Retreat Weekend

I went on a retreat last week.  We made a bee-line to several shops in Indiana. 

Our first stop was Erica's Sewing and Craft Supplies.  A large store with a terrific variety of fabrics to choose from, plus sections for wool, hand embroidery, cross-stitch, knitting and other crafting supplies. 

They had a big 30's section.

On to Shipshawana to Lolly's.  It was my first visit and I was very impressed.

 Everything is so neat and tidy. 

 

A boat-load of fat quarters!

 Next up - Yoder's Department Store,  They were waiting for us. 

 A huge fabric section.

Their Shop-Hop basket Quilt. 

 

Here are some of the quilts we worked on or finished during the retreat.

a Quilt of Valor made by Sharon

One of those tiny twister quilts.  Sandy is quilting it.

A table runner I made from left over pineapple blocks

Ute's hand-dyed wool.

Mary Ann's airplane quilt

I pieced this red and white mini quilts from a kit. 

Dorothy's Kitty Quilt

More Wool mats that Ute designed. 

Charlene worked on a large shop-hop quilt.  These are some of the blocks.

A flannel quilt of 9-patches

Barb pieced 3 T-Shirt quilts!

This quilt was made from jelly rolls! 

Sharon made this wool table mat and the decorative thread matches perfectly.

She started making ohio-stars.

And finished this table mat too.

Julie made this table topper out of 30's fabrics.

Leesa made this star out of tiny 1-inch HST! 

She put some borders around this neat pine cone panel. 

This was made from a 6-inch charm pack.  Bright and fun colors.

Mary Ann made this baby quilt from a turning 20 pattern. 

Delectable Pathways

It took 2 years for Eileen Dierck to piece and applique all the flowers and vines plus add hand embroidery on this quilt top.  The pattern is called Delectable Pathways.  She knew she wanted straight lines for the quilting, as shown on the pattern photo.  The quilt was made for her daughter.  Eileen had the quilt finished and then her daughter asked that it be made larger so that it would have a longer drop.  Eileen added the outer border and more applique leaves and hand embroidery to complete the look.  The result is one stunning quilt.  Take a look....

 

Some close ups of the applique.

 She added the extra outer border and the applique on the corner.

 

Quilting lines were carried out onto the outer border.

  Lines continued onto the border.

I hope her daughter likes it!

New Kitchen Wall Art

I decided to paint over my red wall in the kitchen and take down all the knick-knacks.  I matched the kitchen paint color and put up some wall art.  (Disregard friends posing with their new puppy.)

Red Wall with Knick-Knacks

Just changing the wall color really opened up the kitchen.  What a difference paint can make!

I tried a couple arrangements until I liked something. 

Decals are easy to install.

Here's the finished project!  Super quick and easy.  Not expensive either.  If I get sick of it, it's easy to remove.  I bought my wall art from Supreme Decals. 

Snake River

I love this Snake River Log Cabin quilt.  It's from Judy Martin’s Log Cabin Quilt Book.  The fabrics are orientals with neutrals.  Pieced by Jodie Nidey.   

 All the quilting was done freehand.  Feathers are quilted in the light areas.  Lots of SID around the red squares, dark fabrics and in the borders.

 Lines make a nice contrast to the curvy feathers and allow some relief, so everything isn't quilted down. 

 The center has a curvy feather.

 

 

 Here's a corner.

 A close up - SID  makes the red and the border fabrics pop.  Double lines to mimic the lines I quiltd in the body of the quilt.

Spring Fling

This is my first Irish Chain quilt.  I pieced this quilt with quilting designs in mind.  There is a large alternate block in the quilt that begs for quilting. 

I started quilting it during my December break.  I had to finish quickly so I could start with other quilts in January.   It's pretty open quilting (for me anyway).  I wanted to get at least one of my quilts done for our local quilt show in March 2012.  I may have to put it back on my table and fill in with more quilting, even if it's after the quilt show!  Here are a few shots. 

 

 

 

Holiday Party

Last night was our guild's Holiday Party.  A few years ago we switched to a January date because of a snow storm in December and we kept it ever since - not as hectic.  This is an optional event for our guild and we had about 75 or so in attendance.  The club we meet at keeps the Christmas decorations up - so it feels festive!

Our hostesses kept us entertained with games and raffle prizes donated by local shops. 

We also had a Xmas block exchange - not all are pictured.  Bring one get one.  Really pretty blocks!

The pincushion exchange was very popular - at least half the members participated and they did a Congo line to show off their goodies!

 Our gang of trouble makers!