Virtual Retreat Aug thru Dec 2015 Info on first post

[Geneva C.]

oh my! You have all been so busy! I love all the new quilts posted. Each of them so different and wonderful. What an amazing group of quilters we are.

Lois, hugs to you and your family. The grief, the sorting and the memories... they are difficult and heartwarming. Take care of yourself.

The days have slipped by for me. I try to get to the sewing room to continue to sew the 4 patch square in a square. But I've been busy with life. My mom is sick again, my grandson had minor surgery (he is absolutely fine) and I am in south New Jersey visiting my granddaughter s and their parents. Such fun. I don't know if I'm swimming or winding my watch. Good thing I don't wear a watch.

I'd like to participate in the row by row. I've seen the round robin process before. My only concern with the square and adding borders is making sure everyone's borders lie flat. The row by row seems simpler. But I'm game. I'll try to email you LuAnn.

Thanks for being here even when I'm not. The catching up is fun. Love the ducks Lotti!

Geneva

[Geneva C.]

Lois,
Sorry to hear about your MIL. Remembering can be very exhausting, so take care of your physical health as well as emotions.

Heather,
You can certainly be proud of your work! Looks wonderful.

Rosemary,
Point well taken. I just went back through this thread trying to find everyone's comments thus far, and it was only a few pages but following a topic within a topic is a bit confusing, and that's not mentioning all the rabbit holes I find myself stepping into!!LOL

SO, it will be a separate thread and we'll try to continue discussion over there. Once I get it up, I'll come back and post the name, etc. and we can try to occasionally mention it over here for any newbies that would like to lurk or join in before we actually get started.

Luann

[wendy w.]

Oh Lotti your trousers are on fire


Sorry Lois to hear about MIL and your troubles. I hope things pick up and you get some time for yourself. x

[wendy w.]

Lois I'm sorry to hear about your MIL's passing. I know how involved it is sorting etc household items. Glad to hear you are making headway.

I like the idea of a row by row round robin too, I'll have to think about for a bit not a lot of extra time these days.

Barb

[wendy w.]

I understand why people don't do updates! I'm having issues getting back into my emails and I don't remember every password I've ever had, so it may take me a few days before I can bring some clarity to the Round Robin and start a focused thread, but I WILL get it done!
My email is fine, I can read what you send me, it's just a matter of reentering my pass codes every time I pop on over to something else! So, keep sending me info

And for those 'lurkers' out there, the first month for actually sewing for someone else may be January in order to get everything in order, so if next year looks promising send me your email, and I'll get the info to you, once it is complete. Then you can decide and we can go from there.

Luann
[email protected]
So you don't have to hunt for it,,,

[Rita C.]

Just no time at the moment to comment on everything but loving everything I am seeing.

Lois, so sorry about your MIL, big hugs from Ireland for you and the family.

Lotti, the ducks are sooooo lovely. And as for the fire walking - how do your feet feel afterwards?

[wendy w.]

Well I've got my first bag with enough fabric to make a dozen quilts :blink: The strip in it is 2 rows of 1"squares, fine but it measures 19 1/2" :lol: here we go ........

[wendy w.]

Lois, hugs & prayers for you over the loss of your MiL.

Lotti love the photos, a delight to the eye.

Everyone else, it is always a pleasure to read about what you are all getting up to, even if I don't respond individually.

[wendy w.]

Well I've got my first bag with enough fabric to make a dozen quilts :blink: The strip in it is 2 rows of 1"squares, fine but it measures 19 1/2" :lol: here we go ........

Wendy - don't tell me you are scared by 40 squares of fabric :P

Luanne - if we are to be posting a large bag of fabrics for the construction, along with the row by row/round robin, it will make the postage costs high. Something else to think about

Yes I am interested in joining in, making it international (again)

Does any one else remember the Round Robin style of quilt that Grover(?) wrote about in her blogs. Although they only worked on their own quilt, each month/round they would blind chose a wax crayon for a colour they had to add and they were given a shape/block that they had to use. It was interesting to follow how it developed.

[wendy w.]

