Quilt Retreat

Last week I spent four wonderful days with friends at a quilt retreat. This is my eleventh year. We started as a small group of about 12 as I recall, and now we are at our limit of forty-five.  If you have never attended a "quilt retreat", please give it a whirl!  We have such a good time.  The best part goes without saying really---just being with friends that understand your passion for this crazy love of cutting up fabric, sewing it together and calling it a "quilt". Who else understands this except your dearest quilting buds!

We have a really special place for retreat. Unique, beautiful and peaceful. Located in the beautiful secluded hills and valleys of Healdsburg, California. No cooking! No cleaning! No classes! ---just rest, relax and sew. If you don't want to sew you can hike, read, swim and soak up the quiet or take an afternoon nap. The weather this past week was so nice. Sunny days with warm evening led to lingering evenings walking with friends after dinner, or sitting on the veranda enjoying the view.

The green valley and flowers are so beautiful this time of the year.

I actually did some sewing. Not as much as planned. I always try to take three projects, knowing that if I complete just one, that is a major achievement. (lots of time visiting, walking about the ranch, and eating!)----- I wish I could bottle the energy and inspiration that is shared and bring it home! It's wonderful!

A finished this string quilt top I had started at home. 

I cut and pieced another Double Slice Layer cake and started putting it together. Riley Blake layer cake.

I also started sewing on Sally's Bionic Bag I had cut out, but lost my way on step #2. I did manage to put in the zipper though.  Now that I'm home and I can concentrate quietly, maybe I'll figure out the remaining steps this week. It's a cute bag I want to make for all my travel machine do-dads.

Here I am at retreat trying to finish sewing on the last few inches of binding.

Showing Easy Street ---Finished!

Finished Quilting Easy Street

Easy Street is finished. Feels good!  It seems like I have been working on this Bonnie Hunter 'mystery quilt' forever.

No binding yet as I plan to work on that when I go to quilt retreat next week. Here are a few pictures.  Yes, it's still very bright! in my way of thinking! Bill likes it, me---?

The details: Superior So-Fine top thread in "Lime Green". Fil-Tec magna glide bobbins. 14 of them!
Hobbs 80/20 batting. Pantograph: "Fanfare" from Urban Elementz.  Fanfare is fast becoming my favorite edge to edge quilting design!

A closer look!

The backing!

Being Productive

There are days I feel like a real "slug" in the sewing room. No motivation, no get up and go.  Lazy perhaps.  Or there are days I can get in a mood and not do one thing except eat and lay around.  Next time I get in one of these funks I'm going to be inspired by my friend Carolynn!

This box arrived this past week!

An abundance of fabric stash, some sleepless nights, and just simply being productive resulted in thirty- three, yep! I counted them! Thirty three adorable baby quilt tops! The plan is for them to be donated to our local quilt guilds Community Quilts program.

Here are some photos of the quilts. I wish I could photograph each quilt top. They are all so special, and made with lots of love!

Carolynn told me she does one top every night! 

So, next time I can't think of a thing to sew, I'll think of Carolynn sewing into the late evening piecing yet another baby quilt top. She told me she is making more! 

Carolynn at last years quilt retreat. I just noticed in this photo she is making another cute baby quilt top!

Thank you Carolynn for all the baby quilts! They will be appreciated!  and blessings to you dear friend. 

On the Long Arm

Someone asked if I had sewn in the new sewing room yet----yes, I sure have!  It's wonderful!  I sat and put all the borders on Easy Street, pieced the backing and loaded it onto the long arm.  All that took me most of the afternoon. Whew!   This quilt has become much larger than I anticipated, and just barely fits onto my 96" leaders…it's 94" inches square. I sure hope I can keep it rolling evenly with just a tad of space at each side….. the batting and backing are just about even with the quilt top…not a good thing, but I'm thinking when I trim and square it I'll take off about a half inch around the whole quilt. Hopeful here.

I'm using a pantograph, "Fanfare", from Urban Elementz with Lime Green thread. I hope to make some  serious progress today if I don't get caught up in yard stuff.  It's hard to stay indoors when it's so beautiful outside. I have plants waiting to be potted.

"Polly" didn't miss a beat considering she has been sitting idle for months while the sewing room remodel happened and she was stacked with boxes and fabric and books and who knows what else.

Dusted her off, squirted some oil in all the right places, pushed  the "on" switch, and off we went. This really is an amazing machine----and I'm so thankful to have it to finish my quilts.

 Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt---"Easy Street" loaded and starting to quilt  the"Fanfare" pantograph.

Happy Monday everyone!

Easter Wishes

Trigger Finger

(warning medical topic)

I don't normally mention medical issues on my Blog, but the terminology the hand specialist mentioned seems humorous in an odd way and I thought maybe some of my blogger friends had dealt with "Trigger Finger" and could give me some feedback on what they did to resolve this annoying, at times painful, condition. It certainly curtails cutting with scissor or the  rotary cutter. I really didn't realize how important Miss Pinkie is when quilting.

In December the doctor injectected cortisone at the base of right little finger tendon-- Miss Pinkie is the Trigger Finger! :o) She just curls up and does not want to move up, and when she does Miss Pinkie sounds like "snap, crackle, pop"!

It did improve a lot after December, but I think removing all the sewing room stuff and perhaps holding the paint brush, sorting and placing stuff back into the sewing room--- and now dealing with the weeds that grow in leaps and bounds each day may have irritated Miss Pinkie to the point that I needed to see doctor for  another cortisone injection today to relieve some of triggering.  Mornings and evening are the worst.

He suggested surgery if this injection did not help--- of course I would like to avoid surgery if at all possible.

I wonder if acupuncture would be helpful, or special hand exercises. Splint or gloves?  Hand massage or physical therapy?

Sewing Space---Finished!

It's Finished! At last! Yeaaah!  I started packing out stuff from the room(s) late February in preparation for the demolition of the wall between the room on March 6th.  The contractor was wonderful, and everything went well until we hit a snag with delivery of the new sewing furniture.  For three weeks the furniture lingered in a warehouse, or on a truck, back to the company dock, back on a truck and finally last week it arrived…..

(click on any photo to make it larger)

This delivery crew did a great job. 

The Before (1995 to 2014) with some changes (accumulation) over the years. 

The remodeled Sewing Space!
(16' x 13')

Please come in!

Let's Sew!

Cut or press. The cutting table rolls out, and has an extension leaf on the back for larger projects.

The Design wall moved West!

Cubbie storage, files and some stuff I just couldn't part with….

More fabric storage cubbies 

My favorite is this corner table. 

Polly, the long arm remains where she's happiest!---in the living room.



Please come back soon…….
Life is good!

Edit: Questions & Answers.  Yes, originally the sewing room was two small bedrooms. We took down the dividing wall and removed one doorway and closet framing removed. The room now measures 16 x 13 feet. The paint is Benjamin Moore's "Regal" brand. The color is "Rain Drops" with white trim. The flooring is Laminate, not hardwood. The sewing furniture is by Koala. The Ironing Table was built by my husband from a garage sale find. The cubbies are from the Recollection series at Michaels crafts, and also some smaller cubbies from Target.  The blinds are from American Blinds and Wallpaper, an internet company. Ordered online. I don't have a TV in the sewing room as I listen to music or Audio books while sewing.  Design wall is made from two 6 x 4 pieces of foam core type material  from Home Depot covered with Warm and Natural batting rolled and stapled to the back and attached to the wall.  The iron is a Panasonic.  The wall mounted slotted  ruler holder above the cutting storage cabinet is by Clydes Workshop on Etsy.