Quilt Retreat 2014

I was lucky enough to meet Valerie at a quilt guild a few months ago.    She told me about another quilt guild a few miles north of Crossville and I am now a member at both guilds.   I know, you're shocked, aren't you?   haha   Over the last couple of months Valerie has introduced me to dozens of  women quilters and it's been such a blessing to start new friendships.

A week after I joined the new guild I received a call that a spot had opened up for an upcoming retreat and I was invited to come along.   You betcha!    So, that's where I spent 5 days this week...at retreat....in a huge cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains.    It.  Was.   Awesome.

 This was our first glimpse of the cabin as we drove in on Sunday afternoon.  The porch wrapped around 3 sides of the cabin with plenty of space to sit and relax in the shade and cool breezes.  Birds were chirping and squirrels were playing in the trees as we unloaded all our sewing paraphernalia and personal items for the week.

There was plenty of parking space available and we had all the peace and quiet we could want as this cabin was remote and at the end of the road.  What a perfect place for a retreat.

The cabin had a great commercial kitchen which made preparing our meals much simpler for the 2 co-presidents of the guild.  Yes!    These lovely ladies actually cooked breakfast and dinner and desserts for us the entire week!    How much more indulgent could it get?

And here they are.....Barb on the left calls herself the organizer while Bunny on the right is the creative half of the dynamic duo.   There is no way anyone who follows them as president could outdo all the thoughtful gestures they bestowed on us.   The food was home made and fabulous...and as you'll soon see, it was "themed" every night and became part of our entertainment.  These two ladies are an awesome team.

Ummmm, yeah.   How silly are these ladies?    Julie on the left is Bunny's daughter and she was very much a part of the creative genius behind the week's events.   On Monday night we had a Hawaiian theme for our meal.   And of course, these ladies came into the sewing room to announce dinner was ready wearing these funny aprons.  Then they proceeded to go around the room putting a lei around each of our necks.  

 Each morning as we crawled out of bed and stumbled upstairs to the kitchen for a much needed cup of caffeine, we were greeted with another special surprise gift for each of us.    Above is my cute new drinking mug from morning one and my chicken pin cushion from morning two.    On morning three we all got a jar of handmade sugar scrub to soften our skin.  What a great way to have a memory from the retreat!

This was my table where I spread all my sewing goodies out and sewed for 4 days.  Yes, that is a cappuccino sitting there in a red mug.   I took my cappuccino machine with me to share with the ladies in case anyone else needed an extra caffeine surge to keep on sewing late into the night.

All the participants at the retreat (there were 24 of us) felt that these ladies had gone so far and above what was expected that we took up a collection so we could surprise them with a gift.   Then we wrapped their cash in fat quarters of fabric and gave it to them on Tuesday just before we left to go hopping from quilt shop to quilt shop.   Hey, it's not all about sewing at a quilt retreat!    A girl's gotta add to her stash, you know?   Hopefully they were able to find something to spend their thank you's on.

So, Tuesday night was Italian night.....complete with lasagna roll ups, chicken cacciatore, garlic bread and tiramisu for dessert.    Salads were served most every meal and we had more than enough snacks in between meals to keep up our energy for churning out those quilts.

Yes, you guessed it.   Wednesday night was Chinese night.   Aren't these girls hilarious?    Spring rolls, fried rice, the best boneless beef ribs and teri-yaki chicken I've ever eaten.    Fortune cookies and ice cream sundaes for dessert topped off the whole evening.    What more can I say?   It was fabulous!   And the hours of sewing was fun, too.....let's not forget that was one of the reasons I went.

Sometimes you have to step away from the sewing machine and slow down and do a little hand quilting.    The front porch had this wonderful creaking old-fashioned swing that was a perfect place to sit quietly and stitch.

All too soon it was Thursday morning and time for us to pack up and head for home.   This was our parting view of the front doors as we pulled up and out of the steep driveway.    I was really glad to sleep in my own bed once again on Thursday night.  And Molly was so happy to see me after being gone for almost 5 full days.  

 I really had a great time with all the women who started the week as strangers to me, but felt more like friends when we parted.  Thank you Valerie for introducing me to these ladies and for being my sewing and traveling partner.   I'm so grateful you stepped up months ago and made the effort to stay in contact with me.

Can't wait to do it all again,
Debbie

Just a Few More

Yes, I took some time out from canning to work on a few blocks last week. 
Here's #29, Economy (?), aptly named because it was so straight forward a block to make, I guess.
And #30 is End of Day...kinda like a modified pinwheel.

