Retreat - Everybody Else!

This last week has been so jam-packed with stuff that it's simply been impossible to direct my focus on finishing the task of sharing the last of the retreat sewing. I did promise, however, so here ya' go! Special note to Sheryll: I didn't take a single picture of any of your needlework! I'm so sorry!!

In this post you saw what Sharon worked on; in this post I shared what I accomplished. Now let's see what Terry, Becky, Jan, Lisette and Susan created. The variety is inspiring!

Terry is preparing for a patriotic year with this R-W-B stars and stripes quilt. Won't it be spectacular?

Missing at Becky's table was her sewing machine! That's because she didn't even bring it. Her intentions were to do handwork for the duration of the retreat. She has two in progress - stars and Grandmother's Flower Garden. What fun to watch these two quilts grow throughout the week. Becky is very skilled at color placement and fast, yet fine stitching.

Jan's impressive accomplishment was finishing this WIP (work in progress). She came to the retreat with most (maybe all) of the stars made. She constructed the checkerboard blocks and then put the quilt top together. Ever since I've known Jan, her preference for bold colors and strong, graphic designs has been evident in her quilts.

A WIP from Lisette was one of these trees; while at retreat she made and attached two more. She likes working with tiny pieces. For further proof of that, get a look at this next WIP.

 

This quilt is made with the narrowest of strips - scraps, potentially - using paper foundation. It is going to be so stunning when completed.

 This little beauty appeared on the design wall in the vicinity of where both Lisette and Susan were sewing; I'm sorta' thinking it was completed by Lisette. What a lovely little table topper/wall hanging.

Lisette likes to be organized as illustrated by the little clips of all her block units. I'm sure this increases her completion rate; I ought to take heed and try it myself, right?

These lovely flying geese strips are a WIP from the talented hands of Susan. I have forgotten the precise project she is working on, but it seems as though it's a sampler quilt. 

Another of Susan's projects was this pretty poison green/navy star creation. I don't know her eventual plan for this. I do know it was made following instructions using a disappearing 4-patch as the beginning point. The girls who are in a guild together had this demonstrated for them at their last meeting; it all seemed rather too complicated for me!

I mentioned that I did not take pictures of anything from Sheryll. Let me post one I have in my camera roll; I have lots of pics that never make it to the blog. This is representative of the handwork Sheryll specializes in; and it is always lovely.

While I show you this Christmas picture, I can tell you that Sheryll was working on a beautiful red bird design. Additionally, she was piecing some hexies for flowers; I apologize for not doing a better job of fact-gathering.

So our Spring retreat was a wonderful success. We go back in mid-August for another 3-night/4-day retreat. I so look forward to these getaways so much!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

The KF Retreat

As I pulled together the projects I planned to work on at the recent retreat, I mentioned that this might become known as the Kaffe Fassett retreat - that prediction was spot on. I made three quilts with this glorious fabric, and I love all three.

First, I finished a WIP (work in progress) that was begun while in Florida. I made blocks of an entire mostly-blue KF jelly roll. That was all done prior to the retreat. I set off those gorgeous blue/green/purple blocks with a narrow pink sashing, and used some blue from my stash for the cornerstones. 

That pic above looks washed out; here's a different angle; hopefully the colors look more vivid.

 The final measurements on this jelly roll quilt are 45"x50".

The second project was the project I planned to do with my dear friend Sharon. We'd spoken for a year or more about using our KF fabrics to make an Around the World quilt. I shared hers in yesterday's post. She'd begun it back in the fall while I delayed because - get this - I didn't have enough pastel colors in my stash. I had to buy more! (I know, you're all ROFLing, right?)

The wonderful floral pattern above was my center panel. From there, I just added border after border after border - all different widths and all selected with the idea of cohesiveness of color and design.

I really didn't know what it would look like when I began, but this is what I ended up with. I sort of expected that it would be more pink, but the fabrics led me to this and I'm pleased with it. It measures 48"x62". I could conceivably add more borders. Now that I am home and have access to my entire stash, I might just see what I find. However, I do like this and may just leave well enough alone.

Having this completed, I turned my sights on making a baby quilt for our new granddaughter. Both Cate and Reagan have quilts made like this, and I thought the newest little girl would need to have one as well. The last thing I grabbed when packing for retreat was a stack of solid fabrics piled on the end of a table. It was meant to be.

The  blocks for this quilt use the same general principle as Around the World - that is, begin with a panel of colorful florals or prints, border it with a matching solid, repeat a border of the floral/print, then finish off with the solid. Make 9 of these blocks and stitch them together. Voila! Baby quilt in no time. This one measures 60"x76". I am sure the ones I made for Cate and Reagan were lots smaller. Since there's not a set pattern, you end up with a surprise. I used narrower strips or started with smaller central panels on my previous versions. 

 I just found this picture in my camera roll; I'm completely clueless! One of these went to Reagan; I must have gifted the other one...but to whom? I forget...Below is the first one from 2022 when Cate was born.

