"The Retreat" ~~ Finished!!

Way back in July of 2019, I attended a quilt retreat in Baton Rouge with other members of the BRMQG. After I got home, I finished up the top and added it to the bin. A couple of weeks ago I dug through the bin and chose this top to quilt. 

A little blue thread, feathers in the border, and some improv quilting.

I don't know what I did unless I really look at the individual motifs. In other words, I just had fun.

The back of the quilt is this solid blue linen and, because it was too small for the top, a plaid flannel. They look good together but I'm not real sure what's going to happen when it gets washed. 

I took lots of photos of the back so that I can go back and look at those motifs because some are new-to-me ideas. 

		Quilt Stats
	Name:	The Retreat
	Size:	48" X 60"
	Fabrics:	fabric from stash
	Pattern:	my design
	Backing:	from stash
	Batting:	100% Cotton
	Binding:	fabric from stash
	Quilting:	improv with various motifs
	Completed:	2020

Retreat finish (the final one)

Some time ago (it may be years now) I decided it was time to use some of the 2½” strips that I had cut perhaps years before that. You see, this is a story of epic proportions. Because years before either of those I began worrying that I would leave behind tons of fabric when I go. What foolishness! Still, I worked on a series of small quilts. 

The nursery rhyme series: Nimble and Quick was a blue bargello, both versions of He Loves Me was Dresden plate applique, Around a Girl's World, The Coolest Bug Collection, That Was Against the Rules, Fast Asleep, and so on. Some have titles from lines of the nursery rhymes, all are inspired by nursery rhymes. 

This quilt is both, inspired by "Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater" and titled using the phrase "couldn't keep her." The inspiration came in the form of using pumpkin orange with those blue 2½” inch strips with the strips representing bars. Did you notice that the bars are not all going in one direction? I could have fixed that but I had just finished this improv top and was still in improv mode. 

Take that orange square however you want: a pumpkin, an escape route, a key hole. It's your take on the quilt. Notice in this picture that I had to add a horizontal strip in the orange to make the half square triangles match up. Somewhat. Up close like this you can see how much the medallion is off. Really? Geez. 

But I just wanted a finish and so I refused to rip anything out. An agreement I made with myself--no ripping. So things went in sideways and corners don't meet and goodness knows how many other problems, but stay they did. After all, have you read nursery rhymes lately? There are lots of issues in those little poems, but I love them anyway, and I'll love this little quilt just the same. It's in the TO BE QUILTED bin under about 15 other tops. 

Do you just leave in the mistakes? 

Do the mistakes make you like the quilt less?

Or do they have to be corrected? 

Do the mistakes drive you nuts if you don't?

Retreat Finish (the second one)

Before I show you my new finish, I thought I'd show you what is going on in the studio. It is not a happy sight, is it? Ahh, that's how it goes. Chances are that it's never going to embroider again. 

Not that it has embroidered any for me anyway. Firstly, it made horrible stitches. Secondly, as we discovered today, the gizmo that holds the PC card is broken. So I have hundreds of designs that I can't use. 

The news gets worse: I've invested more money in the machine than it's worth. Have you made a bad judgement like this one? What did you do about it? I'll give Richard a bit more time to work on it but if it's done, well, we just made a bad investment.


But there's good news, too. 
I have a finished top to show you! I had a few ideas for quilts before leaving for retreat last week. For this particular quilt top I wanted to just sew at random, very improvisationally, and with no plan or system. Just sew some bits together, stack them until there were plenty in the stack, then start sewing the big bits together. 


It really started at home by pulling some scraps together. I settled on a blue/teal/green colorway with lots of whites to keep it all from becoming too busy and worrisome.

I pulled mostly solids and a very few small prints. Large and small pieces of white went into the Ziploc but I knew I'd be cutting those as needed. After I had some large chunks, I put them on the design wall to let the colors mingle in my mind. (I like that phrase.)

A some point I decided to make a few curves. That "boomerang" block (circled in red) on the very top was the first one. At first I wasn't sure I liked it, but it grew on me. I decided to make one in green next. It's much smaller but I'd already decided that everything would go into the quilt. The only concession would be that I could cut blocks apart if necessary.

This zipper block is the last one. It's my favorite part of the entire quilt. From here I only needed to sew all the big chunks and smaller pieces into a top. I added a six inch border on all four sides to give it a frame and called it done.

What do you think? Does it work in an improv sort of way?

Retreat Finish (the first one)

I managed to sew up three quilt tops while on retreat last week. Despite the wine. And the shenanigans. And the huge amount of time we needed for eating. Oh, and we did sleep. Apparently I was a worker bee extraordinaire! 

The first quilt I worked on is this easy little quilt that consists of all these modern fabrics that I've been collecting. I cut 2½" strips of white from yardage, then pulled all the moderns I could find. Those I cut into three sizes all 6½" long. Pieces are 2½", 4½" or 6½" wide. I worked out the math so that I'd need three pieces of each size per row. 

