Successful Retreat

 This past weekend was our Valley Oak Quilt Guild retreat at Wonder Valley.  wonderful!!  Four days of sewing...no laundry, no cooking.  Absolute bliss!  Fewer people than usual attended, so that meant that those of us who were there had plenty of space.  Here is my workspace:  an 8' table, plus my Sew-Ezi table to hold my machine.

 I always have trouble deciding what to bring.  I brought 4 boxes of thread, along with BINS full of fabric and projects.  Deciding what to work on is always a challenge.

The first thing I did was finish three postcards that have been half-done on my sewing table for  months.

 The above card was made using a linen purchased at an estate sale.  I think it came out very cute.

 These next two were leftovers from various projects.  I love using the scraps, rather than tossing them.

I also finished Day's End, my umbrellas quilt.  I redid the facing, and it looks square now.  It's still too small for any AQS show, but it makes me happy, and that's the main reason for quilting, right?  right!

 The quilt was based on my photo, taken in Oceanside, CA, a few years ago.  I was very careful with my machine quilting, but in the close-up?  I suddenly notice a tension error.  grrr.  It's just going to have to be fine, because I'm not going to take it apart again to fix it.  That's just too much work.  It is what it is.

Here is the close-up.  I am particularly happy with the chairs.

And that's it for now, though several other things were worked on and finished over the weekend.  Stay tuned.

Mermaid Retreat

 I spent last weekend at Scicon, in the foothills of Tulare County, quilting, quilting, quilting. 

I made the most of my workspace, which consisted of an 8' table, my SewEzi table, and all the space above and beneath said tables.  I came ready to work, and work I did!!

 By retreat's end, I had completely finished a baby quilt, finished all but the last 12" of binding tacking on a second baby quilt, pieced a third baby quilt, finished the quilting on last year's unfinished challenge (it still lacks a tree), and quilted a piece of fabric to reupholster a footstool.

whew!

All three baby quilts had been started at the March Mermaid Retreat.  Thank you so much to Calico Mermaid for offering this opportunity to put my head down and sew until I couldn't see straight.  It was PERFECT.

Not only was the sewing space amazing, but there was nature everywhere.  (I wasn't very good at finding it, but I could most certainly hear it!)  The squirrels were chattering,

 the turkey was dancing,

 and gobbling,

 and puffing his chest,

 and doing everything in his power to impress the lady.

She was not impressed.

 Not.

 At.  All.

 I'm guessing that maybe this California Red Salamander cared more than she did.  Oh wait.  I don't think he cared either.  That turkey was making a turkey of himself.  ;)

All in all, it was a lovely weekend.  Relaxing, restful, restorative, and productive.  Now, if I can just keep some of that inspiration and tap into it.  Frequently.

Happy Quilting!!

Retreat With Calico Mermaid

First I need to thank all who took me to task and encouraged me to go.  It was fabulous.  It was the most fun, relaxing 48 hours I've had in a long time.  It was cold, it was very rainy, and it snowed.  But we were indoors, with picture windows with gorgeous views, large sewing stations, good light and snacks galore.  Could I have improved it?  Probably not.  It was just lovely.

I took over 200 pictures. 171 were good enough to keep.  Did I tell you that it was beautiful?  It was gorgeous!  This first shot was taken en route.  There had been snow the previous week.  I had no idea where I was going, so I was relieved when it wasn't up this snow-dusted mountain/hill.

 Once there, I was delighted by the creek that flowed through the conference grounds.

 Everything was lush and green.  It felt alive.  Like new growth and springtime, even though it was the second of March.

 Inside, we were toasty and warm.  Here is my work station, with my machine and 3/4 of an 8' table to call my own.  I brought my own chair.  That was important, because the chairs on campus are those stacking kiddie school chairs that you see in the background.  (You can almost see the Calico Mermaid traveling shop, also in the background.)

On Friday, I decided to work on quilting the baby quilt that I pieced in January.  I still need to finish the binding.  I'll try to give you a picture on my next post.  On Saturday, I finished the quilting, then pieced another baby quilt.  I'd cut the strips before packing for retreat.  Sewing them up went very quickly.

 uh oh.  I spy with my tired eye.  I'd finished all the blocks and laid them out for consolidation.  There was one that wasn't quite right.  When I flipped through the rest of the blocks, there were three!!  Had there only been one, I would have left it.  Had there been two, I would have ripped them.  But three?  It's a design choice and the ripper stayed in the box.

Here is the completed quilt top.  You, too, can play I spy with my little eye.  There are three oopsys in the quilt.  If the baby ever sees them, he/she can wonder if I did it on purpose, was careless, or, well, they can write their own story about the quilter who put this one together.  At least the points/corners look pretty good!

I got very distracted on the second evening, when snow began to fall from the sky.  I grew up in San Diego County, and I was 18 the first time I saw snow fall from the sky.  I was 20 before I saw it again, and probably close to 40 the third time.  I don't have much snow experience, at all.

