Retreat Report

In spite of the issues I had prepping my projects for retreat, I got a lot of sewing done while I was there.  The I-Spy quilt went together well, and turned out so much better with the black corners than it would have the way I originally planned it when I cut it out.

 

Just look at some of these fun prints!

 

 

Half the fun of making an I-Spy quilt is working with such cute fabrics.  I have so many from a swap I was in a while back that I think I can make at least two more.    

Almost forgot the pigs on surfboards!

I was able to finish two other tops that week.  One is a kids' quilt for charity.  Someone else had made the blocks and I just put them together.  I think it's a pattern I might use again sometime. 

It's a basic block that looks really easy, but creates an interesting pattern. You could lay out the blocks several other ways to get different looks.    

I worked on two other projects.  One was a quilt I need to finish for a birthday coming up so I can only give you a peek for now.

The other one I'll write more about as soon as I gift it, but I'll give you a peek of that one too.

This was probably one of the most productive retreats I've ever been to, even with all the talking, laughing, and shopping.  I'm so glad I have such good quilty friends to spend time with at retreats.  I come home motivated and inspired.  I think I might get some sewing done this month!

Prepping for Retreat and The Dreaded Math

Thinking I would get caught up on gift quilts I need to make, I cut out all the pieces for an I-Spy quilt before I left for retreat in Shipshewana last month.  I was going to get the whole top put together that week.  Seriously, once the pieces are cut it's just a matter of sitting down and sewing.  Right?  

I cut the novelty fabrics into 4 1/2" squares.  Then I cut 2" strips to make a border around them.  I knew the top and bottom strips had to be 2 x 4 1/2.  So the side strips needed to be 2 x 6 1/2.  I mean, I did the math, and I did the math, and I did the math.  Well, maybe I only did it once.  I was pretty confident about this one.   How hard can it be to put a 2" border around a square?  Sigh.....

Nuts!  That dreaded math got me again.  Every single one of the 49 blocks I prepped didn't have strips long enough for the sides.  That's what I get for doing it in my head and not sketching it out.

The easiest fix I can figure out is to put a 2" square in the top right and the bottom left of each block.  I think that looks better than a square in every corner which would create four-patches when the blocks get put together.

So, now I have all the 2" squares cut out and ready to go with me to retreat this week in St. Louis.  

I hope those squares are cut right!
SaveSave

A Weekend Challenge

Recently my online quilt group had a weekend challenge to "Make a Project From What You Have on Hand."   You may not believe this, but I have plenty on hand (aka my stash).  So, I figured I could make a great project.  And I did.  

The first thing I did was pull a couple of "Summersault" charm packs by Erin McMorris which I had bought from Missouri Star Quilt Company.   

These are really fun fabrics so I decided to make a quick baby quilt to either put back for a little girl or donate to charity.  (There I go with the baby quilts again!)

After I got the top together I looked through my stash and found a great dark pink batik that worked perfectly for the borders .....

..... and the binding. 

I went digging through my stash again and found this beautiful pink and orange and yellow fabric I had bought sometime, somewhere on clearance, and there was enough for the backing.  

I did some straight line quilting (I'm getting better at it!) and finished it pretty quickly.  Then I put the binding on and finished up stitching that down by hand, a nice relaxing way to finish a weekend of sewing.  

It turned out really cute, and it was a fun weekend project.  

Wouldn't it be nice if I could get that much done every weekend?

Playing

I've played with art quilts a little, usually because of a challenge or something, and I'm always putting my own twist on a quilt when I use a pattern, but this week I decided to try something completely different.  I was inspired by a friend in a Facebook Art Quilt group when she made a small wallhanging with a woven background.   I wanted a raw edge look so I cut a piece of batting, tore some strips from neutrals, and started.

This is what my sewing room looks like after I've pulled neutrals and played a while.

So far so good......  

......but after sleeping on it I decided I really did not like that pinkish strip across the middle.  

Ahhhhh, that's much better!

