What a Whopper!

Retreat.

Going away to Retreat is like going on a long holiday. except this one is short and sweet and packed full of adventures.  Packing for it, happens with military precision.  One thing quilters are very good at is making sure they cover all the bases.  In the unlikely event that something was forgotten, they will replace it, if it is a matter of importance. They think on their feet and know the best spots to find treats and food.

This project bag kept things neat and tidy. Diane made this one and a few more.

 Organizing projects for working on, is works of art.

These beads was placed for maximum use, to get an Art quilt done in time for a competition!

No project was too intimidating to try. Margaret  was working on this one.

Bags which has many parts and have dimension built into them with precise engineering.

 Stitching projects:

Abby has a neat way of stitching, she has no problem working on this dark blue background! She places her stitching chart on the table, allowing the overhead light to reflect the light up off the paper.

Judy did two embroidered quilts.

 Love the way the stitching is extended over the pieced blocks.

 Works in Progress:

 Diane is making a quilt for a friend.

Kelda was working on this one.

Diana was making a mystery quilt.

Kathryn was busy with machine applique.  She finished seventeen pillowcases.

 This beauty has been coming to Retreat for a while.

Lynn was in the final stages of putting the blocks on her design wall when it was time for me to go, so I never got a picture of the final top.

Kate was working on her second bag for her beautiful Grandbaby!
A few baby quilts was being whipped up quickly.

The quilt tops was finished.

Anita made this one.

 Judy made a couple of bright and Happy quilts.

I manage to finish all these triangle squares.

Everything I needed to work on my projects, except for the projects itself was packed in my knitting bag which my friend Kate made for me. (Knitting was left at home on this trip.  I dropped a stitch and have to start it all over again.)

Love Entwined was my train project.  Some leaves appeared and a few flowers.

A fellow little traveler, had her sparkly hat and her sea turtle to keep her entertained.  She allowed me to take a picture of her pink turtle.  It had sparkly eyes! We all need a friend, this is her Bestie.

PS: Thank You Lorraine, you make our stay, great for all of us!

Quilt Pattern Deconstruction.

Sometimes time is of the essence and we need to make a quilt in a short period of time.  Instead of following the pattern, take a step back and see if it can still be constructed and look the same, with a more streamlined pattern.

Using the printed pattern:

When one deconstruct a pattern, can a row of squares be converted to a rectangle?  Taking the pattern row by row, break it down into segments, creating less squares and creating rectangles can greatly reduce cutting and assembly time on a project.

 Spending time with pen and paper, may take a little bit of time upfront, it also helps with the planning of the project.  If there are any mistakes in the pattern, you will discover them.  You can make note of them and make corrections before you start to cut any fabric.

Once you have done all this on paper, remember to include your seam allowances before cutting out, when doing this.  A quarter inch for each seam, for each piece.

 Your cutting guide for your fabrics will change as well.  The amount of fabric you will use, will stay the same.

 With this pattern, the amount of squares was reduced.  The rest of the cutting stayed the same.
One must create a new cutting guide for the background and the colours in this quilt.

 This will make cutting out a breeze.  Keep the colour sequence the same as on the original pattern chart. This is a free pattern, from Lecein.

Also number the rows, lay them out in order and sew them together, row by row, as you complete the rows. This keeps the construction of the top simple.

 The Front of the finished top.

The Back of the finished top.

The outcome is the same.  The quilt will look the same, the process to construct the quilt top is simply made with less pieces in a shorter period of time.

Kits are available at The Sewing Cafe.

Reducing the scraps and stash busting

Reducing the scraps and stash busting is high on my list this year.  To this end, for gifts, patterns was placed on my list.  I received a few, they will be becoming my projects to work on for the next while.  They are all machine pieced and they will hopefully make a dent in my fabric collection.

 This quilt was at Quilt Canada 2016. 

 Then I found the pattern. It is a Sue Garman one, Ancient Stars.

It was put on my list of patterns I wanted for my gift list.  I received it as one of my gifts.  It will be used to reduce my fabric collection.

 These three patterns is part of my quest to sew up all the bits of fabric which are filling up nooks and crannies of space in my sewing room.  At the end hopefully they will all be quilts and not scraps of fabrics anymore.

 

Art work by my two favourite girls, they are twins who love art.

Easter

We all love Easter.  We know Spring has finally arrived and everyone is just that much happier!  They smile more and all the colours are bright.  The kids love it, as they know they get chocolate.  It is a time for families to come together and celebrate Easter.
This was a new project.

The original pattern had too many pieces, for the time I wanted to make it in, so I modified it to accommodate my needs (more about this at a later date).

Going for a walk, many families will be out and about this weekend, doing just that.  Saw these wild turkeys strolling across the road yesterday.

One do not normally see this, so it was rare indeed!

This one's expression says it all: Am I going to be Dinner? .....(wrong season, Fall is six months away)

The rag quilt has all its sandwiches quilted and ready to be sewn together.

The pink and white ones.

This rick rack print ties all the colours together.

Love Entwined, lots of flowers have been added to all the four vase locks.

 

  

Have a wonderful Easter, for those who get to spend time together, enjoy those precious moments spent with the special people in your life.

                                         .....for the kids, let the easter egg hunt begin...