What possessed me to think that I'd stick to my well thought-out formula? Yeah, I haven't the slightest idea. Because I unzipped the little bag of pieces and straight away went to work destroying that formula. Meh, it was math anyway. Do we really need that?

The final outcome took much longer than it needed to take. Thank you Math, for abandoning me in my hour of need. Nevertheless I got through it, improv-like, and love this happy little modern top. 

Retreat inspiration

My retreat sisters worked on a variety of quilts over the weekend. Oh my! What a beautiful array of works in progress. Here are the ones I was able to grab photos of before they were taken down to make room for more. 

Tracey's QAYG with the front on the left and back on the right.

  

Glenda's fish quilt based on one by Nicholas Ball of Quilts in the Attic blog in his book
  Inspiring Improv: Explore Creative Piecing with Curves, Strips, Slabs and More

These four are to be part of a show at the State Arboretum not far from my house. They are made by members of the Contemporary Fiber Artists of Louisiana (CFAL).

Aren't they lovely? I don't have a favorite--they are all too different --but I'm guessing you might. Which is your fav?

Finally, yesterday Richard and I celebrated our 41st anniversary! What a wonderful life we have shared. I thank God for every moment.

10 reasons to retreat

If you've never been on a quilt retreat, you have been missing out. Know what you'll experience? 

• collaboration -- encouraging words and helpful suggestions 
• camaraderie -- infectious spirit and energy pumping creativity
• sharing -- ideas, tools, reviews, blogs, viewpoints, suggestions

• inspiration -- work you can admire and feed off of 
• like-mindedness -- people understand what you're doing, and why you're doing it

Cheers to Bertha for
providing the wine!

• social -- people who laugh with you, eat with you (drink with you) and celebrate with you
• conversation -- amazing discussions of important issues in the quilt world
• service -- someone begins with "Oh, I (forgot, need, can't find, don't have, etc.)" and "here use mine" is the ending, every time

Quilt wine!

• laughter -- jokes are much funnier when everyone "gets it"
• surprises -- (wonderful or shocking ones) both quilty and otherwise

On Retreat

A couple of older kits ready to go.

Today is the first day of a quilt retreat with other women from the Baton Rouge Modern Quilt Guild. We're at a beautiful retreat house in Baton Rouge that has lots of space: cooking, laundry, living and, of course, sewing. The quilting area is a large, L-shaped room with sewing tables for 12, cutting areas, pressing stations with Oliso irons, and sitting areas. 

Amanda Jean's QAL

I've been prepping for this retreat between all the other things that are happening. Mostly I decided what I want to work on. Then I cut the fabric and made kits that include instructions and thread. I put everything into a plastic bag that linen comes in (the girls save them for me) with a completed block. 

I had several already put together, so I went through those yesterday and chose to bring a couple, just in case. One is a second version of the Amanda Jean Nyberg QAL that I participated in back in 2017.

One of the kits that I cut and set up is a blue, green and teal scrap quilt with lots of white background. I just kept cutting and adding fabric to the kit. If I use it all, I'll have either two medium size quilts or a huge king. Yeah, I lost control of that plan. But, you know, it's better to have too much, right? 

The last kit is one that I've been collecting for years. As I purchased or used these modern prints, I put a little aside for a time when there would be enough for a modern quilt.

There are plenty! I cut blocks in three different sizes: 6½" square, 6½" by 4½", and 6½" by 2½". Then I cut RJR solid in  white linen into 6½" by 2½" pieces. That's the quilt that I worked on today.


The last thing I did to prepare was to gather the items I use everyday: scissors, rulers, pins... You know, all those things. You'd think it would be easy. Think again.

I have lots of sets of everything, but nothing stays in this container just waiting for a road trip, so I was a little concerned I'd forget an absolutely imperative, most necessary thing. Then I'd have to either waste time to make a run to an LQS or just (gasp!) do without. No way. 

I spent lots of time thinking about what I'd need by running each kit through my mind and systematically seeing what I'd use. It really helps if your brain works systematically. Mine doesn't. But I did a pretty good job anyway. 

Baton Rouge MQG meeting

Last Monday the Baton Rouge MQG met for our February gathering. We certainly do have some talented quilters in our group. This post is basically our Show and Share from that meeting.

Mother and daughter who attended a quilt retreat. They each
made a quilt using the same pattern but in different colorways.

Our mother and daughter team who each made a QOV quilt

The maker of this quilt bought a pack of grandmother's fans and decided to set them in this black background, which sets the fans off beautifully.

Lori's huge king size quilt. Imagine this on the long arm machine!

Glen's Little Red Riding Hood (pp) quilt. How cute is this?