Virtual Retreat Aug thru Dec 2015 Info on first post

[wendy w.]

Dawn, just went back to look at your pieces, from the computer, _{first saw them on my phone} and they are wonderful. Do you need anyone else to go hunting for brass buttons? I'll have a look in my box for you.

[wendy w.]

retreat work. I'm working on a wedding signature quit for my son and DIL. At the wedding everyone was invited to sign a square of fabric that was in a nice scrapbook. Later, to be made into a quilt. The bride choose the pattern and the colours fuchsia and purple were her wedding colours. I've added a pic of the retreat room.

[Nancy R.]

It's beautiful, Terrie! And that looks like a great room for a retreat -- lots of space and plenty of sunlight.

[Annis C.]

Everyone is working on such wonderful projects. I don't have a lot of time for quilt making right now so my sewing room is staying pretty clean. I did work on a project over the weekend though, making sure I put everything up when I was through. I'm making 3 bed runners and throw pillows, using a shower curtain as the focus fabric. I've never done that before! I had a general idea of what I wanted but some of the birds were too close to the edge so I had to cut them straight instead of on point as I would have preferred. I cut the block centers 12" as planned but when I found the lightweight interfacing that was leftover from a project years ago it was only 20" wide and there would only be enough if I cut it 10". So I went back to EQ and added a twist to the blocks. I like them much better now. I just happened to have 1/2 yard pieces of the peach fabrics so those were used for the twist and they will also be used for the outer border as I have already purchased more. The width of the strips going around them depended on the amount of fabric I had since this was a weekend project at my country home and there are no quilt shops close by. I had to keep searching my stash for more fabrics and borrowed a fat quarter from a UFO. That took lots of extra time. My 5 year old grandson wanted to know what the blue tape in the middle was for. I told him they were labeled 1-2-3 or A-B-C to keep them in order. Also to make sure I squared them up with the twist going in the right direction. If I knew at the start they were going to have a twist I would have made a template and turned them all on point, but they are what they are and I hope to finish piecing them this weekend



I have one more batik bed runner to make which I'm designing now and then maybe I can get back to finishing a few older projects. Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving with family and friends. We will have it one last time at our city home. We've been saying that for 3 years now but I think this time it is for real. Next month I may start packing the stuff in the kitchen just to make sure. If it's all in boxes I won't be able to cook.

[Annis C.]

I got an email in today from Spoonflower. They are the folks that I've had print some sample fabrics. Anyway, starting Dec 7 (for 12 days) they will be sending out an email each day with instructions on how to work with your image and then the uploading and printing of it. This is all FREE and you don't have to print anything if you choose not to. I may not have the time to work on it then, but I'm going to get the emails so in the future I can work through it at my leisure. I do have their 'workbook' and I would imagine they'll just be going over what is in it, but there may be a tip given that will help me later. I just wanted to let you all know, if you're interested in learning about the process of printing your own designs onto cloth, wallpaper, or gift wrap.
May God bless each of you with family and friends to be thankful for,
Luann

[Annis C.]

Dawn - Fabulous wool poinsettia pillow I'll have to add that to my to do list!
Geneva - Love Dylan's quilt. Your color choices are fantastic.
Wendy - Wow your journal cover looks great!
Lorna - Hope you found your Bernina cord.
Terrie - Love the wedding signature square quilt - your new DIL choose great colors.
Annis - Wonderful bird bed runners/pillows, I've not thought of using a shower curtain for the focus fabric neat idea!
Luann - My son used Spoonflower to design fabric for matching family shirts - I'd not even considered the possibility of DIY fabric designing the end product turned out great!
Barb

[Annis C.]

So I made it to my country home without the box that has the border fabric for the bird bed runners. I was in such a hurry to miss the heavy rain that I didn't do a double check on the boxes. Now what to do!!! Was only disappointed for a few seconds. The list of what else I could do is long. There is that batik bed runner. The printed design was in the box but it's also on my PC laptop that I bring with me. The template I need is on my Mac in town. Oh, it's also in a PDF file on my laptop which was put there from a backup I had here. Thank goodness for backups. Only problem it doesn't give me an option to choose "do not scale" on the printer here so would have to print it then enlarge it slightly and make copies. The vellum paper I prefer is also In town, but I found a box full of other types of paper here so that's not a problem. And then there is an old Mac and printer upstairs. I think I will turn it on and see if I can open the PDF file on it and if the printer ink isn't dried up then I will be able to print my templates correctly. Wish me luck.

I left the house in town with fans blowing on the wall where water is still running down from a roof leak. Hope they get that fixed soon. Then my DD informed me the ants were back. At least they waited until after the big meal. For now I will put that all out of my mind until Monday and get busy enjoying a quiet, rainy weekend.

[Catherine S.]

Dawn beautiful poinsettia. I am still puzzling over not making any more baby quilts. What happens when they get older and ask why grandma didn't make them a quilt? I would make one for each grandchild anyway and pack them away for the future. I would love to have a quilt my grandmother made for me. Regretfully, the quilting grandmother had passed before I was born and the other grandmother did not quilt. She did spoil me though.

[Marianne G.]

So many posts since I last visited and I haven't got time to stroll through them until next year. BUT I thought I'd share the only quilty bit of sewing I have managed since my last visit: a Christmas leaders-enders table topper with a split 4-patch backing with additional strips to make up the size.









Hope you will all have a lovely December and whatever you celebrate this month Season's Greetings and can't wait to see you all and catch up in January 2016. Take care

Marianne

[Geneva C.]

Marianne, your table topper is lovely! I like the quilted stars.

Well, it's snowed here again today. We normally don't get much snow, but our dear friends to the north, Canadians, are insistent on sending us some cold weather! I love all you Canadians, but please, don't feel the need to send us the cold!

If any of you remember my easy, no sew, knotted "Frozen" throws I was making for my granddaughters Christmas present, well, you can relax. I tamed the knots!!! I am now an expert on square knots. Here they are:






I know the girls will love them. They are currently in Disney World with their parents meeting all their favorite princesses. They are 4 and 6 and this is such a treat for them.

After all my fretting over the baby quilt for my newest grandson, due mid January, I finished it. I am very pleased with it. Once I got over the fretting, the rest was easy. I used all fabrics from my stash, except for the teal. I used all the teal up for the backing.



and here is a close up




I used my favorite #4 stitch on my Bernina for the quilting.

I am now working on Terrie's mystery quilt. I must block my latest round. :sick: Something has happened to my perfect sewing. Blah!

Have a great day!

geneva

[Nancy R.]

Love the table topper Marianne!

Great projects, Geneva! Your grandchildren are very lucky!!

[Nancy R.]

Everyone is doing such nice work

[Nancy R.]

Marianne - love your table runner!
Geneva - really fun to see your GD's 'Frozen' throws look great! (They we love them). Dylan's quilt is fabulous. I like #4 stitch for quilting too. No Snow here in SoCal - we did enjoy when we lived in WA.
Barb

[wendy w.]

Love them Geneva so cuddly and Marianne your runner is great

[Lois B.]

Terrie, love the quilt. Love the colors. Great gift.
Annis, the birds are so nice. They will make a lovely quilt.
Marianne, Your house will look festive.
Geneva, Yours Grandies will be snug and happy.
Keep up the good work everyone.