Other Retreat Sewing

I've actually remembered what I was working on at my July retreat!

First, I finished (though I haven't yet trimmed the edges) my Autumn Bargello top:


I still need to find border(s) for it, and add them.  I started this quilt in roughly 2001 or 2002, in a class I took with a bunch of ladies I sewed with regularly at the time, at A Piece in Time, in Akron, Ohio.  At the time, I basically got the strip sets made, did a bit of cross-cutting, and set it aside for the next "ooooh, shiny!" project.  A lot of my UFOs date from those two years, when I took a lot of classes and belonged to both Thimbleberries Club and Quilt Sitters' Circle at that shop (which was only a couple of miles from where we lived at the time), and had projects piling up at an alarming rate.  Of course, I also have a fair number of UFOs that date back earlier than that.  2013 is going to be my year of making serious headway on all those lingering UFOs!

The next thing I did was to change gears.  I had another Bargello-in-progress with me, that I'd started in the late 1990s some time, at a shop called Hoops 'n Hollers in North Olmsted, Ohio.  The shop no longer exists, but in the 1990s I took a number of classes there, and belonged to Quilt Sitters' Circle, and collected a fair number of UFOs along the way.  So, I'd started this Bargello first, before the Autumn Bargello I'd just finished at retreat, above.  I only had a few of the strip sets made, and the rest were in pairs or a few in four-strip units.  I made the rest of my stripsets as Leaders/Enders while I was piecing the Autumn Bargello.  But then I decided that I did not want to sew another Bargello top right then, so that's where the "changing gears" comes in.  I decided, instead, to make these stripsets into a Trip Around the World quilt.  I got the four quadrants made, and made the center strips that tie it all together and make it work, but my seam allowance was apparently off on the center strips, as they were shorter than my quadrants.  So I still need to remake those strips, and finish putting the top together.  Here's a picture of one of the quadrants:

This is the top left, the way it's oriented.  Or, top right, as you're looking at it.  That pinkish square on the bottom left as you look at it will be near the center of the quilt.  Each quadrant is rotated 90 degrees, and there's a strip through the middle in each direction that continues the movement of the fabrics, and effectively makes the "points" where the fabrics change direction, from moving diagonally out to diagonally in.  I hope to get the top together soon, and maybe all that gibberish will make more sense then ;-)

That retreat, I also got borders added to three quilt tops.  The first is a Jelly Roll 1600 quilt, which is bigger than they usually are because I used a Noodle, which is something they used to sell at Hancock Fabrics, which had more than 40 strips in it, and I used them all.


The second top I added borders to was this one, which is a pattern called "Cake Walk," by Sandy Gervais:

I used another Noodle from Hancocks for the blocks in that one, and I used the leftovers for another "Jelly Roll 1600," which is of course smaller than they usually are.  In any event, it's the third quilt top I added borders to at the May retreat:


That was pretty good for one retreat, I think!

Thanks for stopping by to play!  Come back again soon.

Quilter's Accountability Report, October 19

Well, it's been a great week, and I've gotten a lot done, but not necessarily anything from my QA list from last week.

Let's see how I did....

1. Continue to work on Mom's jacket, and finish it if possible. I finished the quilting. I still need to do the binding/partial lining of the sleeves, embellish it, and do the assembly and bind the front and bottom edges.

2. Quilt Oak Leaves and Reel. (This has been loaded on the HQ16 for quite some time now, and just needs to be done!) I was glad I hadn't gotten to this one yet, as I found a better thread color at the show. I've started the quilting on this, and hope to finish it by the weekend.

3. Quilt Sugar and Spice. I didn't get to this one at all.

4. Quilt Thimbleberries Goose in the Pond. I didn't get to this one at all, either.

So, what else did I get done? Well, I've been posting as I went along about my class projects last week. But to recap, I got the center (before borders) of a one-block Mariner's Compass made, the center of a Storm at Sea quilt (35" square at the moment) made, a few blocks started for my Improvisational Adventure quilt, a number of shapes bound up to be used as mug rugs from my binding class, an eyeglass case, also from the binding class, made two pins from two vintage hankies, got a hand-pieced Amish style block (17" square) made, and made a wrap (Suzanne wrap). Oh yes, and I also made 3 ready-to-fuse-on turkeys, and the other night I prewashed the towels and fused them into place, though they're not stitched down yet. You can see pictures in this post, this post, this post, this post and this post.

