I only posted once in January, so there is much to share. Maybe I should have titled this, "How many photos can you squeeze into one post?" Let's find out...
My (late) January monthly mini is the completed "December Small Quilt" from the Circa 1880 club. Linking with Wendy at The Constant Quilter blog.
It is the smallest of the six small quilts that were part of the quilt shop-sponsored Circa 1880 clubs. This gives you a little better perspective on the size.
My quilting on this was very simple. (Do I say that every time?) I did stitch-in-the-ditch around the piecing in the center. In the photo above I think you can faintly see the FMQ I did in the border.
I was very thrilled to get to go to most of Winter Retreat, sponsored by Village Dry Goods (the little shop over the mountain to which I often refer). It was held at the same beautiful venue it has been in for the last few years.
This is always such a boost after a busy holiday season, but with Mom's needs, I didn't think I could go. Fran (the shop owner) told me she would be saving a place for us (Kim and I) if I could work things out. At the last minute we got my nephew's daughter (a CNA) to cover the times my brother would need help with Mom during retreat. Chloe, my grand-niece, had just moved back home and was looking for work. What a blessing that was!
This is an "open sew" retreat (which I love), but they do offer classes each day for those who choose to participate. One very popular class is their annual mystery quilt, designed by Fran and Laurie. I never take classes, but it was fun to see the revealed mystery. The two quilts are from the same pattern, but one is in dark & dirty CW repro fabrics and the other is in more bright/modern fabrics. The difference in the appearance of the design is really fun to see.
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| Kim, Fran, me |
Here I am with my roommate and dear friend Kim, and our fun and dear friend, Fran. We started out just smiling for the camera, but ended up laughing. It is hard to be serious with Fran around.
I try to focus on UFOs at retreat. This time it was so last minute and I was very unprepared. I had just thrown a bunch of projects together and figured I would sort it out when I got there. I spent the morning taking my Mom for another medical procedure, and by the time I reached the retreat I was exhausted and had a hard time getting focused. Eventually I buckled down and pulled out a pattern I had purchased years ago when Pam Buda came to our Winter Retreat as a teacher. I purchased this pattern of hers because I thought it was fun to buy a pattern named "Winter Retreat" at Winter Retreat.
I had even brought along some blank signature blocks the year I bought that pattern and I had Pam, a couple of friends who attended, and the two shop owners sign the blocks. They have been stored with the pattern ever since. I worked on this that first day and half of the next day before I decided the rest of the borders could go on at home. I haven't managed to do that yet.
The second afternoon I pulled out a little quilt I started at last year's Winter Retreat. This is a Kim Diehl pattern named Prairie Sky. I had purchased the kit without realizing that it was applique. Then I had set out to find a different way to make it.
I wound up foundation piecing it. I got all of the blocks finished and brought it home and attached the border. Notice how nice and neat the back is (NOT)! I made one less row than the pattern indicated, and I made solid borders instead of scrappy.
My final project was Bonnie Hunter's mystery, Easy Street. Yes, I know this is from 2012. In my defense, I didn't start mine until...2013. :)
Mine is made from thrift store shirts and back when I started this I didn't always choose shirts wisely. Some fabrics are a bit thick, others a bit ravely. I don't love working with them. Besides that fact, I make so many mistakes sewing up these blocks, it discourages me every time I try. I think out of the two blocks I made at retreat I unpicked on the first one 5 times! I think the pattern calls for about 25 blocks set on point, with pieced setting triangles. My apologies to Bonnie, but I made two more blocks at retreat (I had come with 10), laid them out and decided I was finished making blocks.
Using a straight set, it will be a nice throw quilt size. At home I used some leftover parts to put a small pieced border around the edge and then I fussy-cut the purple striped fabrics leftover from a couple of the shirts and made a solid-looking border all around. Here it is pinned to my design wall. I just need to piece the two borders on the sides and attach them. Usually I make the top borders go across the corners, but there wasn't enough of that purple--and not enough of the darker purple to do the whole border. I plan to complete those two borders today. I am being stinkin' productive lately. :) (And it is about time!)
