*Let me preface this post by saying that it looks a little odd. I know. The connection here is incredibly slow and I was having a very hard time uploading my pics. For some reason the layout of the photos didn't work right, so there's text and photos hodge-podged. I'm ready for bed, so I'm tired of fooling with it. Text and pictures . . . how hard can this be??? Argh! :)
Ah, what a glorious day! The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the sewing machines were humming! We got up and got a little sewing/chatting time in before our meal bell rang and we went upstairs for a breakfast of raisin bread french toast casserole. Yummy! We have not had a bad meal -- or a bad anything -- since we've been here! It's been so good, in fact, I purchased
this . . .
Today I was a little slack. I did finish piecing the baby's quilt!!!! This was a little more intense because I was having to do all the figuring (since it's an original, so to speak). I did a LOT of seam ripping on this, because I was struggling to get the vertical orange strips the right size. Or, as the ladies here often referred to it, I did a lot of the frog stitch. Ripit, ripit. *sigh*
BUT it is finished! I did some practice on free-motion quilting today -- I think that's how I'll quilt it. I dunno. I'm still wanting to tie bows in it. :)
Next I pulled out fabrics to work with . . . block ten . . . of the P&S BOM. You know, the one that never ends. Or rather, that I have never finished. Whatever. I particularly like the gold and purple floral. Isn't this gorgeous fabric? Really, my pictures do not do it justice.
I did not work on these hearts, but I was fascinated by them! Therese, one of my sewing station mates, pulled these out and I was absolutely captivated by them! The technique is called watercolor quilting, and you use a gridded transfer sheet. You fussy cut your fabric into the appropriate sized squares, arrange them in the grids, and iron them to the sheet. I fell in love with the blue heart with the ivy. It is so pretty, it almost makes me cry!
After you've laid out all your squares and ironed them down, you turn it over, fold each vertical line and stitch leaving a 1/4" seam allowance. This is the front after she's finished all of the vertical stitching
And this is the back . . .
Then she'll snip into the seam on all of the intersections, press it, and fold & sew on the horizontal grids. I hope she finishes stitching it tomorrow so I can see the finished top and take pictures! She has the book at home; she's going to bring it in to the next guild meeting for me! Yay!
It was a happy day. I learned stuff, I finished stuff, and I read my book (aka, took a nap). I was diligent and both made my bed *and* picked up my socks. Or rather, I never left any socks on the floor to be picked up! The Bed Nazis and the Sock Police are in full force. LOL! One of the great things about retreats is that you build a camaraderie that can't be forged any other way than by spending extended hours in the same room with ten other women! Lots of inside jokes will work its way out of it . . .
My utmost appreciation goes to Kari, who both invited me to the Stitcher's group and this retreat, and who was the coordinator of the retreat. She did a great job and I've had a blast! One more night (I'm off to bed shortly) and then tomorrow's check out time is at two. So a leisurely morning and a late brunch and we'll be packing up . . .
Tomorrow: wedding quilt. Again. To the death! Umm, I mean, until two o'clock.
*Yawn*smile*Yawn*!
:)
