Yay --- A Quilt Retreat!!!!

Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to go on a quilt retreat with a bunch of great ladies. Three days of quilting, food and fun! Oh, yeah! I decided I was going start working on those "in progress" projects and packed up 15 projects to work on. I know, it sounds ambitious, but some of the projects only required adding a border or two.

By Sunday afternoon, I had finished 11 out of 15 of my projects. Here they are:

No. 1:  This one is for my grandson, Liam -- he LOVES HotWheels!!  I purchased the fabric not knowing what the quilt was going to look like -- I knew it needed to be a twin so I started with the center and worked my way out.  The center is a black and white check (like a finish flag) and I plan on adding his name using machine embroidery applique.  I'm also going to order a pantograph of race cars and finish flags.  I have enough fabric left to make him a coordinating pillowcase!  I can't wait to see his face when he sees it for the first time.

No. 2:  This will end up being a wall hanging.  I added extra green fabric to the sides so it would measure the same width as the sunflower topper.

No. 3:  This throw is made with 3 Sisters fabrics.  I only had to add the two red side borders and cornerstones.

No. 4:  I started this one at the last retreat I attended two years ago. Again, it just needed the outer borders and it was done.  Fabrics are by American Jane.

No. 5:  A jelly roll quilt using a Roll Play by Pieced Tree Patterns.  I had to add both the inner and outer borders to this one.  I realized I didn't have enough of the outer border so I took a table topper I had made using leftovers from the jelly roll strips and "unpieced" it to form the cornerstones.

No. 6:  This quilt is from a Terry Atkinson book -- I think it's called "Big Jake" ... it's not quite big enough to use as a quilt on a double/full size bed but could be folded and laid across the bottom of the bed.  I'd like to finish this one and give it to my Mom for her bed.   I'm envisioning some pretty feathers in those big white spaces.

No. 7:  I taught a "Saturday Scrappers" class at my "favorite LQS" (Fabric Town in Apple Valley --- I just happen to work there as well) -- and the block used in this quilt was one I shared with the class.  I made up several blocks and designed my own quilt.  I love this quilt and can't wait to get it finshed and displayed in my living room.

No. 8:  This sweet little quilt is for my great-neice, Harper Grace!  (Don't you love that name -- it sounds so "southern")  I used "Yellow Brick Road" by Atkinson Designs and a funky & bright floral collection.  I don't remember the name of the fabric line.  I did get this one quilted and will be doing the binding over the next few days.  Watch for pictures!!!

No. 9:  A cozy flannel quilt for Mom.  She saw this one last January after I finished quilting one for the shop as a sample ... now she'll have one of her own.

No. 10:  A cute wall hanging from the book "Sew One and You're Done" ... I used some 3 Sisters fabrics.  I keep looking at it wondering if I need to add a border or just bind it in a red fabric.  What do you think?

No. 11:  Ooops ... no picture of this one.  No. 11 was a table runner I had quilted using a Civil War cheater fabric.  The binding was already sewn to th front of the runner, I just had to do the hand sewing to the back.

So, not bad for a three day retreat.  The next one is in April --- wonder what I can get done then!

Patti

It's been HOW long?????

I can't believe I only had a handful of posts in the last year. But then, since August it has been a bit crazy. We moved my Mom up from MI to live with us, my daughter, SIL and grandson can to visit in September, Mom and I celebrated our joint birthday in October and then the holidays hit in November and December. Oh, I think about posting something new, but then it seems time just gets away from me. My goal this year is to be a bit more active with my blog ... both this one and my professional blog (www.quiltsfromthetrail.com/blog).

I took off the weeks before and after Christmas from my quilting business -- the week "before" so I could enjoy the holiday with my family; the week "after" to get my quilting studio cleaned up and organized. Part of the organization included going through bins that I have stacked in a room that I call "The Fabric Room". Not only do I have a closet full of fabric, neatly folded and organized by color, but STACKS of plastic bins lining the room that contain even more fabric.

Here's a look at my fabric stash in the closet.  I've been collecting fabric since the early '90s so I have quite a bit as you can see.  The top shelf has primarily novelty fabrics -- seasonal, kids, etc.   I don't know if I'll ever sew it all up in my lifetime.  I told my daughter that it is her inheritance.  She said, "Just leave me instructions!"  My response, "Oh, that's not a problem -- it's called books and patterns, honey!"

 Here are the multitude of bins -- they contain fat quarters, yardage -- all categorized by either designer (Robyn Pandolph, 3 Sisters, Amy Butler, etc.) or size (three of the bins are just assorted fat quarters.

Then there are the "project" bins .... I've had the bins sorted by "Kits" (2), "To Be Quilted"(3), "To Be Bound", "Handquilting", etc.  for a while but never really went through them to see what I had in each ... until recently.  I decided to go through the "Kits" and "To Be Quilted" bins and see exactly what each bin contained.

Here's what I found:

Kits:  1 baby quilt, 1 pillowcase, 2 pincushions, 1 Queen quilt, 2 table runners, 7 throws/lap quilts, 4 table toppers, 4 tote bags, 1 Twin quilt, 1 wall hanging, and a Merry Beary stuffed bear kit (this one is from around 1992).

To Be Quilted:  These are projects for which I have a backing  -- 1 baby quilt, 1 queen quilt, 9 throw/lap quilts, 3 twin quilts, and 2 wall hangings.  There are also another 25 or so projects that I don't have backs for yet.

Projects To Be Bound:  Here's the sad thing on these -- most of them have bindings already made and ready to sew on...one just needs to be sewn to the back.  In this bin we have -- 3 baby quilts, 2 table runners, 3 throws, 2 table toppers, and 8 wall hangings.

Projects in Progress:  These are projects I started but either got bored with them or was too anxious to start a new project and set them aside.  In this category we have -- 6 baby quilts, 2 twin quilts, 2 double/full quilts, 3 queen quilts, 6 table runners, 6 table toppers, 6 pillows (Folded Pillows by Patchworks of Sayville, NY -- www.patchworks.com), 1 tote bag, 5 wall hangings and -- drumroll, please -- 27 throws!!!

So, this year's goal is not only to blog more but to get all of these projects done .... pieced, quilted and bound!!!  I should be able to do pretty well on both of these goals as I'll be posting the projects as I complete them.

Oh ... and then there are my knitting projects .... we won't go there right now!

Enjoy what's left of your weekend!

Patti