busy fingers

Spare sewing machine needles, spare bobbins, lots of different colour threads and everything else that was mentioned above.

Have a great time retreats are the best.

toverly

Chocolate, wine for later, notebook and pen for ideas, cushion for the seat. As you can see, comfort items for when you sit for a long time in the same positions.

lovelyl

I always do all of my cutting at home so I don't "hog" the cutting station! And I take a small cutting board and rotary cutter to set up by my machine to use for squaring up and other small cuts.

EmiliasNana

Many good ideas here. I go on a quilt retreat every month for 4-5 days. The local retreat center has a yearly pass which I have asked for as my Christmas gift for the last 4-5 yrs. Make sure you pack ALL your machine cords, and an extension cord (if you don't know the set up) & specialty feet. I always try to cut at home as cutting tables are usually minimal in number. Some retreats allow individual irons, some don't depending on fire codes and wattage limits.
I never get as much done as I hope, but bring several projects in case you get tired of one or hit a snag. But most of all............go to relax, visit and have fun. I learn a lot from others and you get so many ideas and tips along the way. I bring my own pillow as I am a pillow snob, a nightlight or flashlight in case I have to get up in the middle of the night LOL, a humidifier in the winter as the air is sooooooooo dry and don't forget to pack your suitcase, pills and toiletries. I have been at retreats where they were so busy gathering their sewing supplies, they forgot their clothes, or their underwear, and had to rush to the nearest Wallie World.

dc989

I never bring anything too complicated because I am easily distracted and make mistakes or waste massive time figuring out where I was. Precut if you are doing a new project because space may be at a premium. I always make one of the blocks on a new project so I have an idea or how to do it. In a noisy or busy place I have trouble following directions. I also read over directions of new projects and make notes to myself. I would make sure I took time at home before the retreat. All this because I'm easily distracted.

AnnieF

I am one of those people who always bring lots of different projects at all different levels of doneness. I belong to a church ministry that makes baby quilts....so I usually have some quilts that need to be machine quilted, some that only need binding, some that are in pieces and some that need borders. I usually prep at home everything that I bring, doing the sandwiching, cutting and all before I get there. Four days is a long time to be sewing and you certainly don't want to waste that good quilting time just because you didn't bring enough to do. I work full-time so I don't always get "quilting only" time and I do love it. I bring 2 sewing machines.....at the last retreat, my quilting machine spazzed out....luckily the dealership was right down the road and I brought in my machine and they gave me a loaner for the weekend. I had my featherweight, but a lot of my projects wouldn't have gotten done without the loaner. I go from one project to another and switch before I get bored to another aspect of quilting. One retreat, I was really liking black and white stripes for my binding so sat and sewed and pressed 5 yards of fabric into binding. Oh and I also always bring a bag of 5" squares so that if I just want to sit and sew, I can do a no-brainer top. I love...love....love retreats. Have a wonderful time....and yes, bring chocolate.