Fire Mountain Bargello Progress

I decided the size of the bargello was going to get too big when I added borders, so I took a few of the rows off..I ended up using the rows I took off as the color border between the two cream ones. There is very little of those rows left - mostly trimmings and a couple of two inch pieces..but..I like how its turning out..

This is what I made at Retreat:

This is how it turned out after I finished adding the borders:

I am tentatively naming this Fire Mountain..

And..now, I am trying to decide if I want to add applique to the borders..you'll have to squint really hard and use your imagination...the green pieces would be leaves, the blue pieces would be birds,  the rest of the colors would be flowers and butterflies...I will be making patterns sometime in the next few weeks..to try out the shapes..I do think I will like it!

There was a suggestion that I think about putting some flames on the 'mountain'...will have to try that shape out too!

Back from Retreat

Whew..this has been a whirlwind of a month..

Went to my annual Retreat in Arizona again this year. This year I flew because the lady that I used to drive over with from So Cal moved to Arizona! She picked me and another Retreater up from the airport - we coordinated our flights so we would get there and leave within half an hour of each other..I stayed in her guest room the first night and then we moved to the hotel where the Retreat is held.

The hotel just changed hands..and all the staff changed from last year. We have been going to this location since (I think) 2006 or 2007...The conference room holds 32 retreaters - so far, they have only been ladies, but we wouldn't exclude a guy or two! (Some of the husbands occasionally come..one year they went target shooting, another they went to visit the airplane boneyard in Tuscon..)

This year the 'big event' was making a bargello quilt. One of the hostesses volunteered to lead the project and we jumped right in on Thursday, making our strata. In deciding to even do the class, I looked at bargello pictures on the internet and found one that I really, really liked its look:

I used 17 of the fat quarters that we got on the last Quilter's Run:

Here is my strata:

What I ended up with is the first nine pieces followed the pattern, the next 8 were the first pattern going backwards...I still had some my two strata left, so I cut that into random sized pieces until I couldn't cut any more and added them to one of the sides...so..its kinda unique!

Like that sample, I will be doing the borders similarly - though I haven't decided if I am going to use leaves or something else for the applique. The picture shows a bias scarf I made at retreat as well..just a wee quickie project!

I finished a bag that was on the donation table - the body of the bag was prepared with lovely hand quilting, it had one handle turned, the other handle was not sewn at all and the lining was already made. I think I know why it was never finished - that remaining handle was a bear to turn! When I got it home, I decided that the handles needed to be thinner than the original, so I folded them and stitched them down..then it needed a button closure so I stitched two buttons on - one with a loop of elastic that can loop over the other button...it has all of my little projects that I brought with me to retreat but didn't get time to work on in and its hanging in my sewing room. I like it!

One of the other activities was making a potholder - first they were posted on a board and we voted on our favorites..then they were used in the Left-Right game - one of the ladies wrote a humorous story that you pass the potholder from left or right depending on the directions in the story..Very funny!

This is my contribution:

And this is the one I ended up with --a pretty pink design:

The potholder display:

And this was all the buzz around the potholder display:

No...those ain't palm trees on the back...after all..it is a POT holder..the front features munchy foods...
Not surprisingly, it won first place in the competition!

More Hexie Daisy Progress and Packing for Retreat

Here are a couple of shots of my experiment with back stitching hexies - it works much better if the opposite outer edge is supported with a WonderClip. Do I like it? I think so. It's way neater than the whip stitch...and a bit easier to do than the ladder stitch (no folding) - when I try the ladder stitch, the stitches seem to still show though that may be just practice.. Will have to try to see if I can do this thru the glue on the Wee Hexie Basket...

I still have 14 wee side pieces to add to the pointy sides since I have determined this is going to be a straight edged piece..thought were it goes from there is anybody's guess at this point! 

I am almost packed for Retreat...I don't leave for another week..but I cannot stand not knowing if stuff will fit! This year I am flying, so have to be super conservative on what I bring...

Getting Back in the Saddle Again

Yikes..its been a VERY LONG DRY spell in these parts! Sorry for being absent so long.

I did attend Road to CA in January...took a couple of neat classes:

Tentmaker Work - I am almost done with this piece. It is going to be a pillow cover. This pic is how much I got done in the class...The class was taught by Egyptian Tent Makers..they are truly amazing applique-ers!