 At one point the flakes were so big, they looked like feathers, drifting down from the sky.  It was amazing!  And the next morning?  When we woke up?  There was a dusting of snow everywhere.  It was magical.

 The walkways stayed clear, I guess because they were warm enough to melt the snow as it fell?

 Up in the parking lot, my red car had its share of the icy white stuff.  I hustled up to take the photo, before it all melted.  There was no snow or ice on the road, so that was not an issue.

 Back in the sewing center, I began another baby quilt.  I got the cute moo-moo, baa-baa overdye from a vendor at QuiltCon.  Yes, I went to QuiltCon.  I quickly discovered that it's not my thing.

Okay, well, this is getting overly long.  I'll leave you with two more pictures, of the sea turtle pincushion gifted to each of us by Georgia, our Calico Mermaid hostess.

 It now belongs to Addison, who loves the little thing!

Thank you, Georgia, for such a delightful weekend.  I've signed up for the next one, too, coming up in mid-May.  Between now and then?  Probably not a lot of quilting expected to happen around here.  The quilt show is April 13-15, and in quilt show terms, that's right around the corner.

Hope to see you there!!

Quilt Retreat!

I have finished stripping wallpaper.  I have washed down the walls, all but the four in the kitchen.  I am ready for someone to come texture the dry wall.  I may be waiting for a while.  The earliest I've been told is "end of November."  November looks to be a long month.

I finished the wallpaper work Wednesday night, and headed for the foothills on Thursday morning.  Valley Oak Quilt Guild had a retreat, and boy, was I ready to retreat!  I got more quilting/sewing done in those four days than I've done in the past ten months!

On Thursday, I pieced the bulk of a baby quilt for my new granddaughter.  I finished the top before breakfast on Friday.

 I spent Friday cutting and placing 1.5"x3.5" rectangles to make the frame for this 2016 quilt from the Katie Pasquini Masopust online class.  It looks so finished, I am ready to finish it!

 On Saturday, I pieced together some Grandmother's Flower Garden pieces.  I have a top that I began back in the late 80's, so the flowers were already assembled.  I added leaves and pieced them together.

 My plan is to add them to the bottom corner of a quilt that I have been working on for the past 3 years.  I started it in a David Taylor class.  I am excited that it is finally coming together.

 And finally, on Sunday, I finished quilting this Tartan landscape.  It was another project from the Katie Pasquini Masopust online class. 

I may end up adding a bit more quilting in the sky, with Sulky, to add some shine to the implied rain.  I've thought of adding the car and road sign from the original photo, but they might distract from the landscape.  This quilt is all about the landscape.

And there you go.  More quilting in four days than I've done in ten months.
I've been back since Sunday afternoon, and I've yet to get the urge to get back on that ladder and wash down the walls in the kitchen.  I will, eventually, but most certainly not today!

Last Few Hours

I'm up early again this morning.  My usual is to write for an hour, then go about my day.  But, for some reason, Comcast email is down and I feel isolated.  It is a very strange thing, because 15 or 20 years ago, email was barely taking a place in the list of options one chose to communicate.  It's a bit stunning to contemplate, if you think about such things.

When my email is down, I think about such things.  :)

I'm still at retreat for a few more hours.  I had trouble finding my focus yesterday, and flitted from this project to that, never settling with one, or finishing anything.  I was like a Maria-sized flibbertigibbit. 

I started the day by cutting out seaweed.  This was for a quilt I started at least two years ago.  Once it was cut and pressed, I needed to lay it out to see if it would work.  Space is precious, so I hauled it back to my room and laid it out on the bed.

  I think it will work.

 I tacked down one strand, just to be sure.  Yes, I think it will work.  Once convinced, I switched to something else.

I fiddled with silk during the afternoon, but neglected to take a picture.  I left my primary project untouched, hoping that this morning I will be inspired to finish prepping the applique parts.  Brunch is not until 10 or 10:30am, so that gives me plenty of time to get something done.

In the meantime, I can pack, and I can smell the roses.  The weatherman says it will be raining by midnight.  I hope he's right!

 We need all the rain we can get!

Happy stitching!

Quick Catch-Up

I spent the weekend at Hartland Christian Camp, at a quilt retreat.  It was lovely, though dry.  so dry.  Evergreens were brown, and rivers were dry.  Really terrifying.

 But once I was there, I lucked out and got my very own table.  An entire workstation, all to myself.  Heaven.  Bliss.  yep.  It was "all that."  :)

I drove down the hill again the next day for an errand, and tried to capture the raw beauty with my camera.

I only finished one thing, but it was an important thing.

 It was especially important because when I got home, there were two special people on their way for a visit.

 ta da!

 I love it!

 I don't like the collar, Gramma.

 And she wore it until it was time for dinner.  I think it's a hit.  yay!