Photos From Retreat

     As I mentioned in my last post, I had a wonderful time at retreat. I also took some photos of some lovely projects in process. I hope you enjoy seeing these.

     What a fabulous variety of projects! Don't you agree?

     We had a pincushion swap. So many creatures were represented we thought we could sing several verses of "Old McDonald Had a Farm" We had a couple of mice, a chicken, a hedgehog, a toucan, to name a few. I'm sure I forgot someone. Here is a group photo of all of the pincushions:

     We celebrated our dear friend Joyce's birthday. 

     Joyce brought the finished quilt from the class I taught them last February, to show me.

     Didn't it turn out great!? She quilted it with a decorative stitch around the edges. I am so grateful she brought it to show me. It's amazing how quickly she finished it!

      It is so much fun to get together and sew for a few days with dear friends, and see what they are working on!

      Hope your summer is going well too. Thanks for stopping by!

    

Back From Another Retreat

     The first part of the year is quilt retreat time for me. I have one group of friends that plan a retreat in February, and June. We started with once a year, but quickly decided that it was not nearly often enough to see each other. We often say we would like another one in the fall, but I am just as glad we have not gotten that idea off the ground. I love those ladies, and really miss seeing them and what they are up too, but my falls tend to be busy and unpredictable, so I would rather not have a retreat on my plate in the fall. Of course, I could just not go, but knowing me, I would probably end up trying to get there anyway. Another group of friends has an annual retreat in April. I love this because not only do I get to visit with dear friends that I rarely see, but it really motivates me to get things done. 

     Since today is Design Wall Monday, I will show what I had up on the design wall at retreat, and save all of the photos I took of everyone elves projects for a later in the week post.

    First, something quick and easy to get myself going when I first got there:

      This will be called Sand and Sea Glass. I plan to add, probably a narrow border, and a wide one. When I got to retreat, the blocks were already pieced. I just had to press, trim, lay them out, and sew them together. It felt good to finish piecing the center on the first day there.

      I spent most of the retreat getting the layout for my Dresden Plate quilt together.

    
     Next, I have to get the background arranged, so I can use this as my travel/handwork project. I usually don't do much handwork, because I always want to be at the machine making fast piecing progress. I hope I can push through and get all of this hand applique done soon. I just got myself some new applique thread. I hope that, and the fact that all of the edges are already turned, will make me want to work on this project. 

     Of course, I still have to work on my Anastasia order quilt, but since the background for it is arranged, and I can't move it, this will be the quilt I carry with me to visit. I am also planning to be a vendor at the Blue Ridge Quilt Festival in Blacksburg Virginia in July, so it will be a great quilt to work on in the booth. If you happen to be near Blacksburg July 9-12, come by and say hi!

      That is what I have been up to lately. There are many more "works in progress" to see at Judy Laquidara's Design Wall Monday Be sure to check them out. Thanks for stopping by!

Design Wall Monday-Finally

     It has been ages since I had anything on my design wall that I could post about for Design Wall Monday. This week I have 2!

     A friend of mine saw my "Anastasia" quilt, and ordered one-yeah! She tweaked the colors and size a bit to suit her needs.

    
      I am putting the background together. I discussed that more in my last blog post, so if you want more detail about that, just scroll down one post. Here is a photo of it on my design wall.

      I am also working on another strip pieced quilt. This one is made with the same block as my "Sonja's Windows" quilt, but I wanted one where there was no sashing. I also have a friend that is looking for things with "beach colors, part of the motivation for this quilt was to entice her. I have several blocks up on the design wall. This weekend I made strip sets for the rest of the blocks.
 

     When this quilt is finished, I will have this one where the colors are random, and there is no sashing, Lake Country Bungalow, where the strips are arranged to form HST, and which I am still binding.

     And the original Sonja's Windows, with sashing. I like being able to show the same block 3 different ways in programs and classes.

 
     So, that is what I am currently working on. There are loads of other peoples' projects at Patchwork Times  for Design Wall Monday. I know you will enjoy seeing them, so check that out.

     Have a great Monday, and thanks for stopping by!

Purging, Organizing and Learning

    I hope everyone is enjoying their spring. There seems to be so much happening these days. Weddings, graduations, trying to get the yard cleaned up, and the garden growing. I have been doing some organizing myself. Remember earlier this year when I was trying to get rid of the dressers I was storing my fabric in? My friend Barbara took them, and they look wonderful in her mountain house. I am so glad she was able to use them. She was also kind enough to share some goodies with me, that have proven to be very useful. I already had some of these metal structures that another friend gave me. I tried to get more at Home Depot, but could not find them. Well, Barbara had some that she actually wanted to get rid of Perfect! Look how well organized and visible that fabric is now.

 

     There is even room to grow! (AKA-buy more fabric) Take a look at the other end of the room. Oops! I should have put my sewing machine back up before I took the photo, so it looks like a real sewing room. Thanks to Barbara for the lovely blinds too. They work great in there.

      Next, I tackled the other upstairs room. That room has not been this neat since I moved to this house, over 4 years ago.

 

     Look at all of those (mostly) clear surfaces! I should have taken "before pictures", so you could see how far these rooms have come, but I would have been embarrassed to show them to you. 