Rosemary and others interested in the Round Robin,

My biggest concern is the postage! I've been doing a lot of pondering on ways to make this fun, but not expensive.
I mailed out a package of about 1 1/2 yards of fabric to Australia and it cost me over $16.00, no insurance added! So, I want to be sure this doesn't get like that!
Here's an idea I'd like some feed back on:
It would be a "row robin"
Monthly we each make one 'themed' row, 8 1/2" by 40 1/2", this gets sent to the next person on our individual list (something I will put together)
We use our own stash but the theme of our friend to make the row.
This way monthly postage would only be for a single row of the quilt, and the entire quilt would be assembled by ourselves.
It would look something like this:
My theme would be dragonflies and each month that my name was on Someone's list they would make a border with dragonflies as the theme. And send it to me.
My list would look like this:
Month 1. Lotti - nature animals
Month 2. Rosemary - oriental
Month 3. Lois - appliqué, please no oranges.
Etc, etc.
I think this would be fun and would keep costs down.

As you may have noticed in the theme idea, it can be technique or a focus word. Much like the Chinese Whispers. Each person could post a picture of what they received and as we finish adding the rows what they look like. Lots of eye candy at that point.

Before I start the other thread I want to know also WHEN everyone wants this to start by, or not beforehand!!
Please let me know,
Thanks
Luann

[wendy w.]

Nancy, thank you for the freezer paper tip! I am putting that on my shopping list, because it definitely would have worked better than pinned on/taped on card stock! As you say, the card stock did not bend with the fabric, so as I scrunched and smooshed the quilt, I had to keep repositioning/making sure the pinned on bow didn't move too much.

Luann, I like the way you've set up the Row Robin (or described it in that last post) and would be interested maybe. Not till after Christmas for me, if that's not too late for everyone else. If it is, I can sit this one out and join in next time I think you have my email from sending me info on dyeing fabric, but if you need it again let me know.

Thanks, everyone, for the compliments! It is fun to have you ladies to nudge me on! I did take the 2 small quilts to the fair, so we'll see what happens. They would have been judged yesterday, so I will try and go this weekend to see how things went.

Today I am just working on the binding on the lone star, and then I need to make PJs for the Quiltapalooza PJ Party at Houston next month. That will take me a while, as I am not a garment maker at all. But should be fun!

[wendy w.]

Heather, another alternative for templates to quilt around is sand paper. They don't slip and are very easy to reposition. I used them for stitching out the borders and sashing on my Caught Red Handed quilt, part of the Laura Nownes Sampler quilt along we had a few years back. I did post about how I did it, but unfortunately all the photos were left behind in the change over Yell if you would like further details of my technique.


Here is the whole thing for those that missed it first time around. The name came about because I dyed my own reds to yellows fabrics for this and found out the hard way that my rubber gloves had perished :whistle:

[Catherine S.]

Heather, yes the freezer paper is a must in the sewing room. I sometimes use card stock or index cards too. If I need a small design I will sketch it on the card, then sew over it using a large needle (18-20) and no thread. Then I hold it over the place I want it and use my pounce pad to mark the quilt. I can then use it in other areas of the quilt if I want. I also save my little homemade pounce stencils in case I want to use them on another quilt. I only mark one of these designs at a time, because the powder will sometimes bounce off as you quilt.

[Catherine S.]

I am sorry I won't be able to participate in the round robin (or row robin . I have enough going on right now and then DH asks me to make the shirt for him that he bought the fabric for. That was over a year ago. He said as soon as I am between quilts. Who is ever between quilts? Don't we all have several going at a time so there is no empty time to spare? I guess I will have to do it. He is very understanding about my addiction to fabric, and he does not mind me going to retreats, shows and workshops.

I entered some quilts in the county fair yesterday. One was my Portrait Quilt. They put that in the miscellaneous-applique class. I also had two pieced quilts and could only enter one in my name. DH was with me so the ladies there asked if he would mind if they put his name on it. He said OK. They said maybe he would decide to take up quilting. :lol: :lol:
He isn't allowed to use my machines, so he had better stick to his hunting and fishing.

Better go now. I am taking the grands to the fair parade, then I can go to the exhibition hall and see if I got any ribbons. One of my DDs are going with me. The quilt in DH's name is her Christmas present. I hope they have the names hidden so she won't notice it. I will point out the entries in my name and try to distract her. Wish me luck!

[Lorna B.]

Rosemary, I still love your Caught Red Handed Quilt!