I am here and still quilting!

I haven't posted for awhile, mostly because I was working on gift projects and I couldn't show pictures!  Part of it was just laziness though and busy with lots going on.  I have gone on a retreat, two quilt shows and done yardwork along with working full time.  I guess I do have some excuses!
I still have two projects I can't post, but the recipients should have them by next week!

This is the last of the samples I made for my friend's shop.  Yes, I used the same pattern with lots of panels.  She provided all the fabrics.

I went to a retreat at a new to us retreat house.  I was with 8 friends.  We were in a farmhouse across the road from St. Gertrude's Monastery. I walked around the grounds a couple of times. 

This photo is in the backyard of the farmhouse.  I love the big old barn!  The bookcase quilt is a gift quilt I made for my late son's roommates.  He was a groomsman in their wedding almost 8 years ago.  The husband commissioned me to make this for his wife for her birhtday/mother's day.  He said she loves to read and loves shades of blue.  See below for other pictures.

I took this photo on one of the beds.

 Excuse the wonky photo.  I embroidered lots of things on different light colored books.  Their names, names of their three kids, wedding date, genres of books, etc.  I had a lot of fun learning my new Brother Innovis Quilt Club series sewing machine!

I finally have all the blocks assembled for my Sew Many Strips quilt from American Patchwork and Quilting.  I am working on piecing borders, although I don't have the blocks sewn together into a top yet.  This will be a queen size quilt made of 1 1/2 strips so it is taking a long time!  That is a LOT of sewing.  The blocks finish at 8" and have 32 pieces in them.  Thank heavens for strip piecing!

I captured some apple blossoms in my back yard.  The apple trees are VERY old.  We live on an old homestead site, but built a new house in the mid 90's.  I look forward to showing the other projects I have finished soon!  Plus I started a couple other projects at quilt retreat!

Linking to Design Wall Monday.  Check it out!

Quilting Spree

I have had a lot going on, but I did go to a quilt retreat recently.  I took my Grand Quilter and did some machine quilting.  The room is big with great acoustics and several people use Juki machines and machine quilt at quilt camp.  I made a small dent in my basted pile!  By noon Saturday I was ready for a new project and I had this tablerunner kit.  It was all laser cut but difficult to figure out piece placement. I worked for 8 solid hours on it (with a dinner break of course). It is all fused and thankfully another quilter had brought her applique pressing sheet!

 I ordered the kit from Shabby Fabrics.  It will be trimmed to have rounded corners and I have a packet of embellishments to add after it is quilted.  Quilting will be a challenge!

Here are some of the my projects I have recently quilted at retreat or home.

disappearing 4 patch

quilting closeup

disappearing 4 patch (twin to above quilt)

straight line quilting

These two disappearing 4 patch quilts are going to be gifted to two sisters.  

This simple one patch quilt was made from leftovers of another project.  It is the perfect size for a patient in a wheel chair.

fun flannel backing

I received these blocks in a guild UFO exchange.  There were more, but not made as well and this will also be a perfect care center patient quilt.

fun cat print backing

Laurel Burch panel.  This is all quilted in the ditch.  I am the world's worst quilt photographer.  My quilts really are straight!

This one is currently what I am quilting now!  I am about half way through the blocks.  It is set aside for now as I have been deep fall cleaning my house and we are hosting Thanksgiving for about 30 people and some will be staying a few days.

Retreat Projects

Last week I was at a quilt retreat hosted by Quilt Treasures.  I worked on 4 different projects.  I didn't have a lot of space, sharing a 6 foot table and no room to set up my little ironing table as I was on the inside so I sewed as many blocks together as I could.

Since I have been home I have assembled all the tops and added borders.

The first project I worked on was a batik throw quilt called Rip Tide.  I had purchased a kit, but exchanged out some of the fabrics.  This was a pattern by Karla Alexander where you stack up fabrics, slice them apart, move fabrics in your stacks and resew them.  It was fun and nothing to match up!  I loved that!