It needed a little pop.

I couldn't think where to go next, but my grandson Gavin suggested that  I add my favorite flowers somewhere.  Poppies!  How could I go wrong with poppies?
Naturally, my first thought was to appliqué them, but I woke up during the night thinking of the fabric I had left from my "Poppies-A-Plenty" quilt which I shared in this post.

I've never done broderie perse before, but now is the time to try new things, right?  So I cut out some poppies.

This is what it looks like tonight.  A good start I'd say.  

I'm feeling pretty pleased so far.  The little green strip I added looks good.  I'm waiting for the next wave of inspiration to hit.  Who knows where it will go from here.....

Hudson's Quilt

When I bought the fabric for "Grampa's Little Genius"  which I told you about in this post,  I bought more than I needed hoping to make another baby quilt from it.   I loved a quilt my friend Rita had made after "seeing it somewhere," so I sketched it out and determined that I had enough for it.  I cut it out and set it aside waiting for just the right baby.

Recently Baby Hudson made his entrance into this world so I started looking for quilt ideas trying to figure out what to make for him.  His Aunt Leah sent me a photo of his nursery, and guess what?  The wall color works perfectly with this fabric.  I got busy!

This was a really fun quilt to work on because of having everything prepped ahead of time.  Maybe I should do that more often.  It went together fast.

Straight-line quilting was the right choice for this quilt.  I'm getting a little better at it, I think.  Even if it's not perfect I mean for these quilts to be used, spit up on (and worse!) and dragged around.  After a few washings, who can tell, right?

So, another baby quilt went into the mail, and a sweet little baby can start snuggling right away.

Hudson's mama sent me these photos of him so I could include them here.  I think he likes it!  If nothing else, he's feeling very mellow about it.  

I'm linking up with WIP's Be Gone at A Quilting Reader's Garden.

"Remembered Promises"

So long ago that I'm embarrassed to admit it, I told a young friend of ours that I would make her a quilt.  After all, I had made a couple of quilts for her older sister Anna so it was her turn.  I had just taken a class for Bethany Reynolds' Stack and Whack quilts.  Esther wanted a pinwheel star quilt so we went shopping together and she picked out some fabric.

I put it away for a while and got busy with other things.  Actually that's an understatement.  You know how it is.

When we moved from St. Louis to Huntsville, Alabama almost 5 years ago and I unpacked my stash, I came across the fabric and realized I hadn't made Esther's quilt yet, so it went on the "To Do" list.  Each year after that it got carried over to the next year's list and last year it made it to the top.  I was so excited to be making this quilt, and I knew that, at this point, it would be a real surprise.  I got it all cut out.

I even got some blocks made.

Then the funniest thing happened.  I broke my arm.  But "by little and by little" last year I worked on it. 

When I got to the point where it needed to be basted, I decided that a special quilt needed a special batt.  When bamboo battings first came out I bought one just to be supportive of my local quilt shop, but because it was so pricey and kind of different, I kept putting it back to use for something special.  I decided the time had come.  What could be more special than this!?!

Basting was next.

For some reason when it came time to quilt it, I got all the purple background quilted first, using a royal blue thread so it would be easier to work with, and left the stars for last.  Big mistake.

I started quilting the stars four or five different times and didn't like what I was doing, so I kept ending up ripping it out.  I finally decided to try something I had never done before but had seen in magazines and really liked -- big stitch quilting with Pearl cotton.

The closer I came to being finished the more excited I got.  I was really regretting having waited so long to make this quilt.

The label for this quilt needed to be personal, so I hand-embroidered it using a snowman because that's one of Esther's favorite things, and I thought long and hard about what to name it.

I mailed the quilt to my dear friend Gloria (you met Gloria in this post) and asked her to deliver it for me.  She enjoyed being in on the surprise and sent me this picture.

Even though I regret waiting as long as I did to finish this project, Esther assures me the timing was perfect, and she is very happy with it.  I just hope she knows how much love went into it.