Retreat Goals

We had quilt retreat this week, and I was motivated to make quilting magic on two big-time goals: Winnemucca Quilt and Aurora. I have been putting these two quilts on my yearly goals repeatedly, and at long last, they are being accomplished! Last month, I posted a 'check-up' on my progress toward completing these goals. Now, I can actually say that one more is done and another is started.

Two lofty goals: 1. Use the fabric bought on our Western US vacation in June 2022 in Winnemucca, NV, and 2. Begin working on Aurora, a quilt with beautiful little stars all in blue.

 First, I worked on Winnemucca. I'd made a test block which satisfied me. The pieces are big; the blocks are big; making the quilt would be fast. It took just over a day to produce my finished quilt top, and I am so pleased with it. Love the look; the fabrics all shine in the simplicity of the blocks without being lost in a more complicated design.

The floral fabric used in the sashing strips and borders is a pleasing mix of the block colors on a gray background. Let's have a closer look.

 

And now that I'm home, I can show even better pictures with the completed quilt top.

Not only am I thrilled to have finally made a quilt with this fabric, I am equally thrilled that I have a good bit of fabric remaining. Now I get the fun of dreaming up a pattern for creating something else from the leftovers. I have plenty - maybe a full yard! - of the stripe, the salmon, and the blue. And sadly, the print is very limited. I used a lot of it on the sashing strips and the borders. Nothing to cry about! I love that this print worked so well in this quilt. I will find another equally attractive (simple!) quilt for using up my remnants.

The other goal for retreat was beginning Aurora. I've had my eye on this quilt for a good while, and had the blues from my stash auditioned and selected. The pattern is by Edyta Sitar in one of her books.

 Those stars! Oh, gosh, they absolutely sing and dance across this quilt! The first time I saw a picture of it, I knew I wanted to make it. I cut most of the quilt out ahead of time and pretty much had everything ready for tackling the daunting task of making 127 stars. And those are 127 4.5" stars! yikes...

Above is my retreat accomplishment on the task: 28 stars. I wanted to at least get the total number of stars down into double digits! I only have 99 more to make!

Yes, it's going to take awhile, but I will make them in batches of 10 or 20 at a time. Breaking down the task seems to make it go faster, and if I've got a good audio book plugged into my ears, I will have them done lickity-split.

In between finishing Winnemucca and beginning Aurora, I made 20 little card wallets. I haven't made any in several months, so I wanted to replenish my supply. This batch contains a few for Christmas.

 One last thing I worked on in the final hours of retreat before packing up was to make a Mini-TATW block from the remnants of my big TATW quilt.

 I've got a great quilt in mind that requires (at minimum) 12 of these mini-trip blocks. Because I had plenty of leftover 2" squares and strips, it made good sense to use them in this fashion. If I still have a lot after making 12 blocks, I might decide to make a few more for a larger quilt.

So that is what I accomplished at our August Quilt Retreat. Fun with friends makes the retreats even more special. We had 8 quilting friends attending this year, and we are already booked for two next year - April and September. 

Hope you are having a productive week! Today, I will put stuff away and tackle a few chores around the house. 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne 

Quarter of a Trip Complete

Who says you can't travel immediately after a knee replacement? While the going is slow, I seem to be progressing right along!

In micro-increments of sewing time now and again, I find that I have reached the quarter-done point. The quilt is made in quadrants, so I've completed one and have a bit of a start on the second.

I got a larger chunk of time on Tuesday when Sharon came to sew! Made lots of progress that day!

I've been attaching my ever-growing quadrant onto the design wall, and as I step back to look at it, I also get to gaze at the  little quilt 9-patch quilt that I made with the hexi flowers. Isn't it a lovely glimpse of happy florals?! The extreme left of the photo shows that I have indeed turned the corner and have begun constructing the next quadrant.

Close-up views of the prints are fun to peruse. Some of the prints read as solid colors from a distance; while others serves as subtle steps from one color to another.