 So, yes, it WAS a Kaffe Fassett retreat. Wonderful! It was really satisfying to complete 3 flimsies, all made (mostly) from my stash of KF fabrics. I'll be back soon with a final retreat report in which all the other quilters get grouped all together in one giant post.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne 

Retreat - Lisette, Susan & Jan

Our final installment of last week's retreat will include our 3 remaining seamstresses, Susan, Lisette, and Jan. 

Lisette did lots and lots of small blocks for School Girl Sampler. This is one organized quilter - just look at the labeling and orderly stacks.

She also needed to attach a border to this gorgeous quilt. What a great eye for reproductions she has, as seen in the close-up.

Susan finished off a baseball-themed quilt, a snowball quilt and a reproduction quilt with dozens of flying geese units.

 

Susan hoped to finish this quilt and discovered that she did not bring fabric for the last of those flying geese. It's almost done!

Here's the snowball quilt. Her task for part of one retreat day was making a zigzag border. I really didn't pay attention when Susan shared details on this quilt, so I have no further tidbits to add. I do like the looks of the blues with the tans. It's a great look.

And here is her baseball quilt. I think she shopped locally for the border and added it at retreat. She also prepped the backing for this quilt.

Jan worked on 2 quilts from beginning to end - and by end I mean that she not only attached all borders, but also prepared backing and binding for each. 

From this organized and well-sorted supply of parts, Jan built a Courthouse Steps quilt that looks amazing.

After finishing the Courthouse Steps, Jan pulled out a jelly roll project with some panels stitched into each block. The result is a fine looking Christmas quilt.

And that concludes my wrap-up of last week's retreat. What fun we had. The food was great; the conversations were all over the place; we did a bit of shopping; we did some dreaming and wishing for future projects. Successful in every way.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne
 

Retreat - Projects of Sharon & Terry

It seems ridiculous to group things this way, but I took a picture as we began our retreat. And since Sharon and Terry are in the photo, that seems a random enough reason to share their projects in today's post.

And I will say from the get-go that I did not get pictures of all they accomplished. Actually, for someone who wants to eventually blog about what all we accomplished, I am rather haphazard in my information gathering. My apologies.

Sharon, in the foreground, had as she called it, utility quilts to make. She was attempting to whittle down her tub of flannel fabrics and made some pretty decent progress on a couple of quilts that will undoubtedly make for cozy TV watching.

Layer cake squares went together fast for a floral beauty. Another, which I apparently did not take a picture, is a Rail Fence pattern of brownish/burgundy and off-white. 

A wall hanging for her daughter was also on Sharon's agenda. She made this as far as she could go with her fabric on hand. One more row of leaves across the top will be added, and then it'll be ready to finish up.

Last, her wonderful "WOW" quilt is another Alpine quilt. She's made 2 of these already, but wanted one for Christmas. These trees are stunning! Click here to see one of her previous versions of Alpine.

Terry worked on a complicated-looking quilt called Michigan by Laundry Basket Quilts. She did quite a bit of prepping before coming to retreat, so getting her quilt top together took just a couple of days.

This is an example of the prep work done ahead of time. Small units were ready to go at retreat which made construction all the faster.

 Don't you love the alternative color choices? These blues, greens and browns are much more suited to Terry's color palate than the corals on the pattern. It looks spectacular.

After finishing this, she stitched curved basket handles for a quilt she has in progress. And last she was concentrating on tracing a rather involved applique for a Christmas quilt. I do not have a picture of either of these efforts. I will surely see her working on them again, though, so stay tuned. 

A brief recap today, to be sure. We are heading off to pick up our sweet Cate for an overnight at our house! Fun on our horizon, right?

Happy Quilting,  Friends!

Jayne 

Retreat Wrap-Up - My Own Stuff First

I'm just home from a 4-day quilt retreat at Needles N Pines Retreat Center in Nelsonville, OH. We had 8 quilters happily and energetically zipping away on their projects. We got so much done! It has been challenging deciding how to share our various projects and accomplishments.

The easiest way for me is to start with myself, since I know that info best. It'll also give me time to be more thoughtful about grouping the other quilters and their work. 

I went with the plan to make my Wensleydale Quilt with the Tilda fabrics I'd prepared ahead of time. 

The paper piecing pattern requires 5 'rounds' of fabrics, and I followed a fantastically helpful YouTube tutorial by Quilted Chicken. Following her instructions kept my biggest fear at bay - wasting fabric. Tilda is not inexpensive, and my memories of paper piecing years ago involved a whole lot of waste. I don't mind that when I'm using scraps, but with brand-spanking-new FQ packs, I didn't want to waste anything.

All my pieces were laid out on my table in the order in which I would use them. I had my cheat-sheet of sub-cutting instructions nearby, too. I did a lot of fumbling around trying to establish a rhythm for making a block. My first couple of blocks took awhile to finish. It'd been many years since I last paper pieced, so I needed to relearn things. Here are blocks 1 and 2.

 

By the end of retreat (Monday morning thru Thursday morning), I had made 30 blocks - exactly half of what is needed for the quilt. 

