In mid-November, I was able to attend a local retreat with a dozen of the ladies from my church sewing group. As usual before a retreat, I over plan. I found myself cutting a bunch of kits and offered to the group if anyone needed something to work on, I would have some extras. Whoa, the response was a bit overwhelming. I figured two, maybe three people might say something but then probably not actually want one. Nope, seven people responded right away. Geesh, the pressure was on. I knew pulling together that many novelty kits would be difficult in the time available, so I told everyone I'd see what I could do. I decided some of the kits could be regular baby quilts from my scraps or stash, but they all needed to be quick and not complicated.
As it turned out, I was able to prepare five novelty kits and five regular kits, (plus four novelty kits for me). Aha, challenge accepted and met! I still was a bit skeptical how many would actually get picked up but I knew any leftover I would eventually work on. The four I set aside to work on had some more complicated piecing, odd half rectangle triangles or split rectangles. So, I walked into the retreat with a large canvas bag of kits, all cut and ready to sew. I had printed pages from my OneNote workbook, showing the block construction and general layout. A few I wrote some very brief instructions, worried that it would turn into a bunch of people standing at my chair asking questions. I shouldn't have worried as it went very well. All 10 kits were taken and all but one was completed during the week.
It was kind of an interesting experience seeing others sew a kit I had put together. Turns out I made several cutting and math errors, but all we were able to accommodate. I especially enjoyed seeing how much fun everyone was having with the novelties. I ended up working on a project someone else brought when I discovered I forgot to bring setting triangles for one of my projects. It was such an enjoyable time, working together and sharing.
This fabric was left from a previous large veterans quilt, just enough for a baby quilt. This is Tina, with her very FIRST quilt. She did a great job, even with the odd angle of the hexagon. I think she may be hooked. Pattern is Strips and Stripes by Krista Moser.
Nancy F had fun with this pattern, entwined and I was able to use of the very last little bits of these very old fabrics from my stash. I had forgotten to get photos, so some of these following pictures were from our Christmas party two weeks later.
Nancy S enjoyed working with the novelty fabrics, pattern is When I'm 64. It uses lots of scraps but goes together very quickly.
Here is another quilt pieced by Nancy F. I had to chuckle, she was sitting next to me at the retreat, and she just kept saying, "So Much Yellow"! The pattern uses alternating snowball blocks and nine patches for a great secondary pattern.
Lissa made two kits. This first one is a rainbow version of Strips & Stripes.
This ladders quilt uses novelty fabrics. I kept hearing Lissa exclaim about the fabrics from across the room. Now they understand why I enjoy sewing with them. She did have some problems understanding my notes. Now I know to put a picture of the block at the top of the instructions, instead of the bottom. But I helped her with the ripping and she kept smiling.
Kay was a great sport about this kit. I had miscalculated when I cut the black squares and left off one seam allowance. So, we had to adjust the pattern a bit, but it still came out cute. Fortunately, I had included a few extra novelty strips, so the first block cut wrong, wasn't a problem.
Jackie really enjoyed making this Disappearing Nine Patch. I think she is planning to try it in different fabrics. It is a very easy and flexible pattern. In the background is another quilt she was working on.
There were two more quilt kits, but I didn't get photos. Shout out to Astrid and Debbie for also working on my kits. If I can get photos with them at our next sew day, I will add them to this post. Thank you for everyone who worked on one of my kits. My novelty drawers are a bit less stuffed than they were previously and now we have some great quilts to donate to Grace House.
Here are the four that I worked on at the retreat. This first is called Kitchen Sink by Kim Bracket. This is the one I forgot to bring setting triangles. I also mis-cut a handful of pieces the wrong direction. So those I fixed once I got home. But I did most of the pieces at the retreat. This one was very difficult to cut and time consuming to sew. I don't think I'd do it again.
This pattern is BQ5 by Maple Island Quilts. I've made several of their patterns which are designed to highlight large prints, but they work great for novelties too. The most difficult part of this was getting the rectangle triangle blocks to go the correct direction.
This Chain Letter quilt is one of my favorites which I've made four times. Except for the setting triangles, it is very easy and fun.
I've made this lattice quilt several times, but the last time was for a little boy who is now in college. I decided it was time to do it again. I may add borders later but it is a nice size for a baby this way.
Here is the entire retreat group. We are in front of the quilt put together from some blocks pieced by a lady from the Fort Worth group who made gift baskets for us. Cricket had some gray and yellow fabrics that went perfectly with the paper pieced blocks. Mary Anne and Lee are also pictured below with Deb & Astrid in addition to the others pictured above.
It was such a fun retreat. There were several late-night ladies which was fun - I hate being the only one up late. And a sweet reminder of my AZ retreat friends. At one point, Deb's husband called and she holds up her phone and yells, "Everyone say Hi to Bob" and we all did. Which is EXACTLY what always happens at the VOS retreat when Cathy Codney's husband Bob calls. Made me tear up a bit. We stayed at Rock House Retreat in Santo, which I have visited before and is a great retreat center West of Weatherford.. As always Bridget Light was a wonderful cook and Jo Lynn O'Neal a great hostess. A wonderful four days with such a great group of ladies. Thank you all!
No comments:
Post a Comment