Aaron and Leah's Blooming Nine Patch

I used to be the kind of quilter who signed up for every workshop my quilt guild offered, started the project being taught at each retreat I went to, got involved in every block swap my online quilt group dreamed up, and joined in every round robin that came along.  Uh huh......some of you know exactly what I am talking about.  And that's how you end up with all those UFO's!  


So, naturally in 2002 when the Blooming Nine Patch was going to be taught at my guild retreat, I just had to make one.  I asked Aaron and Leah, who were "just friends" and both art majors, to help me select the fabrics. We had a blast at the quilt shop and these are the fabrics we came home with ......

One of the tools we used to organize our fabrics at retreat was this sheet .....  

Even though this quilt is partially strip-pieced it's difficult to keep all the pieces lined up and in the right order.  Then, as you can see, I added several rows because I wanted it to end up a King size.  

Once it was coming together into a completed top, it was obvious that it wasn't going to look really finished unless it had a darker final border so I added even more rows, this fabric.....










.....and a black Moda Marble. 

NOW it looks finished.  And it's a mere 110" by 120"  

It IS pretty, though, isn't it?

Aaron and Leah are still friends, AND they just celebrated their 7th wedding anniversary.  They had actually forgotten all about this quilt.  Not me!  It's the oldest thing on my UFO list!  

Since it's another humongous quilt (I've made a few of those!) I thought I would have it machine quilted by a professional.  Well, my son and daughter-in-law are kind of sentimental and romantic.  They want ME to quilt it.  Awwww!  Aren't they cute?

Because it's way too big for me to machine quilt, that means hand-quilting.

Of the 1,010 blocks I have 37 quilted so far.  I just might be able to get it done in time for their 10th anniversary!

 

Ashley's Quilt

I really believe that each quilt I make is special, but every once in a while I am involved in the creation of a quilt that is incredibly so.  Such is the case with Ashley's Quilt. 
When my brother lost his wife in 1999 he gave me all of her sewing things.  Among them was an embroidered quilt top.  You know the kind -- big flowers splashed across a very thin white top with little blue dots for quilting lines.

I didn't know it at the time, but not only had my sister-in-law Debbie worked on this embroidered top, my brother Ronnie had, too, along with their children, Jason and Cathy.   Cathy was no longer living at the time Ashley was born in 1983, so two of the four people who worked on this project were already gone.
  
I decided to somehow figure out a way to cut up this top and make two quilts from it -- one for Ashley since she was getting married soon, and one for her older brother, Jason.  (You know I love a challenge.)


Even though I only had a very rough plan in mind, I went to work cutting up the original top into pieces I thought I could work with.  Then I got input from a lot of quilty friends.  (Always a good idea!)

This project had its obstacles.  The fabric in the original top was so thin I could actually read through it, so it had to be lined.  Then I faced design issues because I wanted to have enough of the original left for a second quilt.  And last, you cannot just cut through embroidery.  The thread has to be picked out, threaded through a needle and knotted.  Ahhh, but it was worth it.

Ashley was married a few months ago, so I went by her house last week to present her with her gift. 

I think 

she likes it.

So now all I have left of the original quilt top is a stack of 9" squares from which I hope to create a second quilt that is every bit as special.  

Nothing like committing myself to another big project, is there?

Retreat Report -- Part 3 -- Works in Progress

There was a whole lot of creating goin' on!  I am friends with some very talented gals.  The projects they brought to Retreat to work on or share with us were gorgeous.  And several really beautiful quilt tops were actually started and completed during our short time together.


Faye showed us
her Cafe Au Lait blocks.

Jan worked on her 

Jan Krentz Lone Star.

Rita put together this cute baby quilt.

Bert finished on her Chocolate Stars.

Mary got a cute Halloween 
quilt top assembled.

Julie completed
this quilt top.... 

Retreat Report -- Part 2

I had so much fun playing "Secret Quilter" for Cat at retreat.  The most difficult part was sneaking gifts to her sewing area without getting caught.  Once, when everyone from her table was off shopping at a local Quilt Shop, I slipped a gift under a newspaper next to her sewing machine.  When she got back, I watched.  And I watched.  And then when she picked up the newspaper and stood there reading it, I watched some more.  She finally found the gift, an apron I had made for her, and for the rest of the 5 day retreat I don't think she took it off!  

The pocket on the apron came in handy.  After one of our meals in the dining area at the retreat center, we left a tip for her on our table so she picked it up and stuffed it in there!

I bought her some really pretty batiks in her favorite fall colors and folded them into what I hoped would pass for a bouquet.  Then I received my own surprise birthday bouquet from my son and his family.  Cat didn't know I was her "Secret Quilter" yet, but I asked her to pose with me for a picture since our bouquets were almost identical.  (I'm right...... Right??)

The person who had my name did a fantastic job of surprising me.  It seemed like every time I left my sewing machine, I came back to find a gift there.  And there was no lack of chocolate!   I never did figure out who it was.  Rilla is the BEST "Secret Quilter" EVER!!!!  

Although, now that I think about it, I should have known it was Rilla when I received the very first gift........

Retreat Report

Why does time fly by so fast at quilt retreats?  This retreat was perfect in every way.  Ahhhh, the fun, the friends, the food............and there was even some quilting going on.  I am so glad I have the opportunity to see my dear friend and roommate from Michigan once a year at this retreat for an online quilt guild.  Faye is SUCH a sweetheart!

Every year we exchange small gifts when we first arrive, but this year she gave me the wonderful surprise of a quilt she made for me, and I just love it!  In fact, I slept under it every night at retreat, and it has been on my lap most evenings since.  

The pattern is from the Feb 2009 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting magazine and it's called "Zen."  My roommie blogged about it as she was making it.  You can check out her blog here - http://mimispassions.blogspot.com/     I have actually been planning to make a quilt from this pattern, but now I don't need to! 

Remember all those projects I took with me to retreat?  Well, did I ever over-estimate what I could accomplish!  Most of it never made it out of the bag because I spent the entire retreat working on one project - the Knight Quilt for Gavin.   Maybe I spent too much time gabbing and walking around seeing what everyone else was working on.  But, Hey!  That's half the fun of Retreat!!      

I finished the top just in time for the clean-up to begin.  Here's a close-up, but I'm going to save a photo of the whole thing for after it's quilted.

I won't bore you (right now!) with all of the over 100 photos I took at retreat, but I will show you a few more.........next time!

True Confessions and Headed to Retreat

I talked about my sewing room in this post and showed you photos of what a wonderful space I have where I can create to my heart's content.  What I didn't tell you is how long it took to get those great photos.  Over a period of several weeks I cleaned and organized one section of the room at a time and then took pics.   I'm sure you fellow quilters figured that out, but to my non-quilty friends I have to admit that I am a fraud.   This is what it looks like most of the time........

Actually, there are times when it's even messier!

I have been cutting out projects to take to Retreat with me this week.  Hopefully, I will get some UFO's completed. 
These are blocks I made for a Batik Wallhanging two years ago.  Now I am thinking that I will just add some borders and make it into a small throw.  

The bag contains all the batiks I pulled from my stash to go with the blocks.  If you are curious to see what I come up with, you're not alone! 

I'm also taking an I-Spy quilt I started two years ago.....

.....and some fabrics I bought in Seattle last week for pillowcases.

The pillowcases will be sent to the Million Pillowcase Challenge so I got some really fun fabrics.

The last thing I am taking to work on is a Knight Quilt for one of my grandsons.  

Aren't you impressed with how organized I am?  (I am talking about having all the components for my projects all cut out and ready to go....NOT about how my sewing room looks!)