Images in Landscapes -
Loved this class but unfortunately, have not worked on this project very much since January. Class was in how to blowup a snapshot into a wall hanging sized quilt...which you then can add traditional blocks to make an interesting focal point..mine will not get too much bigger than this as I don't usually do very many 'big' quilts...but I am thinking of at least adding a border of flying geese..we will see how inspired I get! The small picture is the photo I started with and then enlarged...looks pretty darned close, eh?

Project Bag - This was a fun, quick bag class..I went to M&L a few weeks later and bought a yard of headliner fabric to make more of these. I think I even have enough of the clear plastic...just need time!

I did attend the annual Valley of the Sun Retreat in February:
One of the highlights was making this Mystery Quilt...I think EVERYONE loved the pattern and how their quilt came out! Still need to quilt it though...

And..just went on the annual So Cal Quilter's Run and stimulated the economy!

One of my additions is a Thread Director...supposed to help eliminate breakage when using metallic threads for FMQ...will have to play with that soon!

AZ Retreat Part 5

Not all of the stuff at Retreat is quilting...

My cool New Balance shoes...unfortunately, they are not the most comfortable shoes..but they sure are bright!

I was not the only one with colorful shoes - another gal also has the same shoes and then there are these bright Danskos:

A couple of the ladies made selvedge vests...I really like how they turned out!

AZ Retreat Part 4

Last year at Retreat, the speakers were the Lumberyard Ladies...who showed us what different blocks and quilts could be made out of scraps cut into 'lumber' - 2x2,2x4, 2x6, 2x8, 4x4, etc (if its a common lumberyard term, its part of their system!!)...

So...there was a Lumberyard Challenge for this year:

The quilts were hung on the fence around the pool and ballots were placed in the bucket...we invited the guests of the hotel to vote as well as all the Retreaters...

First place:

Second Place:

Third Place (tie)

AZ Retreat Part 3

One of the mini classes this year was an Improv quilting class. I really like how the improv quilt turned out:

I am going to have to try this technique! (this is the instructor's quilt)

Another mini 'class' was playing with my Tsunineko inks...I brought foam core boards, white plastic trash bags, some coloring book printouts, some PFD fabric and the tray bag of inks...and three of the ladies joined me in playing...I think they all turned out MARVELOUSLY - especially since we only had an hour to do these:

AZ Retreat Part 2 - Eclipse Sew Along

Last year at Retreat, one of the gals was working on an Eclipse quilt...that turned into a group sew along this year..one of the ladies bought a bunch of the patterns and another lady taught us how to cut the curves and stitch them. This is the quilt that started it all:

She made hers out of batiks..chosen to match the border fabric. I don't make very many huge quilts, so mine is the mini version. And I used a charm pack of Fossil Ferns instead of the batiks...
This is before I finished sewing all the blocks and squaring up:

After squaring up...DH said he liked this so I am actually inspired to finish it!

AZ Retreat Part 1

Last weekend was the annual Quilting Retreat in Arizona. The weather was PERFECT..warm enough to wear short sleeves, capris and sandals! I love going on this retreat, it fires me up for working on my projects.

I did a whole bunch of projects....
First was this Christmas Tree Skirt...sadly my Christmas Tree is STILL up..so I have the tree skirt around the tree...(it makes a cozy cape - its lined with lime green fleece...and Misty the Quilt Inspector has thoroughly inspected and uses it as a napping spot) 

I got the borders on the Mixed Media piece (shown in the Road To CA 2014 post).

I got the rest of the fabric on the Drip Painting quilt cut out, marked and pinned..so its ready to applique whenever the mood should strike me to start it...

This was one of my Show and Tells this year:
The David Taylor Hummingbird... I started the quilting on this at last year's Retreat and worked on it sporadically over the summer...One Saturday in the Fall..the power went out at the house and I took it out on the patio and finished up the quilting. The power was still out (I called the Electric Company and they said it would take a few hours...) so I took my hand crank machine out  to the patio and stitched on the facings (like a bigger binding but turned all the way to the back)...the power was still out...so I turned the edges..now normally I would iron them at this point, but since that was not possible, I did it the old fashioned way and basted it!..the power was STILL out so I hand stitched the facings down...the power came back on a few minutes after I finished!