Quilt Retreat

Last week did my first quilt retreat with 5 friends. Missed being home, but had a great time. Hope I can do it again next year.

 

The 'cottage' (2 story home) we stayed at was on a small lake. When we got up in the morning there would be a mist over the lake that had a beautiful haunting look.

 

This is what can be seen of the cottage from the road. This is only about 1/3 of the ground floor. A great place for family gatherings. As we got up in the morning, we would sit around and talk for a bit before we got down to sewing. Everyone seemed to be starting new projects so a lot of cutting was going on and nothing was completed. Looking forward to seeing the finished quilts at our monthly meetings.

 

 

 

This is the dining room which has a table big enough for at least 8 people at meal time. 4 of us used this area and we all spread out and filled the space.

 

 

A table was set up in the living room that was used by 2 of our group. This is an eight foot table and nothing had to be moved out of the way. This room is very big.

 

There are also 2 different areas upstairs. On one side where to of our number slept had a room with 2 bunk beds, a bathroom and a room with a pool table. On the other side of the house where 3 of us slept was a spacious apartment. One room had a queen size bed with another bedroom containing 2 bunk beds. A full bath with a washer and dryer in it. A kitchen bigger than mine and a large living room area. I think my house would fit in the upstairs area on that side of the house. There was a balcony overlooking the lake on our side. I could move in there.

 

The homes are not squashed together as happens on so many lakes here. Most of them are on 5 acre plots.

 

 

 

We stopped at 3 quilt shops and had lunch on our way to the cottage. We spent the next day sewing and then the next day after that we went to 2 more quilt shops and had lunch before coming back and sewing some more. On the last day 3 of us washed our sheets and towels before heading home. The other three stayed a sewed a little more before heading back. Our driver was in a hurry to get back as she was going to Missouri last weekend. A lot of fun in a short amount of time, but as always was glad to get home.



 

Fair results

This is the photo that won a 3rd place in it's category. It is from 2 separate pictures of the Epcot ball at Disney World and the Castle. I had the photo place make them into 1 picture. The proprieter said he didn't think it would work, but it did and I really like the picture.

 

I am so pleased and excited that this quilt took best of show. I just love the way it turned out. This picture was taken before the binding was put on. For some reason the pic with it completed doesn't want to load.

 

I got a really nice surprise yesterday. I posted the other picture of this quilt on a quilting website group I belong too. Bonnie Hunter, who is a very popular quilter than travels the world teaching and has written several books, saw it and posted the picture on her blog. If you go to www.quiltville.com you can see what she does. Click on her link to her blog and scroll down until you see pictures on the left side. There will be a '>' just above the pictures that will take you to her photo page. Click on the picture of my quilt and you will see her comments. I feel honored that she posted it.

 

 

 

Anniversary

Fifty years ago we said 'I do' to a lifetime of love and friendship. This man has been by my side through thick and thin. Always loving, always giving and always confident I can do anything. Together we have raised 4 children that we are very proud of and though they may sometimes make choices we don't understand, they are very good people. We have been blessed.

Another One Done

Finished the baby quilt. I used a couple charm packs for this one. The first charm pack was Goldilocks fabrics and the other was an assortment of pastel colors, with a pastel border. It was an easy and fast quilt to make.

 

I'm pleased with the combination of bright and soft colors. I used my machine for sew all of the binding. With baby quilts I like to do everything by machine since they will get a lot more wear and tear.

These were fabrics I had picked up some time back, so, another quilt that I didn't buy any new material for.

Church Fundraiser

Finally got the quilt for the Church Car Show done. It will be dropped off at church on Wednesday.

 

This was done by paper-piecing from a Judy Niemeyer pattern. I love the color play in this one. Hopefully it will get a good home. Now on to other projects that don't have a deadline to them.

Quilt progress

 

 

This is the progress I have made so far with the fundraiser quilt. Still have a lot of work to do on it.