The only other thing I did at retreat was label the ends of the rows of my Circa 1880. The long rows are comprised of blocks made by me, but the short rows are made from blocks swapped with others.
Where possible, I made a whole row with one person's blocks. Pam, Cyndi and Wendy were my original swap partners. I also swapped with 5 other quilters. It is really a treat to have their blocks in my quilt. I took this quilt with me to Village Dry Goods during retreat and chose fabrics for the border--and ended up not using them. Well, I did use one of them. This is now a finished top.
I bought more of the aged muslin to make a small inner border that would "float" the blocks inside the colored border. And I did that. But I did not use the black tonal print I was going to use to create a narrow border, before adding a medium blue, small scale paisley for the outer border. It didn't click. I pulled everything from my stash that was large enough to possibly border this quilt, but nothing did it for me until I put this red paisley from French General next to the top.
There was just enough length (barely) to border the sides, but I did have to match and piece the top and bottom borders. I was pleased that the matching turned out so well. This photo is a tad blurry, but it shows one of the matched borders.
I had tried to make this quilt larger than the pattern to fit a queen size bed.
Here it is on our guest room bed. I think it works. Now this has to get in line to be quilted. I'm thinking Baptist Fans.
Just a few quick things to close this record long post. I was recently gifted this sweet machine. Anyone know anything about it? Think it is a model 15-something (ETA: I have been corrected--this is a 99k) and was made in Scotland in the 1920s. I haven't really had time to explore it yet, but I would appreciate any insight you might have. You can click the photos to get a closer look.
Finally, my sweet Mom turns 90 tomorrow. This is a photo of her back in November. She is still chipper, but suffered another fall on New Year's Eve and acquired 3 more compression fractures in her spine--bringing her total of fractures in 2019 to 10!
She is so ready to "graduate", but we are cherishing the time we have left with her.
I will leave you with this cheerful view above my kitchen sink. Eight of my 16 orchids are blooming again. The others have bloom stems coming. The flowers are such a welcome sight in the midst of winter. The blossoms last for months!
If you have stuck it out until the end of this lengthy post, leave a comment and I will thank one of you with a bundle of herbal soap.
Until next time,
Janet O.
...is never enough!
I always have such grand plans, and I honestly stay pretty well focused while I'm there. My roommate and I are not there to play (but we do still have fun). We are there to make serious progress. But it is never enough.
Once again our retreat was held at the lovely Academy Conference Center in downtown Brigham City, UT.
There were classes going on in a downstairs room most of the time, so the sewing room hardly ever seemed full, though there were about 35 of us there.
I did end up with 11 finished rows on my Circa 1880 quilt. I had six finished when I arrived, so I added five. (One more was made after this photo was taken.)
I haven't touched my Scrappy Trips (Bonnie Hunter free pattern) quilt since retreat last January. This time I added 12 blocks (4 of them were made after this photo was taken). Six more blocks to go. I'd better finish this up before next January!
This little quilt pattern was added to my luggage as a last minute afterthought (along with a basket of HSTs), but it turned out to be the only small project I brought that I actually worked on. There are supposed to be 5 more blocks, but it is really tempting to just sew up these 4 and call it good. I think the Broken Dish blocks finish at 2"
My leader/ender blocks were added to, when the project I was sewing didn't create its own leader/enders.
I almost have 200 of these windmill blocks now, and I have a bunch of them cut out. I think I will finish the ones I have cut, and then I will be done with this one. I have been doing these for years.
The first two days they provided a make-n-take project at 7 p.m. I just brought home the kit for the first one--it is a project bag.
But the second day they hit me in a soft spot--foundation paper piecing mini flying geese!
It all came together to make this key holder that slips onto your wrist.
The retreat ran for three days and the sewing room was open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. We took full advantage of those hours. We were the first ones there each morning, and among those being shooed out at closing time each night--except for the last night. Technically we could stay and sew until 10 even the last night, but a good share of the quilters had packed up and left by 5 p.m.
