Sunday Stitching Post #2

I'm back from retreat and all my sewing stuff is unpacked and put away. It was a fun retreat and fairly productive. I finished the bargello wall hanging top, made excellent progress on both quilting my log cabin and piecing the Streak of Lightening quilt. I decided not to work on the guild mystery quilt over the weekend, but everything else on the goal list got done.
My fifteen-minutes-to-stitch goal is at 20/27 days for the month so far (74%). I haven't managed a single Thursday, but otherwise it is going well.

Getting Ready for Retreat

Baby Quilt finished and ready to deliver
to the Guild's Charity Quilt Project coordinator

This weekend is quilt retreat and I have gathered my projects and am packing my supplies. My goals for retreat are:

• hang out with my friends
• finish all the units for my Streak of Lightning Quilt 
• quilt my log cabin lap quilt which is basted and ready to machine quilt
• make progress on piecing the green and pink bargello I started at retreat last Fall
• maybe work on my AQG Mystery quilt



Finished Ballerina Bears Quilt

• turn in the baby quilts I quilted for the A Quilted Gift project

I have work to do on the Madness T-Shirt Quilt, but I am not taking that with me as retreat involves communal irons and that quilt has a lot of potential to gunk up an iron. It will probably be the focus of my 15-minutes of daily stitching for the rest of the month. 

Retreat Report

Binding detail of baby quilt

I had an excellent time at retreat this year and was super productive (for me anyway). Here is what I got done:

• Finished quilting my rainbow string quilt.
• I made one flag quilt top. Decided this is a terrible project for retreat as I need to press every row as it goes on and the walk from the sewing machine to the iron every 2 minutes is annoying. When I make these in my sewing room I can just swivel my chair to press rows as I go along. 
• I am almost finished with my September Forward Progress project (it will get a post of its own later).
• Basted my NY Beauty Bird Quilt.
• I quilted and bound a baby quilt from a super-cute panel my friend Jan donated to the Guild's charity quilt project. I sewed the binding to the back of the quilt and then attached it to the front with a decorative stitch which is a technique I hadn't tried before. I was very pleased with how it came out. It was quick to do and should hold up very well to washing. I got kits for 2 more of these baby quilt cheater panels to complete this fall and will use this binding technique again on those.
• I helped Lisa with her Cross Winds Quilt. 

Retreat

This coming weekend is the Amoskeag Quilt Guild's fall retreat. Once again I will be going along with several members of my bee. In addition to eating, drinking, relaxing, and hanging out with my pals here is what I hope to get done at this retreat:

• Finish quilting my rainbow string quilt.
• Work on making some more flag quilts since Urban Quilter is currently sold out of them. 
• At least begin my September Forward Progress project.
• Baste, and possibly start quilting, my NY Beauty Bird Quilt.

I am also taking along a few other odds and ends in case I am inspired to do something with them and may help Lisa with the Cross Winds Quilt she is trying to finish before Saturday.

Retreat Next Weekend!

This coming weekend is the Amoskeag Quilt Guild's winter retreat. Once again I will be going along with several members of my bee. In addition to eating, drinking, making #timetoread, and lots of hanging out with my pals here is what I hope to get done at this retreat:

• Quilt the tessellation quilt which I got finished and basted this weekend. If I could get it bound as well that would be great, but space to square it up properly at retreat could be an issue.
• Paper piece at least one and maybe four circles for my Tropical Whimsey paper piecing project. 
• Quilt the Schnibble I pieced at the last retreat. I finished it up and basted it this weekend so it is ready to quilt. 

Retreat Report

The Amoskeag Quilt Guild retreat this past weekend was excellent. The weather was beautiful (and warm) and I got a lot done. 
I finished the quilting on William's quilt next I need to sew the 3 sections together and get it bound. I forgot to pack my quilting gloves, which I really can't machine quilt without, but with loaner gloves from Amanda and Heidi I was able to get a my quilting done. I got one of the purses done except for the handwork and the other one is almost there. I finished one Flag Quilt top and assembled rows for a second one.

William's Quilt in Progress (photo by Lisa North)

Retreat Weekend!

This coming weekend is the Amoskeag Quilt Guild's retreat. Several members of my bee are going and I am looking forward to hanging out with them and having several days for dedicated sewing.
Here is what I hope to get done this weekend:

• Quilt William's quilt--there are 3 basted sections of it to be machine quilted and I hope to get them all done so the quilt sections are ready to join.
• Make progress on the 2 purses left to be done for my Q3 Finish list. Ideally I would like to get everything finished but the hand sewing (which I can do at bee).
• Finish at least one Flag Quilt top

I am also bringing along my Tropical Whimsey paper piecing project and the stuff for a Schnibble I have had in my pile for quite a while and which would be great to hang in the dining room for fall. If the goals get accomplished, or I don't feel like working on them, I will have some other options.

Quilt Retreat

Heidi's Fabulous Sewing Basket (photo by Lisa North) 

In January I was lucky enough to spend 3 days at quilt retreat with my Guild. Several days of sewing, laughing, and hanging out with your friends is one of the best things you can do with a weekend. 

Besides being really fun it was very productive. I made lots of flag quilt units, made all the blocks for my nephew's quilt, paper pieced the first block in a huge tropical quilt I have been collecting fabric for for literally years, and completed about 2/3 of the quilting on my nieces's purple Syncopated Ribbons quilt. I would not have gotten nearly that much of the quilting done if I hadn't been at retreat where there were cheerleaders to keep me going, people to help me figure out where I was going with the quilting design, and cookies to serve as a reward for sections completed.  

Once again there is no denying that quilt retreat (and my quilty friends) are the best!