For the past several years, our bee has had a spring retreat to the Threads of Time Quilt Shop and Retreat center in east-central Illinois. We always have a good time, eat lots of great food, and make lots of beautiful projects. This year, I didn't prep at all for retreat, so I was scrambling in the week before we went to decide what to work on. I still wound up taking too much, which is actually a good thing in my book, cause you never want to run out of projects to work on while at retreat!
I worked on projects on and off this year, alternating between a few, so I will show you them in order of finish.
My first finish is a tool caddy. It goes over a 5x7 plastic picture frame and is really handy to keep a lot of items at your fingertips. It didn't go all the way to the bottom of the frame when made as instructed, so I shifted it a bit and wound up with a few small raw edges on the bottom. It also has a tendency to tip over if filled with too many things! I loved using the thread and pins fabric that I bought years ago to make this.
The next top is made from the very first jelly roll I ever bought. It is called Kashmir IV and it is very light. While the top is a little richer in person, it is a very muted quilt top and I really like how it turned out. The pattern for this one is called Hourglass and it is from a Kim Brackett book. I've had it on my "want to make" list for a while. Now I will dig through my stash to see if I can come up with a few border that will work. This one is lap sized, although by the time I add border, it might be closer to a twin.
On the last morning of our retreat, I pulled out my APQ Challenge UFO for the month of March - this is one that's been on my UFO list since I created it! I finished the stitching in 2005! I decided to make it into a pillow with binding, so that if I change my mind and want to hang it up, it will also work as a wall hanging. Once I finished it and put it into a travel pillow, I decided I love it that way! It spent a few weeks on my couch so I could enjoy it for a while before it gets put away until the holidays next year.
The final project of retreat was making up some sweetpea pods. I have now finished the pods for all of the Bendy bags I made last holiday season. I still have a bunch of zippers left, so there will be more of these in my future.
The one thing I didn't get any pictures of this retreat was our group. We have had a few different people each year and we always have a good time. This group was no different. I really enjoyed the days with my mom, Pam, Stephanie, Hannah, Muffet, Karen, Betty, and Paula and I am already looking forward to next year!
I worked on projects on and off this year, alternating between a few, so I will show you them in order of finish.
My first finish is a tool caddy. It goes over a 5x7 plastic picture frame and is really handy to keep a lot of items at your fingertips. It didn't go all the way to the bottom of the frame when made as instructed, so I shifted it a bit and wound up with a few small raw edges on the bottom. It also has a tendency to tip over if filled with too many things! I loved using the thread and pins fabric that I bought years ago to make this.
Next up was one of my kits - this one was gifted to me by one of my mom's quilting friends, and I never quite got around to making it as my friends were having babies. The crayon tops and bottoms are made from a variegated fabric, and the wrappers are some awesome crazy brights. This will be a perfect baby or small kid quilt, and I love how it turned out! This one will be added to my UFO list until it's needed :)
The next top is made from the very first jelly roll I ever bought. It is called Kashmir IV and it is very light. While the top is a little richer in person, it is a very muted quilt top and I really like how it turned out. The pattern for this one is called Hourglass and it is from a Kim Brackett book. I've had it on my "want to make" list for a while. Now I will dig through my stash to see if I can come up with a few border that will work. This one is lap sized, although by the time I add border, it might be closer to a twin.
On the last morning of our retreat, I pulled out my APQ Challenge UFO for the month of March - this is one that's been on my UFO list since I created it! I finished the stitching in 2005! I decided to make it into a pillow with binding, so that if I change my mind and want to hang it up, it will also work as a wall hanging. Once I finished it and put it into a travel pillow, I decided I love it that way! It spent a few weeks on my couch so I could enjoy it for a while before it gets put away until the holidays next year. 
Comments
I really like the tool caddy idea on the picture frame--very creative AND useful. Your other quilts are so pretty and the Joy pillow is adorable--gotta love that smiling reindeer!
Glad you got to get away in the middle of your very busy month--a retreat is great for recharging your batteries!