Retreat Bag Exchange

butterfly bag

One of the activities at our recent retreat was a bag exchange.  Participants were invited to create a handmade bag and to bring it to the retreat where it would be exchanged for a bag produced by some one else.  The guidelines were very simple, the bag had to have been made by the person submitting it.  With no other guidelines you can imagine that quite a variety of items were submitted. 

mixed media bag

knitted & felted bag

felted bag

wet felted bag

Many of the bags were felted.  Some were wet felted while others had been knitted and then felted.  Even though a similar technique was used the results are quite different.  Some are rustic, some are playful and some are very elegant.

The weavers in the group also showed off their talents.  Some of their bags were made from recycled materials.  The bag with the bold motif in yellow was created out of hand woven sashes. While one of the pink woven bags is made out of rags.

woven bag



ragbag

This is a small selection of the 29 bags that were brought to the event.  Congratulations to those that submitted bag.  We hope you enjoyed the bag that you took home as much as the people shown below.

Shared Inspiration From Retreat

display table

People attending our recent retreat said that one of the most enjoyable aspects of the event was the sharing of ideas through events such as show and tell, the bag exchange and the fashion show.  So, in that spirit what follows are some photos of the show & tell session. 

interpretation of Saskatchewan tartan

skirt of handspun yarn

Heather's scarf

Here we have some of the participants describing their pieces.  Too bad that there is no audio track to accompany the photo's as some of the stories behind the pieces were as interesting as the pieces themselves.  Maybe next time I will take a video and post that.

cat & dog bags



Anita's summer&winter bag

doubleweave table linens

The variety of items was quite amazing.  Many featured handspun yarns. Some of the yarns included unusual fibers as illustrated by the cat and dog bags.  I've heard of people spinning dog hair, but cat hair is a new idea to me.  The lining in the bags had the species appropriate decorations.
The woven pieces included scarves, table linens, and bags.

12 harness pattern in black & silver

  This beautiful top knitted from handspun yarn included an unusual ceramic pin.  the colours in the pin reflect the colour in the top.

This friendship blanket is unique in that is was a group effort with individuals contributing knitted squares which were joined to make the blanket.