I love quilt retreats and look forward to each and every one. I love having time to sew as much or as little as I want, go to bed and get up when I want, talk a lot, eat a lot, and just have FUN! We share quilting tips and have impromptu tutorials, plus "ooh" and "ahh" over everyone's projects. Sometimes we'll take a side trip to a quilt store, and that's fun too as many will offer a discount for retreat groups.
My guild sets up two weekend retreats per year, plus a couple of day retreats, all within an hour's drive. Also, I organize a private retreat for a few friends once a year at a facility about two hours away. They're always such fun and I get a lot of work done.
One of my favorite yearly retreats is a camp for special needs children, and we were just there a week ago. Ours is the only adult group allowed to sleep at the camp. We bring our own linens and pay for meals they prepare, but the real payment for use of the facility is for each to donate a twin size quilt. We've been going there at least 10 years, usually with 18-20 participants, so we've donated near 200 quilts! It's so great to see our quilts used in many places....on the beds, draped over the couches, or in the theater where kids can snuggle up on the floor to watch movies. Not only is this a super fun retreat, but it makes us feel so good to know we're bringing comfort to the children.
I highly recommend quilt retreats!!!