Retreat - Day Three

The one bad thing about sewing retreats? They seem to fly by so fast! But we're not going to worry about that - enjoy the moment!  I didn't seem to get as much done yesterday as I would like, but seriously?  I'm on vacation and when I get back, I've quite a bit of work (sewing) to do so it's nice to actually take a bit of a break from it. 

Don't get me wrong - I did sew an entire quilt top together yesterday minus the border which I'm going to do today. This was a bag of cut pieces that has been to many retreats!  I believe it even went to PEI with me two years ago. While I could have worked on something more current or more more urgent, there are several projects in the bags that have been around for a long, long time.  It was time to get at least one of them done. 

The top is quite simple, made from batiks and well....  Now it's done. I don't normally put borders on quilts when I'm here, but if I don't, it likely won't get done for a while, so today I'm putting the border on.  And for the rest of the retreat, I have small fiddly jobs to do. Better to get them done here. So yes technically what I actually got done (or will get done) could all have fit into one bag, but I'm OK with the quantity of stuff I brought.  What happens if I got bored and needed to switch a project, although that has never happened. What happens if I could't go further on a project because of whatever reason?  Oh yes - that's happened and most likely because I screwed up some part - made a wrong cut and then no more fabric. That seems to happen a lot!

Let's see though - I did get smart about the oatmeal.  Imagine this - 30 minutes before I wanted to eat, I started to cook my oatmeal. I was sitting in the kitchen writing the blog so I could keep an eye on it and I had perfect oatmeal for breakfast. 

I went out for another bike ride. I got my bike computer set up (talking to the satellites), but when I went to put it on the bike, it was totally dead.  Oh dear - could I have run out of battery?  Well, a dead bike computer is no reason to not ride.  When I got back, I charged it up, but it appears to be DEAD.  No worries, I do have a newer one at home, but now I have to get a different mound for this bike as they are not the same (of course!).  I doubt it's worth getting repaired - perhaps there is some way to reboot it??  

Riding was totally fun - again! I did the exact route yesterday as the previous day.  Since I had no computer, I can't tell if I was going faster, but it seemed that I was. I got into a nice rhythm and really enjoyed it.  I need to get out more at home, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of time. I need to make time and I don't need to go for hours and hours - an hour is fine!   I have to admit that my knee is a bit sore this morning. NOT the knee that I had surgery on - that one is fine. It's the other one. I'm not sure that I'll ride today, I may just find some ice and sit for a bit. Besides, it looks like it might rain today. 

Oh yes - some of us have hit the quilt store.  Let me rephrase that - some of them were at the quilt store three times in one day! The shop truly is very close. I did pick up a few goodies myself - nothing huge.  And guess what?  There is a sale on today and we do get a teeny bit of an advantage over everyone. I won't say what, but everyone is planning on getting up a wee bit early this morning. What makes people want to buy?  First off - it's the staff in the store. Sue is the BEST store owner I've ever met. You may not need anything, but next thing you know, you're buying just because!  She also brings in the latest and greatest patterns and fabrics. Most stuff in the store is very current and for some reason, us quilters seem to appreciate that. A LOT.  And then it's just plain fun to shop!  It's even more deadly when you go as a group.  Perhaps cash would be great today!  I do have my eye on a couple of things so I might go with a list. Yes - cash and a list!

We sat in the back and chatted over our tea and coffee in the afternoon. I also sat out there and read on my own for a bit (checking out the next Clive Cussler in the Dirk Pitt series) and took a few more photos. It's always hard to see what they look like on the camera - oh yes - that means I did find the battery charger. Instead of putting the charger in my backpack where I keep ALL chargers, cords, etc. Nope - I just threw it into a bag - probably the one that was the handiest.  I did find it and charged the battery. Ronda, Laura and I played a game of Scrabble where I think I got every vowel possible and if I did get a consonant, it was worth 1 or maximum 2 points.   Obviously I did NOT win the game.  By the way, did I mention that Laura and Ronda are VERY competitive.   Also did you know that speedo and zonk are valid Scrabble words?   I think that was cheating, but alas, the game is done and I must remember speedo and zonk for my next game!

We're just starting the beginning of Day Four of the retreat and our sewing stations are still super neat.  We all appear to be neat freaks. But then most of us are working on one project at a time.  How could you be messy working on only one project at a time?  Not like at home!  If only.......

Here are my pictures of the day.  I think I mentioned that I wasn't happy with one fabric in Fancy Forest and rather than sew it together and be really unhappy, I ripped out the fabrics so I could replace them. You can barely see the light grey in the top of the thistle block, the legs of the hedgehog and the top of the owl. 

NO CONTRAST

So when I was at Monday sewing this past week, I had ripped out the offending fabric the night before. Then I added in the new one.  Still not a lot of contrast, but there is enough to see the outline of the animals.  I also had one block that was still in pieces. I had run out of fabric when I was sewing it together at a previous retreat.  So I finished that one off as well.

Not perfect, but better contrast

I guess I should have thought about that when choosing the background. Don't pick the same color (grey) as one of the animal fabrics. Next time!

Let's see - oh yes, also at Monday, I made the backing for Radiant Light. This is a quilt that Deborah Edwards designed and I wrote the instructions. It is a free download on the Northcott website. I also cut the binding strips but because I'm going to match the binding to the quilt, I didn't join it together.

Backing, top and binding strips ready!

This was made with fabrics from one collection. So what to do with the leftovers?  Do you keep them together?  Separate them in the stash or get rid of them?  I'm tempted to get rid of them because why do I need them?  I did make little half square triangles with the cut offs from the quilt.  All the leftover bits are together and I may just make more half square triangles and make a small wall hanging. The remainder fabric can be used for the backing.  This is where I get into trouble.  This isn't a project that is planned or needs to be done, but simply to use up the leftovers.  I need to find a couple of beginner quilters that I can pass this stuff onto! I don't want it to sit in someone else's stash - it might as well stay in mine one! But if someone were going to mess with it and make something out of it?  I might be persuaded to get rid of it.   Here's a link to the collection. There are TWO colorways - pink and blue.

Leftovers from Radiant Light

On that note, I'm still working on the next deadline which is July 10.  Hey that's Monday! It's all computer stuff and I'm probably a teeny bit behind so I'm off to work on that while everyone is still asleep and it's quiet in the house. And I'm cooking my oatmeal.

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!


Oh yes  - the Halloween quilt I showed yesterday?  It's from Anitagoodesigns. It's called Halloween town.