Rip Tide throw size

The next project I worked on was my 1930's Farmer's Wife.  I am a Farmer's wife, but samplers are not my favorite.  I also have the regular Farmer's Wife quilt in progress.  I am not sure what I was thinking!  Anyway I had 21 blocks done and there are 99 in the book.  I lost the CD with templates and I decided to do the lap size setting in the book and needed 32 blocks.  I went through and kitted up 11 blocks and got those sewn and I had precut the setting triangles.  I added a narrow border and I have a quilt top ready for quilting!

six inch block closeup  LOTS of pieces

Next I worked on a disappearing 4 patch.  I had a bunch of bright 10" squares and thought I would make a throw quilt for a gift.  I got all the blocks done, but couldn't lay them out at retreat.  After I assembled the quilt top at home, I HATED it!  It was too much, too intense, too something.  It was an 8 X 10 block setting.  I had decided on the alternating design, but I think I should have set it together like Ramona did.  I decided since it was too big for what I wanted, that if I split the quilt top in half it would work better and it does!  I added a border from fabric on hand and now I have two nice lap sized quilt tops!

disappearing 4 patches

The last project I worked on at retreat was a Scrappy Trip Around the World.  The pattern is found on Quiltville's site.  I had a bundle of Bonnie and Camille's Vintage Holiday fabric.  I just loved the pinks and aquas.  I added a few other fabrics and since I am not a true scrappy quilt lover, I made sure reds went through the center.  I am still contemplating a border or not.

Scrappy Trip Around the World

Scrappy trip closeup - sometimes matching fabrics came together!

School starts back up Monday.  I have worked this week and have open house tonight, but then have the rest of the week off. 

Memorial Day

I have been in a quilting slump lately.  I had a lot of yard work to do and the end of the school year is always hectic.   I did remember to put out my flag today.

A couple years ago I went to a retreat in Lacey, WA, about 7 hours away.  I had previously met three of the women, long time internet friends, and several others I had "known" for years but never met!  My friend Melissa was there and a few of us went to quilt shops.   Larrianne was buying the Laurel Burch Fantasia panel and the bright colors were fun, and Melissa surprised me and bought it for me!  This week I wanted something quick and easy to do and through pinterest found a free pattern on the Timeless Treasures site.  I did purchase the blue background fabric online recently.

I finished the top today!It's bigger than I envisioned, I didn't look at the finished size on the pattern!

I made 4 more blocks for my Scrap Vortex quilt.

I recently visited my daughters and grandkids.  The twins belong to Lisa and the older two to Amy.

Just 7 more days of school! 

Linking up with Design Wall Monday.

Wizard's Chest quilt and retreat

The weekend of April 26th to 29th I went to a quilt retreat.  It's a small retreat, with 10 of us.  The retreat is at Reflections Inn, a B&B on the Clearwater River.  I had previously posted the pieces I had cut for Wizard's Chest quilt, a pattern from 2017 in McCall's Quick Quilts.  I didn't get the top finished at retreat, but managed to finish it this weekend!  I stay stitched around the edge of the quilt this afternoon so the seams won't pop!  I used Kaffe Fassett fabrics and black and white prints.

Middle Fork of the Clearwater River.  Lewis and Clark traveled on the ridges above the river

me chain piecing!

Wizard's Chest quilt top completed!
 

Linking up with Design Wall Monday and Monday Making

100 days of school and a prize!

Our school district has been on a 4 day school week for several years.  We go to school about 150 days a year and today we hit our 100th day this school year.  We have 24 students in grades K-6.  Everyone participates in the 100 day event and they bring 100 of something to show.  For several years I brought 100 cookies.  Last year I brought 100 squares of fabric.

This year I brought 100 quilts!  I used to make a lot of miniatures and wallhangings and for the essence of weight I took mostly that size, but threw in a few larger ones.  They filled 4 large garbage bags I could barely lift!  I had lots of helpers spreading them out in the gym (with clean hands and in stocking feet!).  The students were all very impressed and got to pick their favorite ones and explain why and then fold them up for me.  It was a good lesson in art and design.  The first pic is of the stacks in my hallway and the other pics were by the head teacher, trying to minimize faces of students showing!