     I have also been watching a lot of YouTube videos about how to do different technological things. Notice I have what is called an "Etsy Mini" on the right hand side of the blog now. You can click on it and go directly to my Etsy shop. I always had a link to my Etsy shop on the blog, but it was so tiny, I am sure I was the only one who knew it was there. It looks like I have a couple of duplicates in the mini, but I don't. I often have 2 listings with the same quilt photo, but one is the actual quilt, and the other is the pattern for that quilt. Next up-to figure out how to actually USE that Face Book page I have had for the last couple of years. Anything can happen. Honestly, I am so, so pokey when it comes to this technological stuff. I also mean to add a Pintrest Button to the blog since I am on Pintrest now.

   Why yes, I HAVE done some actual sewing. I have been working on this quilt order:

     So far, all of the star bodies are made, and the color combinations are approved. Now, I am working on putting the background together. It is all arranged on the design wall, and I am transferring it to the kitchen on a piece of insulation board covered in flannel. I sew in the kitchen during the summer, because it stays cooler with less air conditioning on the bottom floor of the house, where the kitchen is.

     Note: even though pins are not necessary to keep the pieces in the design wall, I do use pins to keep the pieces in place while maneuvering the insulation board around furniture. It only takes one split second at the wrong angle, for all of those pieces to fall off. It's a physics thing, I guess.  

    I am really feeling some deja vu while making this quilt. Not only have I made this quilt before, But I was blogging when I made the first quilt. It fact it was my VERY FIRST blog post. If you are curious about that, and want to see more about how I put the blocks together, check out HERE

      So, that's what I've been up to. Hope your spring is proving to be productive. Thanks for stopping by!

Blogger's Quilt Festival-Spring 2014

  


      This quilt was inspired by doing a jelly roll race at a retreat. I got to thinking that it would be more fun if there was a narrow strip, added to the 2 1/2" strip. I actually made that quilt. Then, I decided to try to work my way out from the center in a giant spiral. My friend's husband saw it and suggested naming it: A Maze Zing. Like nearly all of my quilts, it was also quilted by my good friend, Regina Carter of Jackson GA. It was her husband that suggested the name. I made this quilt in a few evenings, which is really unusual for  me. 

     When I was writing the pattern, I remade the quilt, to check out a few construction ideas. Of course, I had to use totally different colors this time. I couldn't enter this version in the Festival, because it is not bound yet. Notice that the first quilt is bold colors, so I joined my strips bluntly, but with the second, more blended version, I joined the strips on an angle. I have already taught this as a class once, and it was really nice to be able to show the students 2 very different colorways.

     Here is the first of the series with the straight thick and thin strips. It was a graduation gift for a friend's daughter. This quilt was machine quilted by me. I am working on doing that with smaller pieces, and I thought that staying within the strips would give me some guidance.

  There are many more beautiful creations at The Blogger's Quilt Festival. You won't want to miss it! Thanks for stopping by!

Blogger's Quilt Festival-Spring 2014

   Here is my entry for the Large category at The Blogger's Quilt Festival at Amy's Creative Side.

     This quilt has quite a history. It was inspired by a vintage quilt that I saw in a book somewhere. I wish I could find it, but I think it was a friend's book. I think the original quilt was pieced from solid velvets. Can you imagine? I simplified, and rearranged a good bit to get something that I would actually want to piece. I held on to the design for some time before I got around to starting on it. I collected solid color fabrics in the mean time in preparation...I really love making quilts from solids. I thing all solid quilts have a strong, graphic quality, that you can not achieve any other way.

     When I did finally get to work on it, I submitted a photo of it to McCall's quilting to see if maybe they would want to publish it. Wonder of wonders-they did! It appeared as a mystery quilt in 2009. I didn't come up with a name for it until I got it back from McCall's. I named it Shenanigans.

     I had a great time making this quilt. Recently a friend of mine bought it, and gave it to her son for a wedding gift, so this has been a successful quilt for me!

          This quilt was quilted by my good friend, Regina Carter of Jackson, GA. 

     There are lots of beautiful quilts to see over at The Blogger's Quilt Festival
at Amy's Creative Side. Many thanks to Amy Ellis for giving us this gathering place, and the opportunity to see each others work. 

     Thanks for stopping by!

Retreat

    I hope everyone had a lovely Mother's Day.

     A couple of weeks ago I went on a wonderful retreat with friends I usually only see once a year. We went to our usual spot, Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center in Mansfield Georgia. It is so great to see friends you have not seen in a longtime, and meet new ones. 

     There was lots of fabulous quilty inspiration all around me. Here is some of what my fellow quilters were working on.

 

     This is a Christmas tree skirt.

     How is that for some fabulous work. It is so nice to see such variety! We even had a mother/daughter team with us where the daughter was 7 yrs old. I was all excited to show you her project, but now I can't find the photo of it. I am so disappointed.

     

     This is what I worked on for much of the time there. The center is all together, I still have to work out the corners, and I have a couple of borders planned. I can't put it on the design wall just now because my Anastasia quilt is in the way.

     I also spent a good bit of time cutting Dresden Plate blades. So far they are just in a plastic box though. I should have some plates sewn together fairly soon.

     This week, I worked the layout for this quilt order.
 

     So far, I have all of the star centers made. I long time friend of mine is patiently waiting for this one. I have sent her a sample of each color combination to make sure that she likes all of them. I also gave her a couple of suggestions for things we could do with the background. So far that quilt looks like this:

     For some reason, I couldn't seem to fit the whole thing in one photo.

     I am getting ready to meet with The Nimble Thimbles guild in South Carolina for a trunk show this week. I have been making copies of patterns, and sewing a few handwoven wool, chicken pincushions.

     I have also finally gotten my whole garden planted. 

     So, that is what I have been up to lately. Thanks for stopping by!