More Retreat Projects

I got three pillowcases finished for St. Louis Children's Hospital!  

I am only 10 away from my goal of 50 for my self imposed June deadline.  I really like these.  (I just realized that I say that every time I make pillowcases!  LOL)  I bought the fabric for the two on the left at a quilt shop in Florida on our vacation in March, and the other fabric I bought here at Quilter's Combo.    

After I got the pillowcases finished I dug into my box of 2 inch squares and stitched together a bunch of scrappy 16-Patch blocks.  

Not sure yet what I'm going to do with these, but I have a lot of ideas!

A Close Call

I was all packed and ready to leave for Retreat on Monday morning.  I hadn't really taken as much time to plan projects as I normally do, but I was satisfied with the main idea -- a baby quilt made with really bright solids and a bright white background.  

I had this stack of half yards of Marcus Fabrics which I had purchased at a quilt show.......

.......and this stack of brights that my friend Rose Mary had given me when she was my Secret Quilter.

What gorgeous colors!  I was a happy girl!!

But not for long.  I am normally not a pre-washer, but I got to thinking about how this quilt would be totally ruined if these colors happen to bleed onto that white background.  I had to leave the house pretty soon so I didn't have enough time to properly test the fabrics.  I just chose one from each line, wet the ends with hot water, and laid them out on a paper towel.  

YIKES!

The aqua didn't bleed as badly as the pink, but it did bleed, and there was no time left to set the colors.  

I needed to leave the house in just a few minutes and I only had three pillowcases packed to work on.

I ran into my sewing room, grabbed a Moda Jelly Roll, a stack of muslin, and a box of 2" squares, then threw them into my tote bag with no plan whatsoever and hit the road!

Whew! 

(.......to be continued.......)