Then we have #31, Evening Star.   Ok, I can see that one.....I used kitty fabric for that block.   But I really like #32 named Farmer's Daughter.  What a pretty star!

Since yesterday was a holiday, I took some time to start something special and worked on an applique table runner for our new kitchen table.   I love the batik fabrics that are used for the flowers and leaves and it was such a fun process.  

First all the pieces get traced onto Steam A Seam and that gets finger pressed onto the reverse side of the batik.    Then the fabric gets cut out on the traced lines and you are left with a perfect shape, ready to press onto your background fabric.   It felt sooooo good to do something different from the Farmer's Wife blocks.   And this Edyta Sitar pattern is really pretty.

Now I need to stitch around all the pieces as this is raw edge applique.   Right now all the pieces are fused down after using Steam A Seam II Light.   Then all I have to do is layer the runner with batting and a backing and quilt it.   It will get a dark binding to finish off the whole project and I think the dark border will help it "pop" against our light table.   Can't wait to see it completed!   I'll show you pics when that happens.

Till then,
Debbie

Darting Birds?

Yup, that's the name of #27, Darting Birds.  I can actually see them in this block.

And #28 is Duck and Ducklings.  But I used puppy fabrics.   Just sayin'.    I mean, really, do you see a duck and ducklings?   Well.....neither do I, so, I used dog fabric.  

More in a few days,
Debbie

#21 & #22

Moving right along......here they are:

 #21 on the left is named Contrary Wife and #22 is......wait for it.....Corn & Beans!   Hahaha....so I used green and yellow to represent the corn and beans.    Ok, that one was fun.

 So, I got ambitious and actually made a few more.   Here is #23 called Country Farm and #24 is Country Path.

#25 is Cups & Saucers and #26 is Cut Glass Dish.

Alright, that's all I've got for now, but at least I'm making progress.   I'm almost 1/4 there making the blocks.   Hmmmm, this is gonna take a while, isn't it?

Getting there,
Debbie

More Blocks, Yippee!

Ok, so I think I'm back in the swing of things again.  I actually made a few more blocks and even got around to taking pics of them.   And here they are....

Block #17 is called Cats and Mice....weird name....and I used puppy dog fabric for it before I realized the name.   And the block on the right, #18, is Century of Progress.   It was a brain teaser to piece together.   Whew!   I hope there aren't too many more like it in the quilt.

At least the next 2 blocks were much easier to piece.   Block #19 is called Checkerboard and I liked using all the polka dots in the dark squares.   Block #20 is an oldie but goodie called Churn Dash.   Now I'm beginning to get excited to see what all these squares are going to look like when they are put together in a quilt.  But, I'm a long way from that right now.   Hmmmm, only 91 more blocks to go! 

Chugging along,
Debbie

More Farmer's Quilt Blocks

Finally.   I know, I know, but we've been busy in the garden and canning in the kitchen.  But I did take some time to sew a few more blocks last week.  And here they are!

I already showed you Broken Dishes on the left,.  But now we have Broken Sugar Bowl on the right to go along with it.   Don't you just love some of these names?   These are blocks number 11 & 12.

Here we have Buckwheat, number 13 on the left and Butterfly at the Crossroads on the right.   These little babies look like nothing to put together, but each of them takes me over an hour!   Good grief the pieces are small.   Remember, each block is only 6-1/2" across.

And last but not least, we have Buzzard's Roost (with the little doggie print....too cute!), number 15 and Calico Puzzle on the right is number 16.   Whew!

That's all I have for you now, folks.  Hopefully I can carve out some time to work on my blocks more frequently.   Unfortunately the garden and canning have kinda taken over my life temporarily.

Till later,
Debbie

Eleven.....not quite Twelve

You see, I really do have a good reason for only showing you one block today.   On April 15th we had a very cold day with snow blowing sideways across our farm.   Now for the last 10 days it's been mostly 70-80 degree weather and sunny.   We went from winter to summer in 2 short weeks!   That means "hurry up and plant your garden" time.    That also means my sewing time has greatly diminished.

So here is block number 11....12 will come in a few days.....I'm almost certain of it......maybe.....

Number 11 is called broken dishes and all the little pieces DO remind me of broken dish pieces.   And yes, all those pieces were a bit small to piece together and still get a square block when all is said and done.    Number 12 is called Broken Sugar Bowl.....you'll see it soon.....really.....gonna get back to it......one day next week.....maybe

Busy Gardener,
Debbie