 

Things are greening up nicely here. The Lilacs are in bloom as are the fruit trees. It is truly one of the prettiest times of the year. Need to get out and weed the flower gardens and get some seeds sowed. Hopefully we are done with the frosty nights. Every once in a while we will see a couple of our deer chasing each other at the back end of our property. It is such fun to watch them.

Easy Quilt

This is a quilt I made for our local Hospice group that has 2 summer camps each year for children who have lost someone. They run a camp for the young children and a second one for older children. They like to be able to give each of them a quilt to keep.

This is a very quick and easy quilt to make. It takes one Jelly Roll and enough 2 1/2" squares of a light or dark color to go between each of the strips. You sew all the strips together as they come off the jelly roll with a block in between each. Then you just bring the 2 ends together and sew the whole length snipping the fold when you get to the end. You bring the opposite ends together again and sew until the end and repeat this until you have the quilt made.

Disappearing 4-Patch Block

This is  a great project for charm packs. With 5 inch squares of fabric, make a 4-Patch block. You then cut the block 1 inch from the center in all 4 directions.

 

 

 

Trade the top left block with the top right block and do the same with the bottom row. The center block is turned once either to the right or left.

 

 

 

Sew the blocks across together into rows like for a 9-Patch and then sew the rows together. This gives an interesting and fun block.

 



 

 

 

This is the quilt that can be made from this block. You can move the block around to a pleasing arrangement.



Jo's Club Quilt Show and other thoughts.

Yesterday was the Jo's Club Quilt Show. A culmination of the past year making miniature quilts. Unfortunately I had so many projects going last year I didn't get around to making any of them. There are 5 different groups that meet once a month to get that month's pattern and have discussion on what we need to know, show and tell and socializing. There are up to 20 people in each group.

 

 

The quilts range in size from the smallest at 13 1/2 x 15 1/2 to the largest which is 43 x 52. The individual blocks in each quilt average about 2 to 4 inches. A 4-patch would only be 2 inches square, so mistakes really show. The ladies did a fabulous job. These are only a few of the quilts that were hanging all around the shop. Next month we start our next session.

 



 

This is our Mr. Wilson on the left and Miss Suzi Q on the right. Wilson needs to be crated when we are out as he cannot be trusted to stay out of trouble. Suzi Q on the other hand can be left on her own and usually curls up in one of their many beds. For some reason the other day she decided she wanted to be in the crate with Wilson and wouldn't get out. We figured that after being caged with him one time she wouldn't want to do it again. Apparently she likes it. Yesterday she got in and wouldn't get out again. So I took a picture of the jailbirds. LOL

 

We are heading into another couple days of a deep freeze and still have tons of snow out there. We are getting every bird in the city at our 2 feeders. The other day we had over 15 Mourning Doves as well as the usual assortment of Chicadees, Cardinals, Blue Jays, etc.

Deep Freeze

It is not as cold as some places, but -35 wind chill is enough for now. Glad we don't have to be outside.

 

Our pines are beautiful with all the snow on them. We have about 15" of snow far deeper than my boots are tall. I'll have to figure something else out to go walk around. Maybe big garbage bags?

 

Thanks to my Christmas present from our kids, I was able to get a good picture of one of our Cardinals. We have at least 4 males, but they are so skiddish any movement and they are gone.



 

 

Anyone up for some barbecue? It is buried in there somewhere. I guess we won't be barbecueing for a couple days at least. ;)

 

We haven't lost our power so far, so it has been a great time to stay cozy in the house. Our neighbor came and plowed our driveway on Sunday. It sure did look nice until the wind picked up and it all blew back. So, we are still snowed in. Need a snowplow!!

 

Wilson doesn't stay out any longer than he absolutely has to. He starts limping if he is out longer than a few seconds right now. Miss Suzi Q doesn't like it either unless, of course, she can chase a squirrel. Then all bets are off. It is so deep neither the squirrel nor Suzi can move very fast. Supposed to have a heat wave this weekend. It might get up to 30 deg. out.