Monday, March 6, 2023

Retreat Report

 Christine and I left early for our quilting retreat with the Oxford Guild this past Friday because there was a winter storm coming and we wanted to get there and be set up before the snow started to fall.  The snow started in the afternoon and kept going all night.  In the morning there was almost a foot of snow (30cm for the metric folks).  We were all snowed in and loving it.  We did not lose power and we had our sewing machines and lots of fabric and projects on hand to work on.  It was a great weekend!

First, I tackled my two rainbow scrap challenge projects for this year-- pineapple log cabin blocks and some 6.5" square slabs using scraps. I had not made February's pink blocks yet and the new colour for March had already been announced--green, so I had to make blocks for both months. 


The first attempt at the pink block did not go so well.  I had the colours in the wrong spot and the fabric folded when I tried to sew one of the logs down.  I had to unsew it and start again, with much better results the second time around. 




Here's the green one.  I like the dark gray background I am using for these blocks. (it was in my stash)




I made four pink blocks too but don't have a picture of them.  


The food at the retreat was delicious--I had a Reuben sandwich and a salad for lunch one day. (no sauerkraut!) 


Here is a picture of a car in the parking lot outside the room where we were sewing on Saturday morning.  



I brought two pin basted quilt sandwiches with me to the retreat as well as a third quilt top with the batting and backing fabric.  I managed to completely finish quilting one of the tops. I made a wavy diagonal grid for this one--quilted with my walking foot.  I added the binding by machine today and I'm in the process of hand sewing it down on the back of the quilt.  This was my rainbow scrap challenge project in 2021. 



This scrappy drunkard's path was a 2022 RSC project.  I got most of the quilting done at the retreat and decided to quilt the circles at home on my other sewing machine.  It has a bigger throat so its easier to turn the quilt when sewing the circles.  Once the quilting is done, I will add the binding and get this one to the finish line too. 


When I was at QuiltCon in Atlanta, one of the vendors was demonstrating how to make rope bowls and selling an instruction book on how to make several different projects with rope.  I have wanted to try making things with rope for a while now so I watched the demo and asked a few questions. At the retreat, I tried making a bowl, and then another and then more until I had five finished bowls.  They are quite small and fun to make.  I recommend this book if you are interested in trying your hand at making rope bowls. 





I added some more stitches to my cross stitch project at the retreat too.  



My final project at the retreat was putting my vice president's day challenge quilt together.  I had made the square blocks a few weeks ago and needed to make some more black and white units and sew everything together.  



Mission accomplished!

Finn spent the weekend with my husband at home.  He was very excited when I arrived home on Sunday and has been keeping a close eye on me today. 





I will link up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday. 

21 comments:

  1. I love those pretty pineapple blocks! I have added that rope bowl book to my Amazon cart. I have been wanting to try my hand at them. The ones you made are fantastic. I hope some of that snow started to melt by the time you had to leave. That's a lot of snow to navigate. I like the wavy quilting. I have several similar blocks as your challenge quilt. I never thought to put a different type of block to connect them. Thanks for the inspiration. I love the colors of that quilt. Finn must have missed you. He is so cute.

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  2. I have always been interested in those rope bowls but always wonder you do not break a lot of needles making them. The pineapple blocks look great. Too bad you had so much snow that is a lot to clear off your cars before you left. I assume the roads were cleared off and all had no trouble getting out of there to go home

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  3. So many pretty accomplishments! The rope bowls look awesome and I love your VP Challenge quilt. The colors are so pretty.

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  4. What a busy and successful weekend! Where was the retreat?

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  5. Anonymous was Margaret

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  6. Such nice blocks for the RSC! I think it was nice to sit inside and sew when there was so much snow outside. Hope it melted by the time you went home. We are waiting for spring, but the month of March delivers snow. We probably get more snow here where I live too. The rope bowl you made was also very nice! It is wonderful to see the joy the dogs show when you return. Finn is so cute!

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  7. Looks like you had a very successful retreat with some lovely pieces to show for it. Cute bowls and your cross stitch is coming along nicely.

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  8. Sew many fabulous projects going on. I love the gray in your pineapple log cabin blocks. Oooh and your bowl looks like such a fun project.

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  9. Wise choice to leave early for quilt retreat. I love the pink and grey color combination. The different pink fabrics blend well with the grey. It appears you used the foundation method. Was it on fabric or paper and where did you get the foundations? Poor Finn missed you as he expected you to be home for the weekend.

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  10. Love all the projects you tackled over your retreat weekend. The rope bowls are gorgeous- the single colour ( turquoise, green etc ) just placed sparingly amongst the cream is fantastic.

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  11. What a busy retreat! Love all your projects, so colorful and pretty! Well done!

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  12. You certainly used your time productively during the retreat. I love your pineapple blocks, and the grey background really makes the colors sparkle. It looks similar to the fabric in your blog header photo.

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  13. The pineapple blocks look fabulous with that dark grey background. Great choice! Everything else you did at the retreat was lovely too.

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  14. That sounds like a fun retreat and you definitely accomplished a lot! I love the pineapple blocks for this year, and also your previous RSC finishes. I have several friends who make the rope bowls here, but have never tried it. Looks like you enjoyed it! Such a face on Finn - you were missed!

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  15. Boy you got a lot done! I’ve only made 1 rope bowl. Every inch of rope was wrapped! I really like the look of only colored thread and sporadic splashes of color. Even the neutral ones have their charm . Maybe I’ll but some more clothesline rope and try again!

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  16. Oh my goodness Gail you timed that retreat perfectly! You made such great progress and I adore all your projects! The bowls are masterpieces! And poor Finn missing you all that time :)

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  17. Blocks, quilting, rope bowls, and some stitching? You were oh-SEW-productive on retreat!!

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  18. Good planning to get to the retreat ahead of the storm. Nothing like being snowed in to hunker down and quilt. Wow were you productive. That dark grey lets your scraps glow in the pineapple blocks. They will make a delightful quilt.

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  19. You made wonderful progress at the retreat. Love those rope bowls, are they hard to make?

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  20. Nice collection of blocks,luv the bunny I haven't cross-stitched in years,the rope bowls look challenging,great job on them!

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