What I Worked on at Retreat

When I showed the design walls from retreat, I didn't include what I worked on, so let's look at that now. 

First priority, the baby quilt for my niece. I got all the hexies laid out and the rows sewn together for a finished top. (Since I've been home I finished the quilt, which will get its own finish post.)

Second priority, large pillow covers for my son, per his request. I had sent him a selection of fabrics and he chose the ones he liked. Unfortunately I had only a scant quarter yard of the one he liked best, the grey stripe in the lower right. So I had to get creative with it and use his other choices as well, the top two. 

A quilt I made in neutrals in 2015 lives on his grey sofa, and in addition to all the neutral fabrics, there is a print with a touch of marigold in it and marigold piping in the binding. 

So I chose a similar color (didn't have any more of the original fabric) for an accent color. I needed a little something to enlarge the center square of his preferred print up to 10" for the center of a star. 

I kitted everything up prior to retreat, and took the leftover fabric with me as well. I pieced both pillow tops, shown here with the  already quilted backs. 

The more I looked at the one with the light center, the less I liked it. So I carefully took the center out and replaced it with the dark print. Much better. 

These are very large pillows; the tops are oversized for quilting, and when finished they'll be 24". I got one of the tops quilted at retreat, but not the other. Walking foot quilting echoes the star, and it took awhile to quilt one pillow top. When the second is done, I'll add zippers, square them up and trim them, and finish sewing them together. They need to be finished and mailed out prior to Christmas. 

Linking up with Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Christmas Quilts for Hospice

 Wow! PC Quilters really came through! 

We originally thought we had enough fabric for 40 kits. Then 50. The donations kept coming, and many of the participants made multiple quilts on their own. One lady made 10! We ended up with 73, which we displayed at our November meeting. 

A few more quilts are still being finished up. The final deadline is Nov. 30, and we have an appointment to take them to the hospice offices in early December. 

The nurses know who the patients are who don't have family nearby, don't have visitors, and don't get holiday gifts. Those are the intended recipients. PC Quilters really stepped up to brighten the holidays for them!

Link up: Alycia Quilts,  

Design Walls at Retreat

The retreat I went on recently is at a beautiful ranch run by Sheila and Bill in southeastern Arizona. We are so fortunate to enjoy a great sewing space with lots of design walls. Ten of us went, and all of us made great progress on projects or accomplished finished flimsies. So, in no particular order, here are photos of what we were working on.

Paula's paper pieced elephant

Helen's inherited UFO #1

Helen's inherited UFO #2

Judy's "What Happens at Retreat" wall hanging

Linda's blocks, part of a much more complicated piece

Janet's One Block Wonder

Debbie's Tilda project blocks

Nancy's queen size star top

Amy's finished top. Her method of keeping the colors organized 

was genius: she wove 1/2" strips of them and glued them to paper 

in the placement she wanted. Brilliant! 

I finished the top for the baby quilt for my niece; see previous post. I also worked on pillows for my son's sofa for Christmas, at his request. More in a later post. 

The setting for the ranch is just delightful, and the weather was conducive to sitting outside on the patio for happy hour. Here's the view to the west as the sun was going down behind the cottonwood tree and the mountain. 

And the view to the east from the patio. Note the red building - that's the private quilt shop for retreaters. And yes, we shopped! No tipping, so we generously support Sheila's store. 

Sheila and Bill serve delicious meals in a lovely setting. Here's the great room with part of the dining table, as we're anticipating dinner: 

And a happy group of retreaters! 

Another successful retreat - a good time was had by all!

Linking up with Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Baby Quilt Flimsy

 My #1 priority at retreat was to get the baby quilt for my niece pieced. Mission accomplished. 

Since I've been home, I got it layered and pin basted, and I've started quilting in the ditch. The quilting lines will all intersect in the centers of the hexies when I get done. No baby news yet, so fingers crossed I can get this finished very soon after baby comes. 

I haven't had a chance yet to edit and post retreat pics; hopefully I'll get that done soon. 

Linking up with Alycia Quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict

October Stash Report and Goals Update

A lot of my time in October was spent working on Christmas Quilts for Hospice with PCQ and the community service committee. Not many photos to show for it, but I hope to have more photos later in November. 

My big finish this month was my Stay-at-Home Round Robin, started in 2020. 

Fabric usage for the front was already counted in April, and for the pieced back was counted in June. I bought a half yard of black for the binding and immediately used it, so that was a wash. I did find the khaki grid print I need for Road Trip and got the last yard of it from Etsy. Other than that, there wasn't much activity with the stash report this month. 

My niece is expecting a baby boy any day now. I thought I had longer, but no. So I quickly pulled together a palette featuring her preferred color, teal, and kitted it up to work on at retreat. Retreat starts tomorrow, so I can get to work on it right away. 

October Stash Report: 

IN this month: 1-1/2 yards (Khaki grid from Etsy, 1 yard. Black to bind Red Stay-at-Home Round Robin, 1/2 yard)
OUT this month: 1/2 yard (binding for Stay-at-Home Round Robin)

IN YTD: 49-1/2 yards
OUT YTD: 107-1/4 yards

YTD Net change: 57-3/4 yards OUT

Goals Update: 

October Goals:

1. Prep for and teach the final two color classes. Plan shopping trips with the students. Done.

2. Bind three Xmas quilts for Hospice. Done, quilted two more and bound five so far. 

3. Continue working on the Kaffe Gradient project to the point it can be packed up to finish at retreat in November. Project is packed for retreat but I'll have to put the parts on the wall there to check for which sashing color comes next. 

4. Plan pillows for my son's sofa, requested for Christmas, and kit it up to make at retreat. Done, two pillow covers cut and kitted up.

5. Put Road Trip blocks on the wall, work on layout, and figure out what else is needed. Progress

6. Quilt the Stay-at-Home round robin. Quilted, bound, labeled and finished. 

Other: planned, cut and kitted up a baby quilt for niece's soon-to-come baby boy. 

November Goals: 

1. Have fun at retreat Nov 2-5.

2. Make baby quilt for niece's baby: assemble flimsy at retreat, quilt at home ASAP.

3. Make pillows for my son for Christmas.

4. Finish assembling the Kaffe Gradient flimsy. 

5. Continue working on the layout for Road Trip.

6. If needed, bind more Christmas for Hospice quilts.

7. Quilt something on PCQ's long arm.

Retreat will give me a chance to focus on the baby quilt and the pillows; hopefully I can knock out the baby quilt flimsy and two pillow covers with zippers while I'm there. I'm taking along the Kaffe Gradient project in case I have extra time and I need another project to work on. 

After that, November will be a busy month. We have visitors coming after I get back from retreat. Then there are some Color Class wrap up commitments with a couple of my students for some one-on-one coaching. DH is celebrating a milestone birthday so we're planning a little trip, and we'll get together with some special friends. I have time booked on PCQ's long arm before Thanksgiving so I need to prep whatever I'm going to quilt.

I hope November is as productive as anticipated - wish me luck!