In the photo above you can see three diehard quilters to the back of the room, and the ladies to the left are employees and owner of the sponsoring shop, just waiting around for the rest of us to go home, so they can do likewise. My retreat buddy got a shot of me about this same time.
We finally left around 7:30, and the other two gals were beginning to pack up to get on their way.
It was a great escape--just what I needed, and just in time to preserve my sanity!
Now back to real life. :)
Until next time,
Janet O.
I actually squeezed in a little sewing time the past couple of days. On Wednesday I made house blocks for quilts for folks in Paradise, CA.
Lori posted about it here, with a pattern and the address of where to send them.
I had fun fussy-cutting novelty prints for the windows, and also digging through my brighter scraps to make some happy houses.
I sent the house blocks on their way on Thursday and came home and made more X blocks for the 70273 Project.
These will probably be the last ones I get made for the project. It is amazing how quickly the X blocks are adding up, and I think Jeanne could very well have reached her goal before I get a chance to make more. I don't ever feel like I get enough time in my sewing room to make quilts to donate to worthy causes, so I appreciate times where I can donate blocks. There is one more X block floating around the house somewhere, but I have lost it somehow. If I find it tomorrow, it will join these on their journey to Jeanne.
Next week I will be spending 3 days with my retreat buddy at the Village Dry Goods Winter Retreat. I think I have my projects narrowed down. Now I need to get organized and ready to go--well, I am SO ready, but I need to get my things ready to go with me. :)
Until next time,
Janet O.
...normal life, and almost normal computer.
Had a glorious time at retreat, sponsored by Village Dry Goods in Brigham City, UT! I came home with no new UFOs! There were mini classes offered during the three day period, and I was one of only a very few that took none of them! Just kept my focus on the projects I brought, and making progress.
I took a different large UFO to work on each of the three days, and then I had a couple of minis and bonus triangles to use as leader/enders and to fill in the gaps when I got tired of my "big" project.
Day One: I worked on my Scrappy Trips blocks. This is a Bonnie Hunter free pattern, and I started it in January 2013, when it was really making the rounds in social media. A LQS held a free sew day to come and learn how to make it (which you can read about here). I already knew how, but thought it would be fun to participate, so I did.
(I didn't purposely lay it out in the shape of Utah, but thought it was interesting that it ended up that way.)
There were 12 blocks already made when I went to retreat. I made 6 more blocks, and got a start on two more--and I have all the strips cut for more, so I can just sew, sew, sew!
Can't decide how many blocks I will end up making for this quilt. I think I would like 40, but I may not be patient enough to wait another 5 years to see that happen!
When my enthusiasm for Scrappy Trips waned, I pulled out my little paper pieced blocks for the Kim Diehl mini. They really don't take long to make, but I didn't spend much time with them, so I only made 4. They will finish at 2".
Day Two: My "big quilt" focus for this day was the "Legendary" quilt of Sasquatch, by Elizabeth Hartman. I completed the Sasquatch block and the first tree in a class at a LQS in November. So my goal for retreat was to get all of the flippy corners sewn on the tree sections. Mission accomplished! They went from this..............................................................................to this!
Day Three: My main project for this day was a quilt called Settler's Puzzle. It is a Pam Buda design, and I started this at the retreat in 2014, when Pam was the invited teacher.
I only had 2 complete blocks when I arrived, and I went home with 6 finished. The pattern calls for 12, so I am halfway there. Though all of the parts were already cut out, I had to spend a lot of time on this one, getting all of the individual components made. Once that was done, the blocks went together very quickly!
I have the next 3 laid out on design boards--sans the red/gold HSTs. Those are cut, and shouldn't take too long!
This was held at The Academy Conference Center in Brigham City, UT--the same place where I took Bonnie Hunter's classes last summer. Such a lovely venue. This is looking from one end of the room to the other.
Each quilter got a full table to herself, but they pushed 4 tables together so we could visit as we worked.
It is hard to tell from the photo above, but at the end of the room there is a big, wide staircase that takes you down into the luncheon area.
