Packed and ready

In Tuesday’s post, I expressed that I was getting ready for a retreat but didn’t have ANY ideas of what to work on while there.

Since quilters are SO helpful, I was not at all surprised by the number of comments and suggestions that came in. And, they were GREAT comments….

Most expressed the view that they wanted to keep things simple so that they could stay involved in the conversations……

…..without losing focus and making mistakes!!

For the same reason, many suggested that all of the cutting be done at home….

Anna provided a great visualization exercise…. “Try this: Sit down, breathe, and visualize yourself there…Ask yourself, what would give me pleasure making, finishing, and starting there? Can I concentrate on difficult tasks while with others? Do I focus? What is the expertise the others will bring? Anything I can learn from them? It must be fun not stressful!“

Isn’t this a great way to think about our retreat time!!!

Several people suggested that I fill LOTS of bobbins before I leave!!

Lorrie reminded me to take something that I could actually finish so that I would feel as if I had accomplished something.

Probably my favorite comment came from Linda…. “I always take too much stuff to retreats. I think I can get 3 projects done but I never do! And, I don’t have stuff precut either.”

Somehow I think that Linda and I would get along well!!!

The bottom line here is that, as I read the comments, ideas started emerging and now I have PLENTY to work on.

Firstly, there is the scrap quilt that I mentioned in the last post…..

Then my eyes landed on the block exchange that has just ended. Maybe I can get that quilt finished….

It will certainly add some brightness to my day!!

How about the baby quilt that I am planning…..

And finally, there is the design idea that I posted about from the Tower of London. Maybe I can play with the marbled fabrics that have been in my stash for close to 30 years…..

Finally, I will take all of my scraps so that they are available just in case some new idea POPS into my head.

So, thanks to all of you, I am PACKED and READY to go…..

Stay tuned for updates from the field!!

It’s retreat time….

I am so excited because next week I will get to spend 5 days doing nothing but sewing, eating, and visiting with quilters. Could it get any better???

The problem with a retreat where you can work on anything that you want is trying to figure out exactly WHAT I want to work on!!

At the last retreat, I started a scrap quilt and worked on it…..

……until I ran out of fabric. When I got home I cut a bunch more squares so that project is ready to go.

I have another Angela Walters FMQ challenge (“Echos and Curves”) that I can work on…..

Although, I would prefer to wait until I can work on my sit-down long arm.

My list of future projects is LONG….LONG…..LONG, but it is hard to know where to start and figure out which ones I can easily work on.

So, can you help me? How do you decide what to take on retreats???

Retreat roundup

This has to be the saddest picture at any quilting retreat…..

….especially when it had looked like this for the last four days…..

We had a marvelous time of quilting and the finished products were flying out the door. Here are a few…..

This quilt was “almost finished” but she ran out of the blue fabric. Of course, there was more at home!!

There were also a number of new projects started and there was quite a bit of this going on…..

The really fun thing about quilting in a large group like this is that there is ALWAYS someone who has an opinion or a great idea for you to try!!!

There were numerous Quilts-of-Valor started/completed during the days including this piecing nightmare….

….and there is not a single unmatched point in this top….

Finally, my poor roommate, Linda, pieced hundreds of half-square triangles and was still smiling afterwards….

….but her quilt is going to be marvelous…..

It was a MARVELOUS few days with some great friends…..

I will leave you with a shot from the great outdoors….not that we spent much time there!!!!

As always, I am already looking forward to the next retreat!!!

Another fun day!!

Today was day THREE of our five day retreat and I can honestly say that the 17 attendees are making the most of the time.

There were a bunch of finishes…..

Rosie made this quilt for charity….

Carol Ann finished this modified log cabin….

Judy finished this super happy quilt…..

….and Sara added this happy fabric quilt…..

Sue finished this flannel quilt for her brother……

I started the morning making backings for the two quilt tops that I finished yesterday and then turned to the Angela Walter’s Quilt-A-long that I was FOUR weeks behind on…..

….more about that tomorrow on “Free-Motion Friday”……

AND….there is another day and a half left at the retreat….HOORAY!!!!

In between the storms….

Tuesday was a stormy day at the retreat but we pretty much didn’t care!!!

I did get out for a quick walk after breakfast and enjoyed these blooming bushes……

Inside work was going at a steady rate with a table runner finished by Sherry…..

…..and Chris finished this fun apron…..

I had a great day and was able to finish two quilt tops for twin boys!!

I started with paper pieced elephants and giraffes from Margaret Rolfe’s book, “A Quilter’s Ark”….

Once they were finished, I had a fun time selecting various widths of fabric strips to add to the top. I would put up two or three strips and then everyone would weigh in with what they liked!! It was a quilt made by committee!!

The second quilt went faster since I had already developed the “formula” that I was going to use!!

It was a good day’s work!!!