Virtual Retreat 2016

[Dawn S.]

Heather, I think it is great that you weren't afraid to itemize all of the costs involved in making a quilt for your friend! And, the fact that she accepted the price was equally great! There are so many people out there that just don't understand the time and money involved in making a quilt. You did good!!!

Luann, I see you have been having fun and are still being super productive. Yes, paper piecing can be addictive. I have done around three or four Judy Neimeyer quilts. I actually saw her in my LQS a couple of days ago. She came in to see a couple of finished quilts from her last pattern. There seemed to be a big mistake in them. I'll have to find out more on my next visit. The visit before that one, all the ladies from her current retreat came in to buy all of their fabric (with her help) for their quilt. Can you imagine the total amount of money spent in the shop that day?! What a sweet deal!

Annis, thanks for the review on the mat and the ruler! It always helps to hear other's perspective. I hope the mending of the comforter is coming along okay! What a drag! I hate to spend precious quilting time on mending!

Dawn

[Annis C.]

The patches are done. I found this biscuit quilt that I made out of shiny fabrics years ago just for fun. I wasn't sure if it would fit the style of the room but I think I like it. What do you think? I have enough biscuits left over to make a couple throw pillows and enough from the pillow shams for the pillow backs, and even zippers and cording if I want to us them. Too bad I have to go back to my city home later today and make dozens of deviled eggs and frost dozens of sugar cookies. At least my house is clean enough for all of the guests that will be there tomorrow and the cookies are already baked. Happy Easter!

[Annis C.]

Wow Annis - the comforter looks great with the biscuit quilt on top! Love the room with all the pieces too.
Happy Easter to you too!
Barb

[Annis C.]

Annis, that looks lovely together! What a find, and what a beautiful room!

Dawn, thank you! I've learned from all of you, blogland, etc, -- charge what it's worth. I decided since she asked, I'd be honest & upfront and let her decide. I was surprised she said yes! I have found it stressful, as you all know I am not a precision quilter. When quilting for myself, my children, gifts, etc., this doesn't bother me. Quilting for pay....yikes! I've undone and redone and feel it's good now, but the longer I look at it, the more mistakes I notice. Nothing she will notice, most likely, but still. However, label & binding are on, I'll wash it today and contact her to arrange delivery. I will take a photo before & after I wash it for you all to see

I have determined, though, I truly need to start spending time every single day practice quilting on throw-away sandwiches or mug rugs, etc. My ideas for quilting outpace my abilities, which gets me into trouble. I think when I have down time between projects I'll cut scraps into pieces for simple blocks, and make a little box to piece, assemble, quilt so I can practice. I need my skill level to catch up to my idea level!

[Annis C.]

Lovely room Annis!
Heather...I just made a jelly roll quilt, and am practicing different quilting in each stripe....it will end up on my couch, so it's pretty stress free....it's only for me :evil: it's really good practice for tight places, and I put a border on it, so will have some bigger negative space to practice in :P

Dorothy

[Annis C.]

Heather,
You commented about practicing on 'throw away' pieces, etc. Here's an idea for practicing without stress. Use inexpensive muslin for top and back and colored thread for visibility of stitches. Mark out your blocks with permanent marker, baste everything together like usual, then practice different stitches inside each block that you've drawn. Do lots of quilting! Bind in the easiest manner and give these to dog and cat shelters in your area. Check on the sizes they would prefer and just cut things to work for it. Basically, this is whole cloth quilting at is basic level. Now if I just use my own advise!!

[Catherine S.]

These are great ideas Heather. Another is to use an old sheet (If you don't have one, look at a thrift store.). I don't know if the boys are too old to lie on the floor while watching TV, but they would provide a little extra padding if they do. My SIL is 30 and he still likes to lay on the floor to watch. If they have designs on them, you can practice following the designs, or echo quilting them. And, I like Luann, should practice more myself. I have no confidence in my quilting ability.

[Catherine S.]

Bud looks great there. I always pick the bed closest to the bathroom. Short walks sometimes matter when you get older.
I have been doing some charity sewing, sewing together squares to make banners for a local church's May Procession. I will have some help in a few weeks, but wanted to get a head start on it. 450 3" squares per side, 900 per banner. I think I have enough squares to do 5 banners. I will also be attending our state guild meeting in a few weeks. My son from Michigan, and daughter from Ohio will also be here during that time, so it will be busy. My mystery clue will need to wait until after the 25th to get done. Also, my row exchange for April.
Then, there is the garden to take care of. Well, I just need to help do the planting and harvesting. DH does the taking care of it in between. Hope you are all keeping busy. Have a great and productive April.

