My Retreat Projects!

Yesterday I showed some of the projects that other retreat goers worked on but didn’t talk about mine at all……

Here goes!!

I had planned to only work on scrap quilts while I was gone, but on the day before I left, I realized that the Cherrywood challenge was NOT due on June 15th but on May 15th…..YIKES!!!

So I quickly added the fabrics for the challenge to my projects!!

When I arrived, I decided to spend a bit of time on a scrap quilt, just as a way to “clear my palate”. I will post more about the project later but this is where I got to……

This is SUCH a fun quilt and was a breeze to work on!!

Next was the challenge…..

Since it is a challenge, I don’t want to give everything away until closer to the deadline date, but here is a sneak peek….

Unfortunately, I ran out of the dark fabric so ended up ordering another 1/2-yard. I was excited that it would arrive on Friday, just after I got home, but sadly UPS changed the delivery date until Monday.

Don’t they KNOW that I am on a deadline!!!

Next I turned to the large box of hand-dyed off-cuts that I had been given and I started PLAYING. After the first two blocks, I started making EACH block different and this was my ending point…..

I can’t WAIT to work on this further!!

Although there is nothing to show for it, I spent a bit of time in my “sit spot” at the lake, thinking and planning. More to come about that!!

And yes, there were THREE projects that I took and NEVER touched!! That’s what happens when you are an eternal optimist!!!

Fun plans for this upcoming week include……

finishing up the LAST category from QuiltCon on the blog

MADLY working on the challenge

Practicing with my new camera (need to learn how to use it before our Canada trip in June)!!

Thanks for joining me!!

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Retreat Update

Well, I arrived home about 3 hours ago after spending a marvelous 4 days at my local guild retreat.

I have shown pictures from previous retreats, but our spot is MAGNIFICENT. There is a large, lots-of-light room where all of the sewing, talking and ripping out happens…

….a cafeteria for all of our meals and motel style rooms for sleeping…..not that we did much of that!!

The April/May retreat is always special for me because it marks the end of tax season and the start of my “time for quilting” season!

We had 18 participants this year…..

…and I was excited to see that a number of newer members attended as well. It was a sweet time to meet new people and get to know some of the “older” ones better.

When someone finished a project (or came to a good stopping point), there was immediate Show-And-Tell and lots of clapping for the maker. Here are a few…..

Several people are involved in Quilts Of Valor so there were a few red, white and blue quilts….

Susan and her Quilt-Of-Valor

Anne’s GORGEOUS QOV

Sylvia made this FUN charity quilt….

We had bunnies…..

Sherry’s CUTE bunnies

and chickens……

Linda’s Chickens

And an amazing quilt made by Jeanine, using leftover panel squares…..

I spent the days playing with scraps and starting to work on my Cherrywood Challenge.

But….more about that tomorrow!!

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A scrappy Retreat

Tomorrow I leave for 5 days at my quilt guild retreat.

Our retreats are SO much fun and I am truly excited about it. We meet in one large room with the cafeteria on the floor beneath us. We sleep in rooms a few hundred yards away.

The schedule is simple…..

Sleep…..Quilt…..Eat……Quilt…..Eat…..

Quilt….Eat…..Quilt…………REPEAT!!

It doesn’t get much better than that!!

At this point, I am normally struggling to figure out what to take with me to work on, but not this year.

That is because I am going TOTALLY SCRAPPY!!

Last weekend I told you about the new quilt that I have designed to use up my 2-inch squares…..

A NEW quilt in the midst of the madness!

So, I spent bit of time cutting white squares to add to the scraps….

….and now it is boxed up and ready to go…..

Then there is the scrap quilt that I started several retreats ago. I had lost interest in it but decided to throw the blocks up on the wall anyway…..

….and was pleasantly surprised how the reds pop out. Then I started thinking about ways that I could quilt it to FURTHER emphasize those red strips.

SO….. it is also being added to the retreat bag…..

Then there is a quilt that I started at another retreat to use up my marbled fabrics from MANY years ago. ….

I’m still uncertain about what the layout will be but I hope to continue making strips to play with!!

FINALLY, a number of years ago I purchased all of the hand-dyes from a friend who was going out of business. She also threw in all of the off-cuts that came from the trimming process…..

LOTS of off-cuts!!

I have thought about these for a while, wondering what I could use them for. Then I had an epiphany…..

STRIP BLOCKS!!!

Okay…I will throw it in as well.

Do you think that I am taking enough???

PLUS, I want to leave some time for sitting in my favorite spot and THINKING!!

This Spring retreat is a perfect time for planning what I want the summer to look like!

Come back this week for progress updates!!

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One of my favorite things about quilting is motivating others and helping them in their quilting journey. As part of this endeavor, I LOVE to present programs and workshops to groups and guilds around the world. All of my programs work well with Zoom meetings, and I would love to speak to your group.

You can find out more at this link…..

MY retreat fun

Yesterday I showed you what everybody else was doing at the retreat.

Now it is MY turn!!!

I started out by working on the Monarch Challenge and left it at this point…..

There is a lot more to do on this piece and I will start giving you a “blow-by-blow” description of the process this next week.

The next project was the “Winnie The Pooh” baby quilt which I have shown you over the past week…..

Next, I finished a project that my friend Claire had started back in 2020. She had pieced all of the blocks and we had cut all of the sashings and borders so it was fast work to finish the piecing…..

It has been basted and given to Mary who has just bought a sit-down long arm. It will be a cheerful piece for her to practice on and then it will be donated to our guild charity work.

I found a couple of hours to spend at the lake, and yes, I laid down and took a nap in the swing…..

I had a bit of time left on the last evening so it was time to start another project.

Just before I left for the retreat, one of my clients told me that she was dropping off a “bag of goodies” for me. In it, I found these green and orange fabrics…..