Retreat Weekend!

Thursday through yesterday (Saturday) I was at a Guild Retreat. The retreat was held in an absolutely beautiful Bed and Breakfast (Butterfly Meadows) outside of Nashville. The Inn Keeper is a quilter, and so they have facilities set up to accommodate quilters. On Saturday I didn't go to bed until about 1:00 A.M.---quilting and laughing and eating and quilting and eating---you know the routine. I got quite a lot accomplished and in fact the proprietors said the group were "fierce" quilters, since we were all on a mission and quilted into the wee hours of the morning. My telephone didn't get reception there, so I had no excuse but to quilt.

I have posted pictures of my main accomplishments. The focus, in addition to working on our own UFO's was a string quilt. Everyone brought at least 50 strings to share and exchange with others (in addition to their own). Posted is 4 squares I put together to see how my quilt would eventually look. I was able to finish 20 blocks. I am beginning each with a light strip down the middle to accent the triangle that will result when the quilt is put together. I am going to make a total of 54 block so I am almost 50% done. I also worked on my Zig Zag quilt. This too is a scrap quilt made from my leftover dyes. I have small amounts left over, unfortunately not always of the same shade, but within the same family. I am not going to worry about "matching" per se, if I have a two fats of blue, I am going to put them together to make a row. As you can see, I have about 1/4th of a quilt done.

The next quilt is the 1600 Quilt which was too much fun to do. You take a jelly roll, sew the ends together (cut off 18 inches of the end strip) and keep joining to make a quilt. The directions are on the web (Google 1600 jelly roll quilt) and you have a completed top within 45 minutes! Depending on the jelly roll, you get some really beautiful results. My quilt is made from a roll I got when they first came out. It had about 35 strips (or maybe 40) and resulted in a 47 x 68 quilt. I am going to put borders on it and give it to a granddaughter. A couple of the ladies had Bali Pops that were really pretty. I think this would be a great quick gift or charity quilt. It was so nice to come away from the retreat with a completed project rather than another UFO. All this quilt needs is some simple quilting and it is done!

All in all I had a great week-end----I must admit though that I am really tired---no sleep, and I know I have gained weight (too many chocolate covered almonds).

Have a blessed Palm Sunday and we'll "talk" later. Hey Diane----only about 9 days to go! Bring a jelly roll and lets make a 1600 quilt on Friday!

xoxo