[Catherine S.]

Dorothy, I love your idea to do a jelly roll quilt and use that for practice! I have plenty of random jelly roll strips I can probably use to do just that!

Here are pictures of the finished baby quilt -- it is not perfect in the least, but she loved it and didn't care. I'm mildly horrified still at some of the "oh that is not straight at all!" parts, but she absolutely LOVED it and did not bat an eye, at all. Yes, she looked closely, too! LOL!

I outlined the C (fused applique, with blanket stitch around it, then outline quilting via FMQing, free hand)(which is imperfect); outlined the butterflies via FMQing (which came out very well), did little hearts in the corner on the square with the C and on the corners of the large border (which I'm pleased with, though the ribbon lines in the border are not super perfect), and straight lines around the edges (which were wobbly and I redid most of them with the walking foot, and learned -- *Do the walking foot quilting FIRST, silly!*)









On the other hand, I'm proud of the parts that came out right and I did redo the parts that weren't straight, *that I could fix.*

Then this weekend I detoured with this little project just for me, and today is my busy out of the house day, but tomorrow is time to assemble my son's graduation quilt. Five weeks remaining......oye. I have to assemble the rows, assemble the top, *cut and piece the borders*, add those, then baste, quilt, bind.......it can be done, as long as I quit distracting myself.



For this, I was inspired by the HMQS theme of "Memorable Moments" and wanted to do something. After/during making, I decided I won't submit it (because I really want it as a triptych, and it doesn't "read" as "one cohesive quilt"), but I couldn't shake the idea to make this -- the concept is, each of my boys at the beach, through time. The first panel is my oldest, around age 10-ish, on the beach alone, and framed with photos of himself, alone, on the beach at all different ages before and after that point. The second panel is my middle son around age 10, with his older brother along as well, likewise framed by photos of himself either alone or with his older brother. The last panel is in color, to represent present day (the 1st 2 are in sepia tone to represent aged photos/past) and is my youngest at age 10 (he is just newly turned 11), with his older brothers alongside, and then framed with past photos of youngest son, or youngest with older brothers along, in various combinations. Concept being.....present repeats the past....and these commonplace moments, just a boy building a sand castle on a beach....become magical & memorable when we view them through the lens of the past.

I pieced the backgrounds with improv curved piecing, then used printed photos on cardstock to make templates to cut out the applique pieces and did raw edge applique (using fabric glue stick to hold each piece in place first). I may go in and add details particularly to the hair, and possibly to create some shadows, but for now I am pleased with them. I left the edges unfinished because I plan to frame them and hang them in my sewing room, instead of binding them. They are roughly 8x10 sized, and I'm planning to pick up some simple gold tone frames for them.

[Catherine S.]

Heather I LOVE your mini quilts of the boys!!! What a great idea!!!!
I am getting LOTS of practice on my jelly roll quilt :cheer: I'm having to look at Leah Days website to come up with new ideas hmy: really lots of fun though, and since it is only one section, if I don't like it particularly, I just won't repeat it :blink:

Dorothy

[Geneva C.]

Hey, I was wondering about something and thought I'd ask my favorite experts.

I am working with antique silk kimono fabric which I am fusing to a lightweight stabilizer. It's working great. I will be adding dupioni silk to the mix. Shall I fuse the stabilizer to the dupioni also?

Thanks!

geneva

[Nancy R.]

Hi Geneva -

I would fuse the silk. That'll help control the fraying and make the silk easier to work with.

Nancy

[E.M. T.]

Question...What stabilizer works best?? Have a little project down the road !

[Nancy R.]

I haven't pieced my silks yet. I've just done wholecloths, which I've zigzagged the edges rather than stabilizing. But when I do get around to piecing my silks. I'll probably try something lightweight like a fusible tricot.

[Nancy R.]

Hi Marilyn,
I have three stabilizers that I like working with, depending on what type project I'm working on. For a raw edge appliqued picture type project I love Steam A Seam, (not the lite). If I want a lighter hand I will use Wonder Under or Misty Fuse, especially on delicate fabrics.