been a member for 12 years, but this was only my third retreat. And because it was in my hometown this year I definitely had to go.

A couple of weeks prior, we retreaters were discussing which projects we were going to bring for the 2 1/2 days of sit and sew that were planned. I mentioned that I had three English paper piecing projects on the go and I was going to bring at least two of them along. And that's when all the fellow hexaholics came out of the woodwork and we had ourselves a truly hexerrific and inspiring retreat. I only managed to capture a few of the projects on the go as I was in classes for two mornings and missed a lot of the goings on. If you want to see more, take a look at Cathy's blog post on the retreat.

This is the latest project of my dear friend Cathy Miller. Cathy and her husband John came all the way from Canada for the retreat, and she sang at the Friday night dinner as well. Her quilt is a snowflake ... of hexagons. The white fabric is a super sparkly fabric. It's just gorgeous.





Helen brought along some quilt-as-you-go hexagons made from siggie squares. Each retreat we swap signature blocks and fabric squares evocative of the theme of that retreat. I think Helen is using the Bendigo retreat siggie squares but I could be wrong.



Joy has been working on a Candied Hexagon quilt. I've heard so much about the pattern, but had never seen a block up close. No wonder it gets the name "Candied".





Sarah was working on some mahoosive 2 1/2 inch flowers using Kaffe fabric. The pattern is actually in the latest Quilters Companion magazine.



Barbara's 3/4 inch scrappy hexagon quilt was absolutely spectacular.



As was Lissa's 1 inch grandmother's flower garden quilt using 1930s reproduction fabrics. She told me that every flower had a different fabric. That's quite some collection on 1930s fabrics she has!



People also brought along some show and tell. Cathy brought two of her amazing hexagon quilts. This one is called "Seven Garden Maze" and is made from 1/2 inch blocks and dupioni silk. She gave me the pattern to this, on the condition that I make one of my own and send her a photo. Cathy - I've ordered the papers. They arrive in 10 days.



And just when you thought that quilt was spectacular, Cathy also made this one. It's called "Insanity" because it's made from 1/4 inch papers and quilted with colonial knots. Yes, I did just type 1/4 inch.





And what did I work on while at retreat?



My Hexy MF quilt got quite the headstart while I was away. I managed to stitch and baste all these.



It was a great, great retreat.