For next week, I'm going to keep some of my list the same, and change some of it. Here goes:

1. Finish mom's jacket, and get it sent off to her. I've really been procrastinating on this, but I want it done and outta here! And the weather's finally getting cool, so she'd actually be able to wear it.



2. Finish quilting Oak Leaves and Reel, and bind it.



3. Quilt, bind, and add a label and sleeve to "Big Bang Theory," which MUST be finished by the first week in November for a challenge. This is actually going to be my first priority this week!

4. Pull fabric and do the precutting for the class I'm taking at Quilt Escape the first weekend in November.

Beyond that, I'll just quilt as many tops as I can get to, which may be none, and may be several. It all depends on how the week shapes up. My friend Renae and I are planning a "binding marathon/party" for some time after Thanksgiving or in early December, so I need to start getting some stuff quilted! Plus, I need to get that UFO count down out of triple digits this year! I'm close, but still need to kick it into high gear if I'm going to get there.

Check out Bari's blog, and see how others have done this week. Thanks for stopping by to play. Come back again soon.

Quilter's Accountability Report for October 12

Well, I was sick last week, and whatever it was that I had lingered longer than I thought it would.

Here's my list from last week, with my comments:

1. Continue to work on Mom's jacket, and finish it if possible. I made some progress on this on Sunday evening -- see this post. I hope to finish it up this week, but I didn't bring it with me to Kansas City, so it'll be Sunday before I can work on it again.

2. Quilt Oak Leaves and Reel. (This has been loaded on the HQ16 for quite some time now, and just needs to be done!) I never got to any quilting this week at all.

3. Quilt Sugar and Spice. Like I said in #2 above, I never got to any quilting this week at all.

4. Quilt Thimbleberries Goose in the Pond. And again, I never got to any quilting this week at all.


This week, I'm at the Original Sewing and Quilt Expo in Kansas City, MO. I'm taking a number of classes, so I'll come home with some things that may be getting my attention more than UFOs. Also, I'm not sure whether or not I'll be home for long -- I may need to go to Ohio on Monday. So it doesn't seem likely that I'll get to much if any actual quilting this week. I may be able to do some piecing or other sewing "stuff," so I'll just leave my list stand again for this week, and hope that I can at least finish up my mother's jacket so I have something to show as finished next week. Anything else will just be a bonus at this point. After I get back from Ohio (assuming I go), I'm going to have to really get busy and get some tops quilted. A friend and I are planning a "binding party" over Thanksgiving, or around then, so I'll need to have some quilts quilted and ready to bind.

Check out Bari's blog, to see what other quilters have been accomplishing this week. Sorry I didn't have any pictures to show you today -- but the next few days, I'll be showing pictures of my class projects, so stay tuned! Thanks for stopping by to play. Come back again soon.

Quilter's Accountability Report for October 5, 2011

After I came home from my spring quilting retreat on May 15, I didn't do much sewing at all, other than a few project bags and a couple of tote bags. Last week, of course, I was at another retreat, and I got quite a lot done.

Here's my last QA list from back some time in June I think:

1. Continue to work on Mom's jacket, and finish it if possible. I still haven't touched this. Her birthday is next week, so maybe I should make this a priority...

2. Quilt Oak Leaves and Reel. (This has been loaded on the HQ16 for quite some time now, and just needs to be done!) This is still sitting on the machine, but I'm determined to quilt it this weekend.

3. Quilt Sugar and Spice. I did some ditch quilting on this at retreat, and still want to add some free-motion quilting to it. But, there's been some progress...

4. Quilt Thimbleberries Goose in the Pond. I'll load this after I quilt Oak Leaves & Reel. Soon!

5. Add borders to Wolf Quilt. I got this done at retreat.



6. Add borders to As Time Goes By Quilt. Got this done some time ago. I'm really happy with this top. Hope to quilt it soon, too. I thought I had a picture of this one on the hard drive, but don't seem to. I'll take a picture when I quilt and bind it.


For next week, I'll let the remaining things on this list stand, and try to get to them. That should be more than enough to fill any available sewing time. Stop by Bari's blog, and see how other folks did with their lists.

Thanks for stopping by to play. Come back again soon.