I just love how nicely they stack with the foundation papers keeping them so straight and even. The stack above is only 8 or 10 blocks. You can imagine how sweet the stack of 30 looks. (I'll take that pic after I unpack everything.) *wink* 

When I had 28 blocks it seemed a good place to stop and hang them on the design wall. I can see that I will need to be more deliberate in placing these blocks; the bottom row of this particular layout has way too many dark-ish blocks. 

Looking at this layout of 28 blocks, I don't see a single one that doesn't please me. Tilda fabrics are so very versatile when mixing them all so randomly. I'd been collecting Tilda bit by bit for a couple of years with no particular plan for using it. I bought some from Annette at Sewing The Good Life, at quilt shows in both Circleville and Daytona. I also had a bit purchased also at the Circleville show from Mercantile on Main. When I realized that I'd need both more fabric and more color variations, I sent off an emergency order to The Quilter's Shoppe on Etsy. Shop owner Karen was exceedingly fast in delivering my order, and I had it in plenty of time to take with me to retreat. I am so glad I had the array of reds to add to my predominantly blue collection. 

Thirty blocks completed in 4 days is a lot. I know I will not make the next 30 as quickly. If I can average 5 per week, I suppose I would consider that a success. I just won't be able to have such extended time in the sewing room, but I will for sure try to remain focused on finishing these blocks.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

Retreat Report #2

Retreat sewing. That's what y'all want to see, right? So let's get right into it! 

 

First up, we'll see what Sharon was stitching. She and I are doing the same pattern; it's by It's Sew Emma called Paris Flea Market Find. Sharon is using Etchings fabric by 3Sisters, augmented with some other 3Sisters lines from her stash.

 

Those sashing strips left a great pile of cut-away corners, so Sharon saved them for some eventual HSTs and a project yet to be determined. (I saved mine, too!)

 

Making the 25-patch blocks was lots of fun and so very satisfying as they came together quite speedily. 

 

Becky had two very different projects - one for machine piecing and one for hand work. Below is the book from which her applique pattern comes. It's hard to discern, but it's called Fresh Picked from Blackbird Designs.

Her other project is one that just boggles my mind in its intricacy. Circa 1880 Nine Patch by Pam Buda contains 6,268 pieces, many of which finish at 1/2 inch. Yowza.

Becky had completed this tubful of tiny uneven 9-patches, and her work at retreat involved attaching the setting triangles and forming the long strip of blocks.

 

 

 

The neat stack on Becky's table shows a significant portion of both her projects - the applique on tip and the strips of uneven 9-patches under them.

 

 Jan brought one project to this retreat, very unlike her normal mega-productivity at previous retreats. Her efforts were of the Herculean variety as she finished this overly-involved panel quilt.

 

Each panel required a rather extensive border; after gnashing her teeth on about 4 of these, she began taking short cuts which required fewer seams and fewer fussy bits. We all agreed that the simpler borders were actually better, as they did not deter from the cute panels.

 

Sheryll had two main focuses - these intricate blocks for a quilt she's had under construction for awhile was one of them. 

 

 

 

Her other focus was making HSTs using Primitive Gathering HST papers. I should have asked how many she ended up making, but gosh, that stack was looking mighty intimidating! I think that Jacob's Ladder (above) is also for a Primitive Gatherings project.

Susan (who you met yesterday with her brand new machine) had lots of variety in her week at retreat. First, she made this owl quilt.

 

Next, she worked on this Ohio University table runner. I love the way this looks, and since I have an OU grad in the family, I would very much consider making something like this for her.

 

From the OU project, Susan moved on to this Folk Art/Patriotic house quilt. It was looking mighty fine as we finished out the week.

Susan also shared a 3-yard quilt finish from last summer's retreat. Several of us have made quilts from one of the many 3-Yard Quilt books.

Terry was a busy girl, too, with several finishes to boast. She already had a good start on this Civil War Legacies quilt called Remembrances. It is impressive with all those famous faces highlighted in the center of each block.

She then moved on to this quilt, but I can't tell you anything about its name or pattern. I do know that we discovered an error after this photo was taken, and she did get it all fixed before we left retreat.

Next, Terry moved on to making an OSU quilt for her grand-nephew who attends there. She used a sheet for the center of the OSU blocks, and a variety of theme-related fabrics to build this out. It is quite the impressive flimsy after just a day's hard work.

Our final seamstress is Helen, who worked so hard to get her Alpine quilt cut out. The thinking was that she'd cut here at retreat, then Becky could take the ruler home to cut hers later. Helen got far enough along in the process that she made one block just to be sure that she was on the right track with this project. I think she might have been more than just a little intimidated with these angles. I'm sure she'll get it all squared away.

Another project Helen brought to work on was this kit from Maywood Studio. It is going to look so happy and cheerful, with hints of vintage 30s sprinkled throughout.

And yes, Helen had one more kit - this happy little neighborhood called Farmer's Daughter by Moda. She has quite a bit of this finished!

Here are some final shots of my version of Paris Flea Market Find - I'm using (primarily) Paris Flea Market fabrics along with some stash yardage.

That's it!! A 4-day retreat at Needles and Pines in Nelsonville, Ohio, is all we need to have a fun and productive week. We highly recommend this facility to quilters in the southern Ohio area.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne