When one retreat door closes, another one opens

December 3, 2023

In my previous post, I wrote about the Mackinac Island Quilting Arts Retreat and mentioned how excited I was to possibly go take a class with a particular teacher. The next day, the event organizer posted that said teacher had withdrawn from the event. I was truly disappointed, because things had seemed to fall into place so that I could attend this particular retreat.

Well…I opened an email today from JK Quilts regarding their 2024 Spring Retreat. This was the same shop that co-sponsored the Featherweight Retreat I attended back in 2019. I wasn’t able to attend this year’s spring retreat back in April, but the 2024 dates were certainly possible. Long story short – I’m registered for the retreat and our plane tickets have already been purchased. Hubby’s never been to Boise and has a former coworker who lives in the area, so he wanted to tag along to go hiking. Airline tickets were purchased a little early because we’d discovered a long-forgotten sizable Delta e-credit that expires today. Win-win!

And Jane will probably be the lucky machine that goes with me:

When the pieces begin to fall into place…

November 29, 2023

Yesterday, the folks in charge of the Mackinac Island Quilting Arts Seminar finally released the schedule for its retreat in May 2024. I’ve been waiting on this for several weeks. A lot of things have to line up just right for me to be able to attend. The main item being the class I want to take has to be offered between Tuesday afternoon and Saturday.

IT IS!

The class with Sherri McConnell I’m interested in is offered Wednesday & Thursday. As long as I can get a seat in the class when registration opens on December 4th, I’m going! Hubs said we’ll figure out the travel arrangements once I’m registered (not sure at the moment if he’ll be able to tag along or not).

This is so awesome!

  1. I’ll be able to finish out my teaching commitment for spring semester at the local private school where I work on Mondays.
  2. Someone else stepped up to teach the pajama pants class to the girls at the SQTM in April & May, so my calendar is now clear to attend the retreat.
  3. I’ll have much greater flexibility with my travel arrangements. No late night travel and extra night of hotel will be required because I’m arriving too late to catch the ferry service.

Let’s see what December 4th brings!

Updated to add: The event organizer announced today (11/30) that Sherri & Chelsi from A Quilting Life had pulled out of the event. No reason was given, but I’ve a hunch it may have something to do with the eldest son’s upcoming nuptials. (This was indeed the reason, as Sherri posted a while later in the FB group. Family does come first and I agree with her decision, but weren’t wedding planning and teaching schedules consulted when all of this was decided months earlier?) Major bummer, yes; however, I’d rather know now instead of mid-January after I’ve paid registration fees, hotel deposit and bought my plane ticket. Since these instructors are the only reason I planned to attend, I won’t be going to the seminar as there are no other classes of interest that fit the short window I’m able to go this time. Let’s see what other quilty retreats are available next April and May.

Photo by Kampus Production on Pexels.com

What would you do in this situation?

November 28, 2023

You enter a sewing machine retail shop with a sizable fabric inventory ready to buy yardage for border fabric and are not acknowledged by a single employee as you enter nor as you walk around the entire store obviously looking for a specific item.

I left. I wasn’t acknowledged as I walked out the door empty-handed either.

It’s not the first time this has happened; however it will be the last time I set foot in any of this dealership’s Atlanta locations. In fact, my sewing squad take their machines to dealers in Chattanooga or Macon for service rather than having to deal with these folks. In hindsight, I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t buy the sewing machine I really liked at the Kansas City Regional Quilt Festival. As I told the dealer at the KC show, my local dealer wan’t known for having the best customer service. It’s sad because the previous owners had such.a good reputation in the local sewing and quilting community.

To me, dealer support is critical when one purchases an expensive computerized sewing machine.