Friday, October 14, 2022

Fall Retreat - Day Four

 I'm so sorry to be an enabler, but it's not often that a pattern comes along that I NEED to make, so I'll see how we can work those Elizabeth Hartman patterns into the schedule. Remember -- if you are pressed for time, make the SMALL version of the quilt. It's all about choices and making priorities. And if you can't do the sew along with me, there'll be another super cute pattern next year!

I'm so excited -- I was showing the short Amazon tour video to the retreat group, and then I decided to try to sign up for an in-person tour, and guess what? I got in!!! Since everyone here knows my feelings about shopping at Amazon, they were all waiting for the rejection e-mail, but NOPE -- I got a confirmation! I truthfully answered the question - "how do you feel about shopping at Amazon," and responded with the worst rating. I'm honest! I don't think the warehouse near me is one of the robotic ones, but that's OK -- it'll just be fun to see how it all works. 

In the link above, you can sign up for an in-person tour, a live virtual tour, or watch the 10-minute video. None of this will change my mind about shopping there, but I'm fascinated by how it works. 

I accomplished a lot again, and here is my "completed" Section Three. This is as far as I can go until I finish the missing block. OK -- so I haven't even started it yet, and I need some filler fabric for the bottom row. This is the Green Tea and Sweet Beans quilt by Jen Kingwell.

Section Three

This quilt has some checkerboard sections in it, and I had randomly made a bunch of two-patch units. I "stole" that square for the block from this tray of pieces the day before. This is what I started with to make the checkerboard pieces for Section Four. 



Checkerboard pieces


And this is what was left. I guess I overshot the number of units needed. The first time I had TOO much of something at this retreat. Notice the little white square above - that was the partner to the square that I stole. However, I needed an extra white square for one of the checkerboards, so it all worked out perfectly! 

The remaining checkerboard pieces

Here is Section Four. Two blocks are missing -- those are the last two blocks to be assigned, and I need some filler fabrics for this section as well, and I still have to finish the applique. But all in all, considering our final reveal is in December, I think I'm doing pretty well with this quilt. There is still the applique border to add, and I have some of the bits prepped, and one of four vines is stitched on. But my focus is to get the quilt center done at least for December and perhaps ONE side of the border. I'll see how it goes. 

Section Four


Of course, with all the sewing, there are enders and leaders. I brought a huge bag of them from a quilt I made years ago. 
Enders and leaders to sew


And a HUGE thank you to Lynn, who added all the blue and white ones. Just what I needed -- more little bits to sew together. But that's OK -- I like little bits. 

Lynn's contribution to my enders and leaders


So I'm trying to press all the sewn units before I close down for the night.


The pressed but not trimmed half-square triangles

And I've managed to keep on top of it. There's a nice bag of squares that need to be trimmed. It would be great if I could trim them as I go, but that's not going to happen! 


Waiting to be trimmed

We are listening to CHFI, one of the radio stations from Toronto, and they have a contest with secret voices, which is quite entertaining. Ronda was trying to focus on the voices in hopes of recognizing any of them. I've been listening to that contest for months and know how it works, but can you believe that someone, who shall remain nameless, CHALLENGED what I said? So I texted the DJ, who confirmed the rules, and the nameless person lost the challenge. Let's just say this is a very passionate group, but only ONCE did someone have to shout a "change topic" warning! 


Ronda focuses on the radio contest


Did you see Laura's Postcards from Sweden quilt in the background? This is half of it, and now it's all together, but I did not get a picture of it. Nor did I get a picture of anything else. Oh well. 

I finished quilting my small project, which was a bonus. Let's say I'm rusty on machine quilting on this small machine I brought. It's for my UFO group, so I saved another $10 penalty. You'll get to see it later. 

We had company once again -- this time, there were three deer who ambled through the backyard. They are just so curious about what is going on in that window! But these ones did not linger, and they were soon gone. 

Deer in the backyard


I walked back to the lake and down the cottage road. This walk entails two fairly significant hills, and I'm happy to say I can "march" up them and not huff and puff too much. Definitely no stopping. It doesn't take long before you get in the swing of things with the walking. And ZERO feet issues, other than they are still peeling, and I need to have some cream for them, but I forgot to put it in my bag. 

The lake view


Here's one spot that was just spectacular, and it's part way up one of those hills. I must say in the photo that it looks quite flat, but it's NOT, and the hill continues around the corner! 

The fall colors

And how about his for a BURST Of fall colors. It's so pretty to walk around here. 


A BURST of fall colors


I've been fortunate with the weather. While we did have rain the last two days, I've been able to time my walk perfectly and didn't get wet once. I wore EACH of the three outerwear pieces I brought, so that was good planning. 

About an hour after I arrived back at the house, it poured buckets!!!

A downpour


Then I pulled a project out of the retreat box. This was the largest bag in the box, and I would like to get it done, although I won't finish this retreat. But I'll leave it out and work on it at home. It's a flannel quilt and is the leftovers from another quilt I made. 

My current retreat project

I do NOT understand why I always think that if you make one quilt, you should make two or more of the same thing. These squares are three inches, so it takes some time to sew them together, and I added a strip that was six squares wide down the entire length of the quilt.  

However, I still have all these squares left, and I aim to use them all to make this quilt larger. It's 20 squares wide, so that makes it 50" wide. 

The remaining squares

So I need to add four more squares along the sides - probably two squares per side and then, since the quilt is only 50" long, it needs to have eight more rows added. Well, that doesn't sound quite so bad as when I was laying in bed this morning, I thought the squares were 2 1/2" inches, and I needed to add double. Phew!!! That is doable to get done in the next couple of weeks. 

I think I will have some squares left over, and if I were smart, I would make four patches and then add them to some solid patches to cut the work in half to use up those squares. I'm sure I'll find some flannel at home to make that happen, and I want all this flannel to be used up and no more flannel quilts. 

I guess I will have to search through all my UFOs to see if any other flannel projects are lurking there.  

Well, it's the last day of the retreat, so everyone will make their way home. Everyone else carpooled, but I drove alone. It's time to get back to reality. I have two classes and a lecture tomorrow, and for the most part, everything is prepped, but I have some pictures to add, so I'll be running around doing that when I get home. 

Have a super day!!!


Ciao!!!!



2 comments:

  1. Hi Elaine, I saw your entry in the Cherry Wood Princess Di challenge today at a quilt show in Spokane WA. It's so pretty, with all those perfectly precise tiny blocks! I enjoyed seeing some of your work in person.
    Sharon F.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sharon --- thanks for the feedback. Yes -- those blocks were teeny tiny, but I love doing that kind of stuff!!!

      Delete