I am back to share my adventures on Tuesday of our retreat. I realized from a few comments on my last post that I haven't yet shared the location of the retreat. It was a wonderful quilt shop & retreat center in Danville, IL called Threads of Time. They have facilities to accommodate anywhere from 2 to 50-ish quilters. Rooms come with 3 or 4 beds and there are even a few rooms designed for snorers! I was lucky that my three roommates and I all had the same preferences for room temperature and the same volume level of night-time noises!
On Tuesday, I woke up refreshed and ready to go so I headed straight to the sewing room before breakfast. I separated my kit for my Schnibbles quilt into four sections. I think I may have even started the first section on Monday night, but my memory a few days later is a little foggy! I just knew that I didn't really want to sew 128 pieces in a row the same way, then press them all, then trim them, so I broke it into 4 sets. I finished the first or second set before breakfast and the others after lunch. It was my day to cook a meal, so I made a taco salad bar and everyone helped themselves.
The weather was so nice that we ate outside in the backyard garden. After lunch, I put the blocks on the design wall, and by dinnertime, I had about 1/2 of the top together. The first border went on easily, then I pieced the second border. I decided somewhere about this time that we needed to make an ice cream run, so a small group of us headed a few miles up the road to the local custard stand only to discover it wasn't scheduled to open until Friday! Fortunately, there was a DQ just a few blocks up the street, so we still got our fix. When we got back, I got the pieced border finished and attached. I had to work it in a little bit, as it was about 1/4" bigger than the top, but it worked out okay and I am really pleased with the finished result.
I counted the time at the end of the day and I spent a total of just over 9 hours working on the top. I will add another 1-2 hours for quilting it and then a couple more to add and sew down the binding. People often ask me how long it took to put a top together, and it really varies based on the number of pieces you are putting into it. It is nice to know how long this one took!
By the time I finished the top, I was tired. I think I did a little cleaning up, a little prep work for the next day (I was working on leaders and enders the whole time, so I am well on my way to another top :), and I headed to bed at a semi-reasonable hour and got another great night's sleep! One more half-day to share -- I'll be back in a day or two to report about that.
On Tuesday, I woke up refreshed and ready to go so I headed straight to the sewing room before breakfast. I separated my kit for my Schnibbles quilt into four sections. I think I may have even started the first section on Monday night, but my memory a few days later is a little foggy! I just knew that I didn't really want to sew 128 pieces in a row the same way, then press them all, then trim them, so I broke it into 4 sets. I finished the first or second set before breakfast and the others after lunch. It was my day to cook a meal, so I made a taco salad bar and everyone helped themselves.
By the time I finished the top, I was tired. I think I did a little cleaning up, a little prep work for the next day (I was working on leaders and enders the whole time, so I am well on my way to another top :), and I headed to bed at a semi-reasonable hour and got another great night's sleep! One more half-day to share -- I'll be back in a day or two to report about that.
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