Things are finally coming together.  I’ve finished up two and a half of the projects I took with me last weekend on the Watson quilting retreat.  Who was I kidding? – only myself -  There was no way I could finish 5 projects in one weekend – but I did try.

The top is complete for the baby quilt.  It’s also been quilted and bound.  (Good thing too.)  I was just told that she is having a baby shower November 6.  I didn’t know that one was planned this early.  For once I’m ahead of the game.

Quilt for Riley Diane

It was an ‘on and ‘off’ rainy day on Sunday, so I took advantage of forced time indoors and finished the quilt shams for my son.  The side borders are Seminole Patchwork blocks that are also border his quit.

King Size Pillow Shams

Lastly, I’ve embroidered three bluework blocks and have started on the fourth for my Linda Hunter quilt.  The pieced blocks are all finished.  I’d like to finish this top by the end of November.

Pieced and embroidered blocks

The other two projects, will probably go with me on our winter trip to Texas.  I really need to get started on some Christmas presents.   I’m hoping I have enough time to finish two twin size quilts.  The sticky part will probably be finding someone to quilt them at this late date.  I may have to try and quilt them myself – but I normally don’t like to quilt more than a lap size.  – Am I up for the challenge?

Tip of the Day:  When cutting borders for wall quilts I always cut the side borders with the fabric’s lengthwise grain to prevent wavy borders.  The will also lie flatter against the wall.  On a bed quilts, that doesn’t seem to be a problem.

Tuesday evening our Guild held it’s annual dinner and we were  treated to a presentation by Barb Robinson.  Barb’s trunk show features many of her beautiful quilts.  In addition she gave us a handout noting her favorite tools, batting, fabric and tips for rotary cutting, piecing and pressing.

One of the quilts in the trunk show features her hand-dyed fabrics.  These were pieced  into 9-patch blocks and then put together with strips of a bold tulip fabric.   Quite a dramatic Quilt!

Hand-Dyes & Tulips

In addition I was interested in the stitch and thread she uses when  machine appliqueing.  The small zig-zag stitch and invisible thread looks like the perfect way to almost invisibly attach the applique pieces  to a background.

Machine Applique

It gave me a good preview of this technique.  I’m thinking that I may finish my autumn leaves quilt the same way.

One of her many tips was how she washes fabric.  I always wash my fabric before it is stored away.  I just like the feel of the fabric after the sizing has been removed.

I’ve always thought that fabric should washed the same way it will be washed when the quilt is finished.  Instead Barb suggests that you run fabric through the a warm rinse cycle only, adding  a Shout Color Catcher with the fabric.  The will ensure that the fabric shrinks and bleeds thoroughly.  In addition, she suggests that you only dry the fabric until it is almost dry; not crisp dry.   This will eliminate the need for ironing.  The material can then be folded and put away.  Sounds like a good idea to me!

What a wonderful weekend!  I’m back from the annual retreat at Watson Homestead.  Of course I didn’t get half the projects completed that I took with me – but had a great time trying.

• Baby quilt -  pieced, but I needed to put it up on the design wall before sewing the blocks.  I did that when I got home and finished the top today.
• Bluework quilt -  All the pieced blocks are finished along with two of four embroidered blocks.  I couldn’t resist putting one row together to get a preview. I had originally planned on piecing this block with blue fabrics on the green/beige background.  The green rectangles however picked up the green in the blue ‘wheat’ fabric so well that I had to use it instead.  (It’s great to have the input of fellow quilters.)  I have more than half of the third embroidered block complete.  Just one more to go.
• Autumn Leaves wall hanging -  All the leaves have been fused with Heat and Bond Lite and trimmed to size.  I came back with some good tips for machine applique also.  Now to decide on the final placement.
• Spring Wall-hanging and pillow shams – not touched.  The wall-hanging will be one of the projects that I’ll work on while on our winter vacation in Texas next year. – And don’t worry Tom – the pillow shams will be finished by the time we visit you during the holidays.
• Memory bags – Our guild is making these bags for area hospitals.  They are given to family members to hold the clothes of a  loved one who dies while in the hospital.  (So much better that the clear bags that are normally used.)  Eight bags were made on our quilters weekend and I have been promised four more by our membership meeting on Tuesday. 

Handmade or quilt related gifts are exchanged each year.  This year I made a tote with a woven handle.  It was featured in the April 2008 of McCalls Quilting. 

In return I received a great table runner.  The colors are just right in my family room.And 5 of us topped off the weekend with a “Friendly’s Crowd Pleaser Sunday” accompanied by more and more laughter.

Tomorrow’s ‘D’ Day – We’re on the way to our annual quilting retreat at Watson Homestead.  I’ve checked the weather report for the area.  It should be in the high 50′s but with showers and cloudy skies.  (Perfect quilting weather though.)

Most of the time, the leaves are at peak color while we are there.  However with the rain, it looks as though we won’t be able to enjoy them much this year.  In contrast, last year we were surprised by an overnight snowfall. It was a bit early in the season for that much snow and it was gone by the end of the day.  But – what a beautiful sight to wake up to.

View from Watson Homestead

I couldn’t resist going for a walk and taking some pictures of a stream that runs through the property.  After my walk, I was able to spend the rest of the day quilting!  Does life get any better than that?

Winter at Wason 2009

All my projects are ready to go and  have been waiting by the door for the past two days.  I feel like a kid going to summer camp.

Workshop/Retreat tip:  I label everything I take on a retreat with address labels, using just the name from the label.  So many of us use the same tools (rules, mats, etc.) that its easy to pick up something by mistake that belongs to someone else.

Hard to believe that Fall is here already. But that means that it’s time to get things ready for our annual quilt retreat at Watson Homestead.  Luckily Monday was our monthly sew-in  at the Marcellus Library.  The perfect  opportunity to do some fussy cutting for a baby quilt that I plan on making at Watson.

I’ve decided to take 5 projects with me. There’s no way I’ll be able to finish them – but it would be disastrous if  I didn’t have a variety to choose from.

• Project 1 – fussy cut baby quilt
• Project 2 -  pieced blocks for the Bluework  class recently taken with Linda Hunter at our Guild
• Project 3 – Spring wall hanging kit bought earlier this year.  There are three more kits in the series:  Fall, Summer and Winter – but they will have to wait for another time.
• Project 4 – Pillow shams to go with the quilt I made my son last Christmas.  (He’s been asking me about them for almost a year now – I’d better have them finished by this Christmas.)
• Project 5 – Fall wall hanging: a machine applique project  This is a new technique for me.  I normally applique by hand.

Can you believe that we’re going to be a the quilt retreat for 3 days.

I probably have enough projects to keep me busy for at least a month!