Memorial Day weekend

Hooray for the weekend and it is a  long one.!

This week has been long for me.  I just felt blah!  I don't know if it was overload from the quilt retreat, catching a low key bug, or what.  Even people at work were saying I look so tired. Finally by Thursday I felt more like myself.  So absolutely NO SEWING all week.

I didn't even unpack my sewing machine until Saturday.  I have started on my Rainbow Scrap Challenge of Greens.  Nine blocks have been cut out and ready for most of the month. Hope to get them done today.

Saturday was absolutely beautiful. The sun was shining and so warm.  It seems strange for our weather of late!   We have had such a wet and cool spring.  So my hubby and I went to the farmer's market and bought great cinnamon rolls, and my zinnias for the back porch.  Then we attacked the yard.  I weeded the front beds and removed buckets of winter leaves  ( and a bunny nest no longer in use).

And last night we went to my favorite Mexican eatery by the lake.  Ahhh the first margarita of the summer. And the sunset on the water... the boats running back and forth ... the kids in the sand... the water.   Yes I love, love watching it.

And now it's Sunday and it started out raining.  But about noon it cleared and hubby and I cleaned out the back flower beds. We must have pulled about a hundred Buckthorn. Ugh.  From a couple inches to a couple feet.  And all the leaves and brush are mostly gone. We quit after about 2 hours.

So I then started sewing.  Yeah!  I got several of my Rainbow scrap challenge blocks done.



As a review each block is 6 and 1/2 inches; that means 8 half square triangles of 1 and 1/2 inches each. My method has been Thangles.

And now for my Slow Stitching Sunday.  I trimmed my homespun Squarely Red quilt and attached the binding.... Now for the hand sewing.  I am going to get the TV going.

Blockheads

I am caught up for the blockheads group. The individual blocks are 11 and 12, maybe 10 and 12. I got behind and did 2 last weekend. Those little itty bitty triangles are beautiful , but really, really puts, and took lots of time. I am definitely improving my piecing skills.

Quilt retreat

One of my favorite things to do is go for a quilting retreat. I am leaving after school on Friday for the weekend.  And I will join many other ladies who have shop hopped along the way to arrive in the afternoon.  Yeah, some of us have to work.

But the great news is I will have 2 and half days of glorious sewing, laughing, eating, and having the best of times with a group of quilters. Could you ask for anything more? Oh, did I mention eating: we bring treats to snack on  And we have a chef who makes food for us to eat family style.
It is a UCC Church Camp on Green Lake in Wisconsin and they have quilt retreats from September to Thanksgiving, starting up again later in January through May. Different guilds and groups come.

So the weather didn't exactly cooperate: gray, cool, and off and on rain: more time to stay indoors and sew.  Here are two pictures of the sewing rooms with various tables for each person's area, cutting table on stilts, and an ironing station.  Right next to which was a bar of  snacks, to partake from: chocolate and salty, and homemade cookies, too.






There were 25 of us each with so many creative ideas, combinations of colors, patterns, and techniques. So much fun: stay up late?  get up early? you choose. The cabin next door housed our rooms with single beds. ( I actually did both the first day, but needed a nap the next afternoon.)

So here are some of the fabulous projects people were working on in various stages:
                             


                                               


                
                

Show and tell was after I left.  Again, some of us have to work on Monday. :(    The rest of the group was going to stay a 3rd night and leave early afternoon on Monday.


So what did I do?
1) First I caught up on my Blockheads:  ( These are 6 and a half inch blocks.) These are weeks 10 and 11. The star took a long, long time for those tiny pieces. This was called Lisa's Star and designed by Lisa Bongean.
       

2) Then I made 2 sets of curtains for my daughter in law. It is just a navy print to go with the quilt I made them.

3) Then I experimented with 1 and a half inch squares and used a  fusible grid on a thin pellon sheet to make 2 valentine hearts:  It worked out pretty slick.  They are both the same size; the wonders of photography.

                                

4) And lastly I have 7 transportation vehicles cut and ironed out for my Grandson's quilt.
I didn't machine applique, yet and  I have more to make. These are all at least 9 and a half inches tall or wide; some are a little taller or longer.

                  

Sunday morning: the sun came out the the lake was beautiful.  Here is the view going left and right from our work room windows.


 



All in all, it was a productive and fun weekend.

Squarely red

I am happy to say that this donation quilt has been layered and quilted by ME in an all over stipple. Hooray.

My shoulders are a little sore, but there is a big smile on my face.

I wanted to finish it Saturday, but I completely emptied one large spool of Gutterman thread. And I didn't pick up the refill until after work today.

The top is 100 percent stash. I did buy the border and a large flannel back. The binding is cut. So all that is left is attaching it and hand stitching it down.

Slow stitching for Mother's Day

Mother'day: A My mom is many miles away and I miss her. She did teach me to sew.

B My two kids, hubby and I are going to Devil's Lake to hike , climb rocks, and have a picnic. I don't know the last time we had just the four of us for an outing. It is our favorite park. I even made fried chicken and chocolate chip cookies to take.

But I will have a couple hours to stitch this Crabapple hill design. I have had 2 evenings this week devoted to it. So I am making slow progress.

Happy Mother's Day to all!

Quilt for 3 year old grandson

Last year my 2 year old grandson graduated to his big boy bed, as his little brother needed the crib. I had the coordinated fabric from his brother's baby quilt to make one for him.

So they moved to the new house! Hooray!  And then 2 year old got his new bed.  Mom and Dad used the quilt I had made for Dad's high school graduation.   It is nice to see it being used.  So I let this quilt go for a while. And,  I did  had leftover fabric and made a coordinated pillowcase for him. 

And now he turns 3 this month.  And I still have the fabric. And of course, many pinned ideas for it on Pinterest. 

A) He likes vehicles.  (Definitely my grandson, as Dad did too.)   So I thought I would definitely applique different ones to different squares or rectangles.  Here are some of the ideas for blocks,  I even think that a stop sign, stop light and cones would be great as small blocks.

B) I have been collecting bright colors for patchwork to go in between the blocks. My creative thoughts are to frame the appliqued blocks with a solid like color and then add squares of all the colors in between.  I am picturing it kind of like either of these 2 quilts. And then border it in the print. 

Sunday afternoon I had time to myself. So I opened pinterest and google images and started drawing patterns for blocks: a car, a bicycle, a fire truck, an ambulance, a train with cars behind it, an airplane, a helicopter, a front end loader, a back hoe, etc.  And I then used a straight edge and protractor to make the shapes neater.  

Now I just need to trace them with a marker.  And start cutting the colors to applique.

I have all the materials assembled and ready to take for retreat in less than 2 weeks.

 Can't wait!

Stash bee and more

This week I have not sewn much.

I have successfully finished 2 weeks of walking for a mile every morning at 5:30 a.m. Yes , 5: 30 A.M. ( ONLY  a half hour earlier).I am happy to be getting progress on removing that winter padding I gained from eating extra sweets.  It is progress, not results.....yet.

And that has left me with little energy to sew at night. ...yet.

So last night I assembled the 4 colorful 9 patch 9 inch Stash bee blocks to mail off. The only hard part was getting 8 squares cut for each color.

And then I made the BOM for my guild, easy peasy 3 and a half inch squares.

My RSC blocks were cut out for April, (multi-color was my version of rainbow) but didn't get assembled and photoed until today.

At least it is a start for May.