Last month we had a “Bagineer” Retreat/Workshop and there was so much going on I don’t think I’ll be able to include it all in one post. I had plans of showing my version of the bag we made but I think I’ll save that for later this week so I can share everything we did during the weekend. The weekend was held in Kamloops, BC (aka “The ‘Loops”) and even though I’ve been there several times, this was my first Springtime visit, and the locals tell me its the best time to come, because the snow has melted and the summer heat (and accompanying brown lawns) hasn’t started yet. So very scenic and I really enjoyed my weekend there. Like many years, the river was quite high and some areas were blocked off. I couldn’t quite get over this as a usual occurrence, but the locals seemed pretty unfazed by it.

Before I get any further, I need to shout out from the mountain tops how amazing and generous Janelle from Emmaline Bags is. Janelle came up with a bag pattern for us to sew at the retreat. The Double Flip Shoulder Bag is a new pattern and well, you’ll have to wait for my next post for more details, but you’ll love it! Janelle wowed us Friday night with a trunk show, where she passed around samples of many of her bags for us to touch and feel, and talked about her design process.  On Saturday and Sunday, she joined us at Katja’s Quilt Shoppe to answer questions, offer tips and give demos for certain steps. Also, Janelle is so funny and modest; she’s such a treasure to be around, truly! Oh, the goodies! Us lucky ladies were happy recipients of bag bling courtesy of Emmaline Bags!

We had 2 days in the quilt shop classroom space to sew and wouldn’t you know it, I didn’t finish my bag while I was there! I talk too much, but I had fun and I learned so much. Patricia did such a fantastic job organizing everything and I’m very thankful she persisted with this little idea we had and pulled it off! Others did finish their bags and worked on extra projects, or started on a second bag. It was really nice seeing different fabric combinations come to life and watch how others complete their projects. We even had some poetic musings from Line (aka Vanna White)!

Everything’s more fun with prizes! We asked some of our favourite places and were generously given prizes to hand out. Thanks to Jay Lily Handmade, MM Cork Supply, Vinyl Cafe Ontario, Overseas Fabrics, and Emmaline Bags.

Each participant went home with a bag full of goodies from sponsors. Thanks toSwoon Sewing Patterns, Noodlehead, Emmaline Bags, Marsha‘s mom, Line for the lovely cards, and Patricia for the soaps! I made each bag, with canvas from Overseas Fabrics, and then had them screen printed by a local company,Locomotive Clothing.

Thanks to all who came, and to those of you who contributed your time and/or goods to our event. I hope we can do it again…see you next year?