It's been a while and I have some catching up to do! I'll start with the retreat that I went on in May. If you've been following/reading for a while, you know I enjoy going on retreats with my bee friends. Last year, we decided to join the spring retreat in Shipshewana and we've had a great time. This year, I didn't have much time to prep for retreat, so I spent a fair amount of time at retreat cutting fabric, which means I had fewer finishes. I was glad to work on all but one project I took. I always try to take too much so that I don't run out of things to do, so having one leftover is always okay.
I started by working on on a scrap project. I've had the pattern for this broken star log cabin quilt since very early in my quilting days, but for many years didn't feel I had the right volume of scraps to do it justice. I spent one whole morning cutting scraps into the right size pieces (you can see the little piles at the bottom of the picture), and then spent the rest of the day sewing the rounds of fabric. I really love the way log cabins look, but they are pretty tedious to sew. This is 16 of the all light blocks, I still have to make 32 light/dark and 16 all dark blocks. This will likely be a project that gets pulled out mostly for retreats and it will be long term. I am pleased with all the variety in the lights and by the time I work on it again, I am sure I will be looking forward to it!
Near the end of the first day, I finished off the log cabins and pulled out my fabrics to make some double-wide dresdens. I bought the Me and My Sister's book and ruler earlier this year and picked a projects, some leftover fabrics, and got going. The Dresdens also took a while, but the table runner came out great! I think this will be a nice spring/summer runner.
Next up is a UFO that I quilted earlier this year, but still needed to tie off and sew down binding. I got all my thread tie-offs done (this comes from lots of stops and starts on the longarm) so that I could put it out for show and tell. I still need to sew the faced binding to the back so that I can hang this one up in my house. It is really one of my favorites and I am so glad that I put it on my UFO list and actually am getting it done!
By the second night of retreat, I was ready to start a bag. I love sewing bags of all types and this one is going to be perfect for carrying cross-stitch projects (in fact, I used it yesterday!). I had some great fabric in my stash that I used for this and then added the handle/base fabric at a shopping stop on the way to retreat. I am so happy with how this all came together and really look forward to using it! On the inside, it has a zippered vinyl pocket on the right and a cotton pocket on the left, perfect for a pattern or magnet board.
The next project is also one of my UFOs - Sunrise Over the Mountain. I started this years ago and it has traveled to many retreats with me. At a few, I worked on it, but many times it just came along for the ride. My goal for this retreat was to get the top together and I got it done! I am so happy with how it looks, despite some challenges with curved seams and a few little puckers. This is the second in what I plan to make as a series of three, which will eventually hang in my living room. Next up - figuring out how the heck to quilt this to really make the piecing shine.
After working on a couple UFOs and smaller projects, I was ready by Saturday night to work on a new, larger quilt. I picked up a book called Strip your Stash a few years ago and I've loved the cover quilt. I have several jelly rolls that I have been saving/hoarding and decided to use one of my favorites to make this one. I spend a while cutting out all the pieces for the quilt, then got started on selecting the fabric combos and starting the piecing. By Sunday morning when we had to pack up and leave, I had several block components assembled. I will probably have to make this one block at a time to make sure I don't mess up my color arrangements, so this will be a good ongoing project that I can work on a little at a time.
All in all, it was a much needed, and much enjoyed retreat. With the beautiful weather we had, a friend and I went out for evening walks, I had a chance to sleep in with no household chores or work hanging over my head, and I enjoyed the time with my mom.
I won't be at the fall retreat this year, as I am going to take my Girl Scout troop on a trip to Savannah, Georgia. I am looking forward to that, but it will be strange to miss a retreat!
I'll be back in a couple days with my normal update on the stash usage, stitching time, and cross-stitch activities during the month of May.
I started by working on on a scrap project. I've had the pattern for this broken star log cabin quilt since very early in my quilting days, but for many years didn't feel I had the right volume of scraps to do it justice. I spent one whole morning cutting scraps into the right size pieces (you can see the little piles at the bottom of the picture), and then spent the rest of the day sewing the rounds of fabric. I really love the way log cabins look, but they are pretty tedious to sew. This is 16 of the all light blocks, I still have to make 32 light/dark and 16 all dark blocks. This will likely be a project that gets pulled out mostly for retreats and it will be long term. I am pleased with all the variety in the lights and by the time I work on it again, I am sure I will be looking forward to it!
Near the end of the first day, I finished off the log cabins and pulled out my fabrics to make some double-wide dresdens. I bought the Me and My Sister's book and ruler earlier this year and picked a projects, some leftover fabrics, and got going. The Dresdens also took a while, but the table runner came out great! I think this will be a nice spring/summer runner.
Next up is a UFO that I quilted earlier this year, but still needed to tie off and sew down binding. I got all my thread tie-offs done (this comes from lots of stops and starts on the longarm) so that I could put it out for show and tell. I still need to sew the faced binding to the back so that I can hang this one up in my house. It is really one of my favorites and I am so glad that I put it on my UFO list and actually am getting it done!
By the second night of retreat, I was ready to start a bag. I love sewing bags of all types and this one is going to be perfect for carrying cross-stitch projects (in fact, I used it yesterday!). I had some great fabric in my stash that I used for this and then added the handle/base fabric at a shopping stop on the way to retreat. I am so happy with how this all came together and really look forward to using it! On the inside, it has a zippered vinyl pocket on the right and a cotton pocket on the left, perfect for a pattern or magnet board.
The next project is also one of my UFOs - Sunrise Over the Mountain. I started this years ago and it has traveled to many retreats with me. At a few, I worked on it, but many times it just came along for the ride. My goal for this retreat was to get the top together and I got it done! I am so happy with how it looks, despite some challenges with curved seams and a few little puckers. This is the second in what I plan to make as a series of three, which will eventually hang in my living room. Next up - figuring out how the heck to quilt this to really make the piecing shine.
After working on a couple UFOs and smaller projects, I was ready by Saturday night to work on a new, larger quilt. I picked up a book called Strip your Stash a few years ago and I've loved the cover quilt. I have several jelly rolls that I have been saving/hoarding and decided to use one of my favorites to make this one. I spend a while cutting out all the pieces for the quilt, then got started on selecting the fabric combos and starting the piecing. By Sunday morning when we had to pack up and leave, I had several block components assembled. I will probably have to make this one block at a time to make sure I don't mess up my color arrangements, so this will be a good ongoing project that I can work on a little at a time.
All in all, it was a much needed, and much enjoyed retreat. With the beautiful weather we had, a friend and I went out for evening walks, I had a chance to sleep in with no household chores or work hanging over my head, and I enjoyed the time with my mom.
I won't be at the fall retreat this year, as I am going to take my Girl Scout troop on a trip to Savannah, Georgia. I am looking forward to that, but it will be strange to miss a retreat!
I'll be back in a couple days with my normal update on the stash usage, stitching time, and cross-stitch activities during the month of May.
Comments
Hope the rest of your month is filled with lots of creative time, too :)