Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Retreat Progress


The dust has settled and I am back from my weekend retreat hosted by Julie at Pink Doxies.  This is the second time she has hosted a small group of quilt bloggers in her little neck of the world and it was once again a fun filled time, of fabrics, laughing and fun.  In the above picture, Julie and Beth (Cooking Up Quilts) snap some pictures of a quilt.  Karen aka TuNa Quilts, Travels and Eats and TuNa Helper at Millers Dry Goods.  David giving his legs a break outside Millers Dry Goods.  Julie and David fabric prepping before they dyed together.

Thursday was mostly a sewing day, with a little bit of exploring in the morning.  Friday was filled with trips to several quilt shops in the surrounding area and learning about the history of the area.  Saturday morning it was back to sewing and talking before we  had to depart for home, but not before squeaking in one last quilt shop.

So the unanswered question is how did I do in regards to the projects drug along and did I break the bank at the shops?  I didn't actually finish anything while on our trip.  I worked on several projects at once and made lots of progress on each.  Most of them I was able to finish up after we got home on Sunday.

1) The unicorn quilt-  



I didn't end up taking this quilt with me.  The reality is, that when I work on this quilt, it needs my entire focus and lots of room.  I did however, find more of the blue fabric in the unicorn's mane so that I can incorporate it into the borders.  Score!

2) Judi Madsen Quilt Class Samples


I didn't sew a stitch on these while at retreat, but quickly got these 24" minis pieced together on Sunday.  Now when the mood strikes I can practice quilting them while following Judi's Quilting Makes A Difference iquilt class.

3)   Star Cross Mini Quilt


I got all the blocks pieced for this one while on the trip, so putting it together was a breeze when I got home.

4)  Guild Swap Blocks


By Sunday, I am happy to report I had a total of four sets of five blocks ready.  While working on the 5th and 6th sets, I discovered I am missing some pieces.  Guess I'll be doing some stash diving to look for more of the fabrics I need.  I still have two weeks to get these complete.

5)  Baby quilt for a coworker


Not finding anything in my stash that made me happy, I gave myself permission to purchase fabric for this project.  I did quite a bit of Moda Bake Shop surfing while riding shot gun in the car.  I fell in love with Sarah Meyer's Windy Days Quilt and decided that is what I would make.  I picked up this beautiful charm pack of Moda Ambleside and a little Michael Miller Fairy Frost for a back ground fabric.

6) Baby Star Blossom


I was able to completes almost all of these blocks while at Julie's.  I'm pretty sure I can make this one while blind folded (though I probably shouldn't).  I do realize I could have used this as the baby quilt for my coworker.  However, I think I'm going to make a second teaching sample out of it.  I have lots of the fabric left over.

Now for the other three items on the list...I did work on Mister Domestic's fabric pine cone ornaments that I will give out at the guild's Christmas party in December.  I have two of the eight almost complete.  It will make a nice movie watching project.  As for the Dog Gone Cute blocks and the Aurifil block, I didn't get a chance to work on them.  No rush, I'll get there.

I did manage to purchase two squirrels while on the trip.  No, not the furry cute kind, but the fabric kind.  Remember when I said I was surfing Moda Bake Shop, well....I found fabrics that I thought would look great in another pattern on the site.


Two The Good Life Charms, some Moda Grunge and Robert Kaufman Quilters Linen later and I will be whipping up Nicola Dodd's Woodruff Quilt.

And of course Moda Bake Shopping lead to Pintresting and I found Jedi Craft Girl's Five Fat Quarter Fun Cabin Fever Quilt.


And look!!  I just happen to find five fat quarters and some background fabric.  Completely coincidental I promise.

I did make a few smaller purchases of white on whites, but nothing too exciting.  There was also some spools of Superior Thread that managed to follow me home.  I got them at a great price, but we will talk about that later.

And as a complete surprise to myself, I managed to finish the first sewing steps in the Wayward Transparency QAL, half square triangles.  I was on a roll and refused to stop.


Now how about a few outtakes from the trip? 


David and Julie hang Beth's quilt Floating over a wall so that she can snap a picture.  Funny, I don't remember those roses being there?


Beth checking to see if she still has money squirreled away in her secret stash ;)

I'll be honest, I didn't snap a whole lot of pictures while on the trip.  I wanted to soak up as much time as possible with my quilting friends and really, I feel more like they are my quilting family.  I treasure every minute I get to laugh and joke with them.  A huge thank you to Julie for allowing us to invade her world.  I filled up my jar of Julie Sparkles (not to be confused with a jar of Molli Sparkles, which I think would also be good to have) and will be holding on tightly to them.  It's hard not to laugh and have a good time when you are with her.


Today I'm linking up with Let's Bee Social and Midweek Makers.

10 comments:

Sandra Walker said...

Ahhh. Sniff! Missed you guys so much this year. Looks like you had just as great a time, judging by the big ol' grins, the bags stuffed with fabric, the dyeing that happened, and the amount you accomplished, Tish! Next year, pinky swear, with Cindy too!

Puppilalla said...

Well Tish it looks as if we were at retreat almost at the same time =) Allison of 'Campbell Soup Diary' hosted a fall retreat from Saturday to Tuesday in the north of Germany, where a few German and even Swiss quilters got together to sew, chat and eat (ouff - the food!) It looks as if you got a lot done during retreat. I hope you had the best of times. =)

Susan said...

That is so awesome you three bloggers live close enough to do this - maybe I should move.
Love all the projects you're working on, and the baby star blossom looks great! Thanks for sharing your quilts projects and your fun retreat.

Stitchin At Home said...

Oh my it looks like the retreat was a success! You are going to need a lot bigger piece of paper to add your new projects too. I sure hope to be there next year.

Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl said...

It sounds like a fantastic and productive time! I can certainly understand waiting to work on something that requires focus when not at a retreat. It’s fun to see your Wayward Transparency progress!

piecefulwendy said...

Sounds like you had another fun retreat! I'm giggling at that picture of Beth looking in her stash (only because I can relate). hahaha.

Sue said...

Haha! I bet Julie's happy about that butt shot! Looks like a fun time! I must ask Karen if she noticed you sleeping - you get so much done!

KaHolly said...

I’m sure Julie hostessed a wonderful little retreat! You’re so lucky! And, as usual, you accomplished so much! You make my head spin!

Cheryl said...

Looks like you had a super time and accomplished a lot!

Anja @ Anja Quilts said...

It sounds like you had another wonderful retreat.

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