Surf’s Up – Man Sewing

I had so much fun at the Surf’s Up Retreat at Missouri Star Quilt Company! What a blast to spend one on one time with those that traveled to come to my retreat! Because we had a smaller group we were all able to spread out our sewing supplies and use the spacious Sewing Center to our advantage! Let’s just take a minute and talk about this Sewing Center. Nothing is better than a comfortable space with amazing lighting and plenty of space to spread out. Anyways, here are a few pictures of the Sewing Center!

This town is amazing! Definitely a place to visit at least once! Notice the flag… The local football team is on fire this year and headed to state if they win one more game! The whole town was painted blue and gold for the Hornets!

The whole place was a quilting inspiration. I may have a few new motifs up my sleeve after being in there all weekend!!

This retreat center is so cool, so much space to sew and check out those ceilings! Anywhere I go here in Hamilton I’m inspired to try out a new pattern or quilt motif! @missouriquiltco does it right! #mansewing #surfsup #quiltretreat

A photo posted by Man Sewing with Rob Appell (@mansewing) on Nov 13, 2015 at 11:25am PST

On the first night of the retreat we had my trunk show! The trunk show was pretty sweet! I even brought in all of the projects I was filming this last week and previewed those! I love it when I get to spoil those who come to my retreats! Here’s a little shout out to Jenny, Ron and their son, Josh for coming to the trunk show! And another HUGE shout out to Mr. Jenny for holding all my quilts while I spoke! Here are a few photos from the trunk show! Each of the quilts in my trunk show have a story. Some are funny, others tug on your heart a little but all of the quilts have a place in my heart and have shaped who I am today. You’ll have to come to one of my trunk shows to hear the stories!

I would say tonight’s trunk show at my Surf’s Up Retreat was a success! I had so much fun showing my quilts and sharing my stories. #mansewing #quiltretreat #missouristar A photo posted by Man Sewing with Rob Appell (@mansewing) on Nov 12, 2015 at 5:57pm PST

Dolphin Dance — That’s Mr. Ron Doan AKA Mr. Jenny! See that surfboard in the background? Mr. Jenny made it! He even went and bought lace and then spray painted over it to give it an awesome pattern! Thanks, Ron!!!

The first Seascapes quilt I ever did, I’ve come a long ways!

When the trunk show was over, Susan (who ran the retreat center) was kind enough to hang up every single quilt! It totally added to the ambiance and put us in caffeinated sewing mode!

These one's were pretty popular this weekend, it's hard not to fall in love with quilts that have animals though, especially when the quilts carry an amazing story! — These one’s were pretty popular this weekend, it’s hard not to fall in love with quilts that have animals though, especially when the quilts carry an amazing story for an amazing cause!

quilts on the walls — I love a wall filled with quilts and a floor filled with sewing machines and fabric! Doesn’t this look like a party to you?!

More quilts! PS the green one on the back wall is an upcoming tutorial!

Close up of one of my quilts! The Twizzal Orizzinal

dancing dots — Closeup of the Dancing Dots Quilt! I’ve been wanting to experiment more with free motion quilting. I really enjoy it!

I loved the quilts hanging up so much that I did a live video chat showing them all!! You can watch that HERE!

Here are some pictures from my 3 Dudes Class I taught! This one has always been a popular one and the retreaters LOVED this quilt. Almost as much as I loved their own renditions. Most of them had already started sewing strip sets and cutting blocks before the class even started! We were all so excited about this quilt!

stripset — It was awesome to see the quilts come together with completely different fabrics! They were all so unique!

sewing strips — These vibrant colors were so refreshing! I’m a lover of all things bright!

I think the best part of the whole retreat was watching these quilts come together! I was in awe!

IMG_6719 copy — I spy a Man Sewing t-shirt and lots of awesome fabric!! We had so much space to spread out and get comfy!

IMG_6965 copy — I’m glad my wife wasn’t with me at this retreat, she might have been stealing this fabric for her stash!!! 🙂 Such a fun print!

strips — And you can never go wrong with a Moda Grunge!

Check out what Vicki made at the retreat last night!! She’s rockin’ this pattern!! #mansewing #missouristar #3dudesquilt #quiltretreat #Repost @auntvicki_ ・・・ Ready to sew my rows. A photo posted by Man Sewing with Rob Appell (@mansewing) on Nov 14, 2015 at 7:00am PST

I’m so in love with this quilt! The colors were fun and her smile makes it that much better! We love happy sewers!!

After hours of sewing it was time to take a field trip to the shops! With a smaller group it’s easy to do that! We walked through some of the shops, I showed them my favorite products and we even got to practice our Free Motion Quilting on a Crown Jewel in the new Machine Shed! What an awesome store!

machine shed — The window displays were pretty slick! Such a cool idea!

IMG_6891 copy — Doesn’t she look like she’s glowing??! That’s because she was in the quilting destination of the world, at an awesome retreat of course! 😉

IMG_6885 copy — Mid sentence photos are always the most attractive I think… Notice that I have my french press traveling coffee kit in my hands. I needed the caffeine!

Rob fixing the crown jewel — Being a sewing machine technician has it’s perks. Like when the bobbin runs out after 10 seconds of quilting and the entire group is bummed out. Rob to the rescue!!! (Thankfully it was an easy fix and we were on our way quilting again!)

machine quilting — I’ll give you 2 guesses who quilted these flames… Not my best but hey, not bad for my first time on this machine!

On Saturday we had our Reverse Applique Class! I’m amazed at what this group created!! Here are a few pictures of the fun!

20151114_152224 — Can you tell what it’s going to be??

20151114_151941 — I think she had the best spot in the house! With the sun resting on her back all weekend, what a relaxing way to sew!!

20151114_151834 — What an awesome idea!! I’ll have to make more of these bad boys when I get home! I feel so inspired after spending the weekend sewing with this group!

This dragon is so slick! Crazy intricate design!

This is a sample that I brought along with me!

Phillip's design — Phillip’s creation was so cool! So much talent at this retreat!!

Look at this good looking group!!!

Here are some of the Reverse Appliqué creations from today’s class!! #mansewing #surfsup #quiltretreat #appliqué A photo posted by Man Sewing with Rob Appell (@mansewing) on Nov 14, 2015 at 6:39pm PST

All in all the Surf’s Up Retreat was awesome! We made new friendships, bonded over our love of fabric, made a few quilts and most importantly… had fun!!! We hope to make this a tradition and do a Surf’s Up Retreat every year! I’ll be sure to let you all know when we have the dates set in stone!