As we descended the stairs for lunch, we joked that we felt we should be wearing ball gowns, tiaras, and glass slippers.
Each day there was some kind of program at lunch. The first two days were trunk shows.
The third day was an author/potter. His wife is a quilter, so some of his pottery caters to us. I picked up this lovely, magnetic pin bowl. I love functional things that are pretty, too!
My retreat buddy (Kim), and I became good friends with our table mates, and look forward to next year, hoping we will meet up again.
Standing L to R: Liz B., myself
Sitting L to R: Kim W., Annette B. (Liz's MIL)
I shared this experience with such wonderful women--kind, thoughtful, funny, sometimes silly, and always willing to go out of their way for you.I'm sure that sounds like most quilters you know.
When I returned home I looked at the blocks I had left up on my design wall during my absence, and I suddenly knew what I wanted to do with them.
All of these blocks came from Karen (karen-logcabinquilter.blogspot.com). They are from two different projects for which she had lost interest. The 5 center blocks were from one project, and the outer stars are from another large bunch of stars that I seem to be parceling out to various projects. I have border fabrics hanging to the side. You can't see it in the photo very well, but each of the fabrics in the sashing, setting triangles, and borders are small prints. I didn't want solids, but I also didn't want to compete with the blocks. I want them to shine.
Thank you, Karen, for the privilege of working with your lovely blocks!
Enough of my ramblings!
Until next time,
Janet O.
This is an "open sew" retreat (which I love), but they do offer classes each day for those who choose to participate. One very popular class is their annual mystery quilt, designed by Fran and Laurie. I never take classes, but it was fun to see the revealed mystery. The two quilts are from the same pattern, but one is in dark & dirty CW repro fabrics and the other is in more bright/modern fabrics. The difference in the appearance of the design is really fun to see. 
I try to focus on UFOs at retreat. This time it was so last minute and I was very unprepared. I had just thrown a bunch of projects together and figured I would sort it out when I got there. I spent the morning taking my Mom for another medical procedure, and by the time I reached the retreat I was exhausted and had a hard time getting focused. Eventually I buckled down and pulled out a pattern I had purchased years ago when Pam Buda came to our Winter Retreat as a teacher. I purchased this pattern of hers because I thought it was fun to buy a pattern named "Winter Retreat" at Winter Retreat.
I had even brought along some blank signature blocks the year I bought that pattern and I had Pam, a couple of friends who attended, and the two shop owners sign the blocks. They have been stored with the pattern ever since. I worked on this that first day and half of the next day before I decided the rest of the borders could go on at home. I haven't managed to do that yet.
Mine is made from thrift store shirts and back when I started this I didn't always choose shirts wisely. Some fabrics are a bit thick, others a bit ravely. I don't love working with them. Besides that fact, I make so many mistakes sewing up these blocks, it discourages me every time I try. I think out of the two blocks I made at retreat I unpicked on the first one 5 times! I think the pattern calls for about 25 blocks set on point, with pieced setting triangles. My apologies to Bonnie, but I made two more blocks at retreat (I had come with 10), laid them out and decided I was finished making blocks.
Using a straight set, it will be a nice throw quilt size. At home I used some leftover parts to put a small pieced border around the edge and then I fussy-cut the purple striped fabrics leftover from a couple of the shirts and made a solid-looking border all around. Here it is pinned to my design wall. I just need to piece the two borders on the sides and attach them. Usually I make the top borders go across the corners, but there wasn't enough of that purple--and not enough of the darker purple to do the whole border. I plan to complete those two borders today. I am being stinkin' productive lately. :) (And it is about time!)
There was just enough length (barely) to border the sides, but I did have to match and piece the top and bottom borders. I was pleased that the matching turned out so well. This photo is a tad blurry, but it shows one of the matched borders.
Finally, my sweet Mom turns 90 tomorrow. This is a photo of her back in November. She is still chipper, but suffered another fall on New Year's Eve and acquired 3 more compression fractures in her spine--bringing her total of fractures in 2019 to 10! 