It was easy to know which of my calicoes would be the strong colors around the quilt; some of the others, I was less certain about. I just had to get busy sewing so I could see what I would get. It's been so cool seeing it come alive as I've stitched.

I took a 15-seond video  of this quarter-section. I don't add videos to my blog very often, but let's see if this works at showing the rows grow.
 

My ability to sit at the sewing machine is limited while my knee recovers, but I do enjoy each little session I get, and we all know that staying focused will eventually lead to a finish. Slow and steady...

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne
 

 

Progress Report: Trip Around the World

 Nearly a whole two weeks ago, I shared that I'd begun cutting for my next quilt - Trip Around The World. (TATW) What I did not share was that before I would get very far, I would be interrupted with another date with my ortho surgeon. 

Yes, knee #2 has now been replaced.

I'm 10 days home from the hospital. Therapy has begun, and I believe I am progressing faster with this knee than with the first. It is my hope to be sitting at the sewing machine very soon. 

I sure have missed it!

So let's assess my TATW progress so far...

Above are all the subcuts I've done so far. On the left is the stack for Strata A. In the middle is a bigger stack for Strata B. On the right are just the few cut for Strata C. I still have many more Strata C subcuts to make. Below, are 4 more C's needing subcut.

Then all of the Strata D's need to be cut. There are 7 strata here, so there will be lots of them. As the outer-most trips around the world, naturally more are needed.

When I look at the subcut units piled side by side, I can begin to visualize the trips the colors/fabrics will make around the quilt. 

This picture is zoomed in a bit on Strata A and B - as they fan out, the 'trip' of the fabric can be discerned. The blue at the bottom of Strata A will attach to the pink at the top of Strata B.

Here are Strata B and C in a close-up. The multi-color print at the bottom of Strata B will attach to the  top of Strata C. (Which you can't actually see in this photo; maybe check one of the other pictures that show Strata C.)

To keep everything from getting too complicated or mixed up, I created these 'cheat sheets" and they have been very helpful. The number at the top of each fabric is the row. When creating these strata, instructions say to press toward the even numbers. That has been critical to remind myself of - I am expecting that the eventual construction will be super-easy because I've pressed correctly.

Each strata needs to have a certain amount of subcuts - those numbers are penciled in on the bottom right of each Strata card.

While work on this has slowed down considerably in the last 10 days, I fully expect to get back to making progress in the coming week. Bits at a time, if cutting becomes tiring. (standing) Maybe I can sew a few of the first strata together??

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne 

Trip Around The World

Finally, I have begun a project that is not based on scraps. It is one I have long wanted to make, yet beginning it has been intimidating. Trip Around the World. TATW - that is how I am gonna' be abbreviating it.

Back in February, I bought a big stack of calico fabrics when shopping at The Quilted Twins in Dade City, FL. I was inspired by the whopping variety of pretty little prints, so I got all these in 1-yard cuts.

For the last month or so, I've had a potential arrangement of fabrics spread out in the quilting room. This is sort of like auditioning fabrics for placement in the rows around the quilt.

 It's as if I've been paralyzed about taking the plunge on this quilt. I finally cut into the fabrics last week, and have happily been sewing away every chance I get.

The pattern I am using is one shared with me by the very lady in the quilt shop who cut my fabrics. What a sweetheart she was! I know the feeling of longing to make a quilt, and talking to someone else who is actually going to do it. That's what she was experiencing. I promised to share pictures with her when I had mine finished. How nice of her to share and care!

 

To keep all the rows in order, the instructions say to create a strata - there will be four altogether. This is my first one. This is what a strata looks like when sewn together. There are very specific pressing instructions, too, and I am following them to the letter.

Then the strata is cut into strips. I made two Strata A sections, and cut them down into strips shown below.

Since taking these pictures of the work on Strata A, I have completed Strata B and C; I'm currently working on Strata D. I needed 2 Strata A; I will need 7 Strata D units. More needed in each strata because it's further out on the quilt, if you follow me.

Hopefully, some construction pics will soon be appearing here! Cross your fingers that I'm actually gonna get this done!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne