The Sonder Quilt Retreat 2023

My resolution to “do something different” this year continues. I went on a quilt retreat! Carrie from Lifting Limits Quilting and Lisa from Wild Plum Lane co-hosted the Sonder Quilt Retreat 2023 in Kansas City, MO. This was their first experience hosting, and my first quilt retreat experience as well. They knocked it out of the park! Every detail was planned out and executed perfectly. It was such a lovely time.

Sonder Retreat 2023 - Kansas City, MO

I first heard of the retreat on Instagram from Carrie sharing a post. Because I can be introverted, the idea of traveling alone, meeting new people, and sharing a room made me doubt my desire to go. Can you relate? But I figured most quilters are introverts and took a leap of faith.

The retreat check-in began at noon, so my travels began early in the morning since I was traveling from Ohio. My flight was at 6am, which meant I needed to start my day at 2am in order to get to the airport on time. The airport experience and travel was seamless. I was able to travel with my sewing machine as a carry-on and didn’t face any issues. Read this blog post about how I packed my sewing machine.

Once checking in at the retreat house, we had time to sew the whole afternoon. Professional chefs came to the house and cooked dinner for us while providing a cooking demonstration. They made the most delicious fajitas and key lime pie. Other highlights that weekend included a hike, dinner out, and outdoor yoga.

Sewing Mojo

In this blog post, I suggested various types of projects and what I’d be bringing along. So how much did I get accomplished in 3 days? Two quilt tops from start to finish (a crib and throw size), started a duffle bag project (pieced the patchwork quilt top for it), and made a single 12” block. Did I over pack? Yes. I had hopes to complete the full duffle bag and brought along batting/backing to quilt the crib size quilt I pieced. Those will be going in my WIP pile for now.

Missouri Star Quilt Co.

One big highlight from the weekend was traveling an hour to visit the Missouri Star Quilt Co. Jenny, the founder, began her first shop in 2008. It now encompasses most of downtown Hamilton. It consists of 13 themed quilt shops, a retreat, an education center, and more! I hear of people referring to Hamilton, MO almost as a pilgrimage experience. Browsing fabrics from numerous fabric companies, all sorted in stores based on themes such as Batik Boutique and the Mercantile was so fun and enjoyable! We spent a few solid hours shopping.

Have you ever shopped at the Missouri Star Quilt Co? Or have you attended a retreat? I’d love to hear!