Is it normal to go to quilt retreats alone?
There are a couple of quilt retreats coming up in my area this spring and I'm considering going to one or the other.
My problem is...I don't know any other quilters in my area, so I'd be going by myself, without knowing ANYBODY there. I'm a little bit shy when I don't know people so it's hard for me to be outgoing in situations like that.
I also think I'm a bit younger than most local quilters; definitely younger than the very few I've managed to meet at the LQS or annual quilt show - which makes me feel out of place too. I'm from Generation X, program computers for a living, and have no kids (much less grandkids)...I worry the ONLY thing I will have in common with most of my fellow quilters will be quilting. (And of course I also worry they will all be much better at it than I am so I'll look a fool...but THAT particular fear I can deal with.)
I guess I'm just worried I'll go and I will stick out like a sore thumb and spend the whole time being lonely and out of place while everybody else either already knows each other or all have way more in common with each other than I do.
Am I worried for nothing? Do other quilters tend to buddy up with weird loners like me at retreats? Does a love of quilting make up for having zero other things in common? Do 30-ish people even go to quilting retreats??
I feel like I'm being silly and a bit of a chicken but I don't want to spend a lot of money (and burn up a bunch of vacation hours at work) if it's not going to be a good experience. Crazy....walk me into a boardroom full of demanding, "high-powered" people and tell me to give a presentation and I'm cool as a cucumber, but put me in a room full of strangers making quilts and tell me to make friends and I'm totally intimidated!