I always love the promise that October brings with cooler weather and changing colors. It might also be a favorite month because it means that it's quilt retreat time! As you may have noticed, I am not quilting nearly as much the last few years, but I love retreat because it gives me dedicated time to play with fabric. Whether I am making a new top, finishing an older one or working on a WIP or a bag, I really enjoy the time with my sewing machine. This October was no different!
The first few weeks of the month were mostly focused on cross-stitch and crochet, but then my attention turned to quilting as I prepped for retreat. I worked on five projects at my retreat, would you like to see them?
My first project was my challenge project - each year, one person chooses fabric from the sale room at Lolly's Quilt Shop and each person makes something with 1/2 yard of it (or more if she choses a bigger project). Last year, a neat red stripe was selected and I knew all year what fabric I wanted to put it with, but didn't get the project selected until the weekend before retreat! I cut all the pieces at home and assembled the project at retreat.
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| Open Wide 2.0 bag |
This is the Open Wide 2.0 bag from By Annie and I used the leftovers from my daughter's duffel bag that I made last summer. The challenge fabric was used for all the accents and I really like how it turned out. Here's a picture of all the challenge projects together - you can see the variety and creativity.
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| 2024 Challenge fabric projects |
Once I finished my challenge project, I made and attached binding to my Moda Love quilt - I really like how this one turned out and think it will be great over the couch in the winter once the Christmas decorations come down.
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| Moda Love quilt |
Next up was a stitching FFO - I stitched this piece in 2022 and always thought I wanted to finish it as a wall hanging. I auditioned several different fabrics before deciding on these two. I was really pleased with how well this went together and I love the FFO! The hanger is from Ackfeld Wire and I think it's just perfect for this piece.
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| This Is Halloween by Primrose Cottage Stitches Stitched on Color and Cotton linen with called for threads |
After these projects, I shifted my attention to a couple quilt tops. First up was getting back to Reindeer Xing, a project that I cut out last fall. I worked full steam ahead on the reindeer at the end of last year, but then ran into issues when assembling them because I hadn't trimmed and measured along the way. I have slowly been working on them and had four left to finish at retreat. I am happy to report that I not only finished those four, but also made good progress on the tree blocks that will go alongside the reindeer. I have a handful of trees left to make and hope to assemble the quilt over the holidays.
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| Reindeer and trees for Reindeer Xing quilt |
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| Reindeer blocks all stacked up |
My last project was a new quilt project - I am going to participate in the Meadow Mist Designs Marble Mystery quilt-a-long. It started back in August and I am a little behind, but I am sure I will be able to catch up (or I will just go at my own pace!). I am using colors from my stash and will add a light blue to the darker blue, red and pink. My only purchase for this quilt was the background fabric. I am looking forward to getting started on this one soon.
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| Marble Mystery quilt pieces |
I brought along a little hand stitching to my retreat. It's a project that I've had kitted up since early this year and I made good progress on it at retreat, then finished it the night after I got home. This will be finished as an ornament for the tree.
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| Blitzen, a wool applique project |
On the stitching front, I had two finishes and two FFOs this month (This Is Halloween is up above).
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| Thankful by Frony Ritter Stitched on a scrap of Aida will DMC threads |
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| Let it Show by Country Cottage Needleworks from the 2008 Just CrossStitch Christmas Ornament issue Stitched on xJudesigns linen with (mostly) called for threads |
My other FFO is a shop model for our local shop, Persnickety Stitchers. These berries aren't the easiest to finish, but they are fun to make. This one is now at the shop for other stitchers to see (and hopefully decide they need to make too!).
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| Summertime Berry from the pattern Summertime Berries by Linda Michaels |
Last up is my second crochet finish for the year, Pocket Vampire Dracula. I have been working on this slowly but surely over the past few months and decided there was no better night to finish it than Halloween. I think he turned out super cute!
We stopped at one quilt shop on the way to retreat and two while there and I found some fabrics to supplement stash for planned projects. The raspberry fabric and zippers on the left will eventually become a purse. The black with x's will become a sling backpack, and the reindeer will be the back of my Reindeer Xing quilt. The fabric in the bottom center is our challenge fabric for next year. I can't wait to start working on a plan for that.
My stash report was quite active this month between retreat prep and retreat purchases. I made a back for a quilt when I got home and that saved me for the month. I do stash reporting with Donna at quiltpaintcreate:
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