 I forgot to show the name tag I made for the retreat I went to last weekend.

The background is made up of bits of thread saved from the floor.  A friend also saves all her thread ends and gives them to me.  I went through a postcard making phase with them.  I free motioned my name (going over it a few times) and then covered the whole thing with tulle and did some stitching, punched a hole and added a flower and sewed on the ribbon.  I received the top prize of 8 fat quarters and the three judges really liked my recycling!  Below are the FQ's I received from Quilt Treasures, the retreat sponsor.

Retreat Weekend

I went to a retreat that started last Wednesday for four nights.  It was a new to me retreat and the retreat was held at a hotel.  I had a lot of fun, there were 23 of us, including the quilt shop owner that sponsored the retreat.  She was very generous with gift bags and set up a small shop for us.  Her husband and kids provided dinners for us.

I was able to sew up 84 4 patch blocks for a couple of kids quilts and still need to cut them apart for a disappearing 4 patch, but my main project was my Baltimore Spring project I showed a block of in my last post.  It was intense, but I got all the blocks cut and fused. Some of those pieces are SOOOO small!  I was able to tape the pieces to a wall to watch the project grow.  I have been debating what to do next. I think I will go ahead and assemble the blocks, add the borders (yes a fusible applique one) and then thread paint with a thin layer of batting and then add another think batting layer and a backing and quilt the open areas.  That is my plan at least!  This is not the final layout, it looks too heavy on top, so I will do some rearranging.

Baltimore Spring BOM all fused

Before the retreat the quilt shop owner had a mystery quilt pattern and and quilters had a chance to participate.  She picked fabrics and had them in a bag based on their color preferences.  I did not participate but enjoyed seeing the wide variety of finished quilts from the same pattern!

The previous weekend I got the this quilt top out and added the prairie point border and the final border.  I had pieced it quite some time ago at a retreat.  It was a kit I bought many years ago from Starr Fabrics.  It is a small throw size.  I also have a kit for a queen size version!  It is fun to sew up and I like the mottled effect.

I also pin basted this quilt top to ready it for quilting.  I had gotten word that my friend Kathy had passed away unexpectedly and she and I were co-moderators on a yahoo group for twenty years called Washington State Internet Quilters.  The list owner Melissa is a dear friend and the three of us "ran" the list.  As Facebook and other social media took over the group had dwindled in recent years, but many friendships were formed from this group.  They had many sew ins, retreats, swaps, round robins, etc.  These blocks were from one of the swaps, and in memory of Kathy I got out this quilt top and readied it for quilting.  I have another one as well and still more blocks to be made into quilts!

I think I am going to be busy for awhile!

Linking up with Design Wall Monday, Main Crush Monday and Monday Making.

Retreat Time!

This past weekend I went to a quilt retreat at Palouse Divide Lodge, one of my favorite spots for retreating.  The views out of the lodge are fabulous.  This photo is midday with the larch trees changing color.

I worked on three quilt tops.  This one will be a gift for a person who likes earth tones and curvy things.  It is from the book Color Shuffle by Karla Alexander.  I have wanted to make a quilt from this book for a long time.  I need to even up the edges and add a border of some type.

 This is one of the blocks.  They are set on point.  This was very fun to sew!

This is a quilt for nephew my sister has commissioned me to make.  The pattern is Labyrinth Walk.  I need to add borders to make it queen size so that will take a bit of figuring, not something I do at retreat.

I mentioned I worked on three quilt tops.  Well.... I was sewing the final rows together on the third one when I became ill Saturday night.  Several of the quilters had arrived Monday and I didn't arrive until Thursday evening.  Throughout the week over half of us were sick.  The group that left Sunday had norovirus we found out later.  It's not confirmed our group contracted it, but it is very contagious.  Thankfully my friends were able to pack up my stuff and load my car and tried to figure out how to get me home Sunday.  I said I could drive, it was only an hour and 15 minutes.  I made it, but it was rough!  I took today off work and feel much better.  I finally managed to unload my car and my husband won't let me in the kitchen.  That makes me feel so sad!  😉😏

Linking up with Design Wall Monday and Monday Making.