This spring, my quilting group decided on a new location for our spring retreat. We joined Ruthie and the Threads of Mine quilters in Shipshewana at the Farmstead Inn, just like we do in the fall! The spring group is about 1/2 the size of the fall group, and it worked out great. We drove up on Wednesday and started sewing on Thursday. This time, we didn't go anywhere after retreat (in the fall, we head to brunch and a quilt shop together), so I even got to do some sewing on Sunday morning.
My goal for this retreat was to work on several small projects, with a hope that I could finish things before I got home, since I don't seem to be doing much sewing at home these days. I spent the month beforehand pre-cutting projects so I would be ready to go and it was a good strategy as always.
I started the retreat by working on a couple table runners. The first one is my UFO for this month and just needed to have binding attached. It was nice to have that project done just an hour into the retreat! After that, I worked on a new table runner that will go on my coffee table in the summer. It is a pattern called Plus from Trendy Tablerunners by Heather Peterson. I love her patterns and this one turned out great. It is a little hard to tell from the picture, but the background fabric is blue. It is from a fabric line called Lucy's Crab Shack from a few summers ago. I've been waiting for the perfect project for it. I still have a few pieces of the fabric left, so will need to find something to make with the leftovers.
After table runners and dinner, I pulled out one of my stitched pieces and made it into a flange pillow from Vonna Pfeiffer's tutorial. I am really pleased with how well the fabric complements this piece and look forward to displaying it next holiday season. I also worked on another kit that night, but didn't get it finished, so I will hold off on the picture until I can show it completed (it is really close, just doing hand stitching).
Friday dawned a beautiful day and I thought it would be good to dig into my most complex project, Mini Pumpkins by Sew Kind of Wonderful. This project is lots of curved piecing, and it took me the better part of the day to get it into a completed top, but I am really happy with it! I will have to think hard about how to quilt this one to accentuate the pumpkins and keep it looking modern. It will go perfectly above the couch in our family room during the fall.
On Saturday morning, I started with a quickie, a little pop up - it has a metal spring inside and can fold down flat or pop up to hold goodies or a soda can. I've also had this fabric a long time and I am pretty proud of myself that I got the tulips going the right way!
After that, I started work on the kit I bought earlier this year, a Frivol tin. I worked on it a while, then took a break, then came back to it later in the night. I got it into a center - there are still 3 borders that need to be added. I am not sure what I'll do with this one, but I love the light, bright colors. It will be about 60" square when finished, maybe a bit too big for a wall, but a bit too small for a lap.
The last project I will share is my Sit and Stitch. My mom and I both made these and I had so much fun! I picked out the fabric earlier this year with this project in mind and it turned out just like I imagined. I love the finished project and it is sitting next to me on the arm of the couch right now.
On Sunday morning, I did work on one last project - my Hunter's Star quilt. I found binding for it at one of the local quilt shops, got it cut, ironed, and sewn on before we left and now I just need to attach the other side of the binding. I will get another picture of that quilt when it is all done.
For the first time I can remember, I worked on every project that I took to retreat. And, I got a couple of them completely done! It felt really good to make so much progress. Next up is to have both of my machines serviced - the regular sewing machine and the longarm. They are both being a little persnickety, so need some attention, oil, and adjustments. I am hoping to get that done in early June so that I can get a few of these projects to fully finished.
Hope you enjoyed the retreat recap! I'll be back in a few days with a stash report to show you the result of all this good work on the stash!
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| Gorgeous sunset over the Farmstead Inn |
I started the retreat by working on a couple table runners. The first one is my UFO for this month and just needed to have binding attached. It was nice to have that project done just an hour into the retreat! After that, I worked on a new table runner that will go on my coffee table in the summer. It is a pattern called Plus from Trendy Tablerunners by Heather Peterson. I love her patterns and this one turned out great. It is a little hard to tell from the picture, but the background fabric is blue. It is from a fabric line called Lucy's Crab Shack from a few summers ago. I've been waiting for the perfect project for it. I still have a few pieces of the fabric left, so will need to find something to make with the leftovers.
After table runners and dinner, I pulled out one of my stitched pieces and made it into a flange pillow from Vonna Pfeiffer's tutorial. I am really pleased with how well the fabric complements this piece and look forward to displaying it next holiday season. I also worked on another kit that night, but didn't get it finished, so I will hold off on the picture until I can show it completed (it is really close, just doing hand stitching).
Friday dawned a beautiful day and I thought it would be good to dig into my most complex project, Mini Pumpkins by Sew Kind of Wonderful. This project is lots of curved piecing, and it took me the better part of the day to get it into a completed top, but I am really happy with it! I will have to think hard about how to quilt this one to accentuate the pumpkins and keep it looking modern. It will go perfectly above the couch in our family room during the fall.
On Saturday morning, I started with a quickie, a little pop up - it has a metal spring inside and can fold down flat or pop up to hold goodies or a soda can. I've also had this fabric a long time and I am pretty proud of myself that I got the tulips going the right way!
After that, I started work on the kit I bought earlier this year, a Frivol tin. I worked on it a while, then took a break, then came back to it later in the night. I got it into a center - there are still 3 borders that need to be added. I am not sure what I'll do with this one, but I love the light, bright colors. It will be about 60" square when finished, maybe a bit too big for a wall, but a bit too small for a lap.
The last project I will share is my Sit and Stitch. My mom and I both made these and I had so much fun! I picked out the fabric earlier this year with this project in mind and it turned out just like I imagined. I love the finished project and it is sitting next to me on the arm of the couch right now.
On Sunday morning, I did work on one last project - my Hunter's Star quilt. I found binding for it at one of the local quilt shops, got it cut, ironed, and sewn on before we left and now I just need to attach the other side of the binding. I will get another picture of that quilt when it is all done.
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| A delicious Amish style dinner |
Hope you enjoyed the retreat recap! I'll be back in a few days with a stash report to show you the result of all this good work on the stash!
Comments
Happy June to you and your family! Can hardly believe summer is here :)