Guild retreat

Three things to be happy about:
(1) lots of scraps
(2) tandem bikes
(3) Charlie Brown and Lucie

Last month my guild had its annual retreat at The National Conference Center in Leesburg, Virginia.  It was very relaxing and fun-filled, at a great place to get away for a time.

We each got a nice tote bag filled with goodies; the bag was embroidered by Sarita, one of our member attendees.

Now this retreat had something for everybody - there was a lot to hold your interest.

One of the workshops we had was on improvisational piecing led by Cheryl, based on the book Improv Patchwork by Maria Shell.

See some of the fruit of our labors at the left!

I'll definitely get right back into this book, it was a lot of fun once I stopped trying to be so "exact!"

And houses - I love houses!

Jennifer made the quilt, and she led the foundation paper piecing workshop for the houses in "It Takes a Village."

She also tossed some little 2-1/2" patterns and a New York beauty block into the mix - just to make sure we got it!

Deb led a Half Square Triangle mystery challenge, handing out random HST patterns to be sewn into a block; the finished product could be any size you chose.

As usual we had plenty of time to work on our UFO's and WIP's; I knocked out some more of those little wonky churn dash blocks I was working on at last year's retreat ... no hurry!

Notice the super-large HST block by Renea!

A quilt appraising lecture and quilt appraising was done by Nancy Franklin of Atlanta, GA, and Renee Anderson from the African American History Museum delivered a textile lecture.

Looking forward to next year's retreat, sew forth and sew on ...

More retreat goodness

Three things to be happy about:
(1) antique clocks
(2) playing dress-up
(3) Monopoly

There were so many activities and projects at my guild's retreat last month, I can easily float along on them to the end of the calendar year and beyond!

This round robin group project was fun, and I was falling behind until I learned the secret!  (Shhhhh!  Can't tell you what it is!)

Each person created a center block beforehand which was passed around to the other five members of the group, getting a different colored border added each time.

Gyleen Fitzgerald of Colourful Stitches did a one-day workshop on using her polygon tool and "butterfly seam" technique for set-in seams to turn the tumbling block pattern into a star block.

Her pattern is called "It Takes Seven Sisters."

I chose a variety of African fabrics and recycled shirts from Goodwill to make my project. 

I got three stars finished during the workshop ...  *hoping it won't end up in Area 51 (UFO)!

Jennifer is making the more complex, larger version of the quilt, using the bigger polygon tool.

This is the quilt - quite pretty!

And here we are ... 

The blocks we finished during the workshop look nice together!



Have a great Wednesday everyone, sew forth and sew on

Please don't stop me now!

Three things to be happy about:
(1) fall breezes
(2) hot oatmeal
(3) turning the calendar

It's October already, where did September go???

My October started out trying to finish this quilt that's due to my guild in less than three weeks.

But I swanee, it seems it doesn't want me to quilt it!  I had thread breakage no less than 6 times and I don't know what the problem is. 

I changed threads (including the weight), I rethreaded, I adjusted the tension, I rethreaded, I RETHREADED - nothing seems to work!  The problem seems concentrated on the top of the quilt, the back looks perfect, no bird nests or skipped stitches. GRRRRRR! 

Today I'll change machines and see if that works better.

Meanwhile, I liked that wonky churn dash method that I found on You Tube (Missouri Star) but I didn't like all the negative white space in the 12" blocks.

I'm making one for myself using 6" blocks and different white-and-black fabrics for the background, for a super scrappy look!

Getting a big ole green infusion from Jennifer's scraps I nabbed at the retreat!

I like how these are turning out. 

I'll make a decision later on the setting, but for now I'll keep "churning" them out!


Meanwhile I'll try finishing my quilt on my Janome, I've never used that machine for quilting before, only piecing.

If it still doesn't work out my only other choice is to throw it on the floor and stomp on it (the quilt, not the machine)!  That won't get it quilted but it might make me feel better!

Sew forth and sew on

But first ...

Three things to be happy about:
(1) a straight cut
(2) comfortable shoes
(3) making a difference

Enough play time with the scraps, time to finish a more pressing item.

This lap quilt is for a member of our guild whose church wants to honor their servicemen (and women) with quilts for Veterans' Day.  We have to turn them in no later than October's meeting, and it just needs quilting.  This goes to the front of the line!

I found this wonky churn dash pattern at Missouri Star (You Tube) and I liked it right away.  The piecing is very easy and it went together in no time at all.  I liked the technique so much that I'm working on a quilt using smaller blocks..

You're probably thinking "but there's only ONE red block!?" Yep - that's how I roll!

One of our workshop projects at last week's retreat was this Sewing Date Traveler bag by Robert Kaufman.  You can find the free pattern here.. 

I like the chicken fabric I used on the outside; the red lining has cat phrases "Dogs eat, cats dine"  "Kittens are angels with whiskers"  "A cat can purr it's way out of anything."  Cute.

