Information for The Sewing Shed  Retreat- Tralee - 2023

The months are flying by as we get ready for the Autumn retreat in the Meadowland's Hotel. This year is a little different as we have two retreats back to back. 

The first retreat is for three nights and starts on Sunday the 5th November and check out is the 8th November.        
Arrival and set up:12.30 pm on 5th November- Sewing until 8th November at 12 noon. 

The second retreat is for four nights and starts on Wednesday the 8th November and check out is the 12th November.     
Arrival and set up:12.30 pm on 8th November- Sewing until Sunday 12th November at 12 noon. 

What to expect~ you will be able to set up your sewing machine and leave it and your belongings out. The room will be open early in the morning until 11 pm ( ish)

Between the hours of 9.30 and 5pm there will be a teacher available in the room, at most times there will be two teachers. Nikki and Sarah will help you with whatever project that you are working on. 

What to bring? ( apart from your packed suitcase)

  • Sewing machine, sewing kit, cutter, ruler etc... 
  • Projects to sew if your not doing the retreat project
  • If you have a small dustpan and brush, please bring to tidy your station after sewing, also a bag to keep rubbish will be useful 
  • Extension lead. 
  • Snacks....don't forget the snacks. 
  • Headphones if you wish to listen to music ( This might sound odd, but if people play music while sewing there may be someone in the room with auditory sensory issues and are too embarrassed to say anything, this has happened before at a retreat so we recommend earphones to solve this issue)  
  • Comfy clothes and we don't mind if you want to wear slippers for sewing, we want you all to be comfortable. 
  • Please do not bring your own iron, there will be irons set up around the room for you to use. Irons draw on the electricity so we need to limit the amount that we have plugged in, so the sewing machines can be used efficiently. 

Payment - The balance can be paid to me by bank transfer, cheque or postal order or directly to the hotel. The preferred method for this retreat is to pay the hotel directly, but don't forget to send me a text to confirm you have paid. Thank you. 
The hotel will take payments from the 1st September, please do not call before this date as they won’t have all the details.  

The hotel is The Meadowlands Hotel in Tralee. 066 718 0444.

The restaurant in the hotel is fabulous and they do lunch and dinner, but there are other fabulous food places if you fancy a venture out. There are some lovely shops in Tralee if you want to walk into the town. 

There is a Lidl, at the end of the road its about a 20 min walk or just a few minutes drive, handy for drinks and snacks etc...

Retreat project - Hexitate

 APPROX SIZE 70 x 80, but this quilt can be made any size you wish. Ours was made with left over fabrics but you could use a mixture of 1/4 metres for the same effect. 

 

Requirements 

We will have some packs with mixed colours if anyone wants them during the retreat.

TO MAKE THIS SIZE OF QUILT YOU WILL NEED 

APPROX  a total of 6 metres of fabric, ideally if you had;

  • a 7 inch strip of 26 different fabrics~ or the equivalent in left overs or whatever you have. The most important thing is the have the fabric matched in pairs, so for example if your making this colour pallet, have two of each colour. ( we had lots of left over pieces, so we had many combinations ) for example, two purples, two oranges, two yellows, two pinks etc.. they don't have to be the same but tonally similar. Feel free to message me if you have any further questions. See picture below for reference, using the colours in this way gives the appearance of complete hexagons, whilst creating an interesting pattern. 

YOU WILL ALSO NEED.

  • 1 metre of border fabric 
  • Half metre of binding
  • Bring anything else you think you might need. 

If you want to make your own project, or want to bring another project to work on then that's also fine. 

We also have a fun Christmas project that we will have at the retreat. 

If you have any questions please let me know 

0879924002 

nikki@thesewingshed.ie 

 

 Thanks to my sister in law for letting me use her gorgeous rustic bench for the photographs!