I'm kind of proud of this bag because zippers scare me away and I didn't think I could do it but I did! 

It doesn't stand up by itself and it's not perfect but when I add the binding - this puppy will be finished.  Now I feel like I can go forth and conquer another bag!

There's no hurry but I may as well get it out of the way.

Feels great to check stuff off your list!


Sew forth and sew on til later

Testing, testing

Three things to be happy about:
(1) Rainbath shower gel
(2) guild retreat
(3) Outlander TV series

They're showing the second Outlander installment for this season, and oh my did they pack it down!  It didn't lose any important parts thank goodness, almost 20 years compacted into 2 shows.

Yesterday I gave you a peek at how I'm using some of the scraps from our retreat. 

I found a scrappy block I liked over at 15 Minutes of Play, and I even liked Victoria's bright yellow background fabric.  Here's two test blocks I've done so far:

Remember the longish, thickish crumb piece from yesterday? 

I made a few and cut them into 2" strips.  As you can see, these will have a LOT of seams!

My Companion Angle ruler came in handy to cut those QST's!

Each block needs 16 sub-units, to make 8 hourglass units to surround that center.

I'm still in the "do I want to make this" stage... it's a beautiful block and will be work-intensive.


I have a challenge quilt that's due in December, and a veteran's quilt due at next month's meeting.  Hmmmm....


We'll see, maybe regroup if necessary - sew forth and sew on!

Quilty days are here again!

Three things to be happy about:
(1) fruit butters
(2) steaming oatmeal
(3) an explosion of mums

Hello again, it's been a lonnnng time ... no, come to think of it, it's been a verrrrrry long time!  I've been chastised by several people for not updating my blog and they're right!

I had a great time at my guild's annual retreat last weekend at the National Conference Center in Leesburg, VA.  The room was HUGE and we had loads of working space!

But you want to know a key ingredient in that great time we all had?  SCRAPS!!!

Loads and loads of SCRAPS!!

Jennifer brought bags and bags and BAGS of scraps to share with everybody, her only stipulation was "I don't want to take any of these back home!"  And she didn't.  I didn't get a picture before we all dove in, but you can get an idea of the sheer volume if you visit her blog, Jennifer's Chronicles.

Azalia, Cheryl H, and I are each making a quilt to show at December's guild meeting, as an example of how to use up those great scraps.

Thank goodness for inventory!  These blocks were pieced here and there over the past year or two.

Bits and pieces come together ... this will be the center of my block!

Part of the outer edge - come see tomorrow!

Sew forth and sew on!

Retreat

Three things to be happy about:
(1) apple butter
(2) bright and shiny days
(3) day trips

In August my bee had it's first ever annual retreat, yes!!  We chose Homeaway, a lovely historic farmhouse in Frederick, Maryland for our 4-day retreat.

There were 17 of us and we had lots of great fun, food, and fellowship.  And oh yes, we sewed too!

Loretta taught a fractured workshop, this is her inspiration quilt...

and some of our results!

Sandra taught a needle turn workshop using her leaf quilt as inspiration

Eye candy!

Six of the ladies - Gwen, Gwen, Carolyn, Sandra, Marlene and Loretta - had each made a house panel before the retreat.

Here you see them hanging together for the very first time!

Before the retreat each attendee was asked to make a house block.

Among other things the list included a traditional quilt house, an African Hut, an apartment building, a treehouse, log cabin, teepee, birdhouse, outhouse, doghouse...

I chose to make a house boat: Noah's ark with two sets of animals and a dove.



The weekend also included a fish fry, a barbecue, games, a quilt history lecture, a scrap users demo, a skit, a gift exchange - and two quilt shop excursions, just because!


***Giveaway reminder - if you're a U.S. resident and would like a chance to own the crumb blocks that I'm giving away, go HERE and leave a comment, I really want to share them with someone!  How would you use crumb blocks if you had a bunch?  The winner will be drawn tonight and posted tomorrow!

Sew forth and sew on til later

Swap block progress

Three things to be happy about:
(1) birds on a road sign
(2) a ticking clock
(3) sculpture gardens

I made it out of the design slump I was in while trying to lay out my retreat swap blocks.  I had it in my mind to use the green batik-y fabric for sashing and the darker fabric for cornerstones.

However, I won't need cornerstones for the design I decided to go with.

Remember this layout?

It just wasn't coming together for me, but thanks to Gene's advice I thought "a-hah - medallion!"

This is the middle part, it looks great just as a small quilt!

I'll sew the quilt together in three rows...

Here's part of the middle row sewn together.

The two blocks will be added at the right side, then I'll add the top and bottom rows and sash the outside edges.

Progress is good!


Well today is quilt guild day, has it been a month already??!

It's also our annual guild tea, so it should be different and fun.  We'll have tea cakes, those cute little cookies, cucumber sandwiches ... the whole nine yards!

That's it for now, go out and have fun today, sew forth and sew on til later!