Wow , Retreat was Amaze, Amaze, Amaze

 Yes, I'm naming my post with yet another movie quote.

 Can you guess where it's from?

It is from one of the latest "save the world" movies, 

"The Hail Mary project".

Those three words sum up my retreat wonderfully.

The 4-day format was great.

The time away from home was a bit long but,

the world didn't end while I was gone

and nothing fell apart so all  was good.

Lots of projects were moved forward.

The result is that I'm farther behind in my quilting!

Behind probably isn't the appropriate 

word since everything I do is self-directed.

That's the great thing about not having a job,

all my deadlines are self-imposed!

So here are some of the finishes from retreat.

First, I buzzed through the two 

string projects I'd kitted up.

This was the layout for number one,

and the finished product is pretty close.

Number two had the lattice in a different direction

It finished off nicely.

Then I moved on to an I spy quilt.

The feature squares were sorted into groups of 6 unique stacks. 

Each square was 5" and I had 79 per bunch.

Stitching together the squares makes a nice quilt 

and finishes at 35" x 40".

I wanted to make them larger 

with either borders or lattices.

An alternate square is a good idea also, 

but I really wanted to maximize the use of feature squares .

A dive into Pintrest yielded a hexagon style

 so I precut two of those.

I spy fabrics really seem to self-multiply.

The problem is when buying a WOF of a nice design,

you end up with five different pieces that you can use.

Now you have enough for five quilts!

There is also that strange quilter thing that happens.

If you say it you need blue jeans for a project,

suddenly bags or boxes of blue jeans appear on your porch. 

One stitching buddy requested 

a piece of orange from her friends for her birthday.

Now she has enough for four orange Queen size quilts.

Quilters just seem to be generous!

As soon as I started working on the I spy,

 I got four more pieces of I-spy fabric!

 Everyone seems to be carrying them 

 like a basic quilting Supply.

Anywho, here is the work on the hexie I Spy. 

First, I start adding two opposing triangles to the hexies.

Then laid out  the rows and filled in 

all the remaining triangles.

Next, the sides of the quilt. needed finishing.

Every other row needed to have the 

finishing hexis trimmed to match

the desired width of the quilt.

Depending on the construction, 

they will not be cut into exact halves so don't pre-cut them.  

Trim only after you've pre-fit them into the edge of the quilt.

I pinned the edge blocks roughly to the correct size 

and trimmed after the rows were sewn together.

The extra triangles from the cutoffs 

can be reclaimed for other projects.

Ta Da!!

Lots more to come!  

Stay Safe and Sew On!

Linking up with :

Sew & Tell

Monday Musing

Design Wall Monday

SrSPS

Wait Loss Wednesday

To Do Tuesday

More Retreat Fun I Spy

 Always more to show so here is 

another I Spy from this lovely fall retreat!

Remember the piles of 79 feature fabric squares?

Well, the basic sew everything together is great,

but I wanted something a bit larger with adding borders.

First I made four patches out of the 5" feature squares.

I laid them out on a portable design wall,

and started adding frames.

The process of choosing the strips and making the 

frames was oddly satisfying.  

My Consulting Group, (other attendees)

suggest making it bigger so I added more.

I found the frames from the massive pile of scraps that we

built from all the attendees.

The organizer planted some starters and  

the rest of us just piled things on. It was awesome. 

After all the frame squares were complete

rearrange them to spread out the colors. 

Then they were joined up  and  

finished into a lovely 55" x 66" top.

We even had time to start another by raiding the other 

bundles to make a 16 frame baby quilt ( still in progress).

Have fun with the I Spy!

Sew Away Preparation

 Yes,I'm getting ready for the 

first sew away of the season.

Most of you know it as Retreat 

but I think sew away is similar to  

sail away and sounds like fun!

I love boating (really large boats),

so it makes it even more exciting.

It's time to dig out the UFOs and

organize the projects for easy sewing at Retreat!

The first one I found was a rainbow scrap project 

made  of color family blocks of two rows of coins.

I have a top waiting on the rack, 

made out of three 4 1/2" columns.

I'm calling this one a twosy.

There are lots of blocks ready

So up they go on the design wall!

Here are the nice bright colors of the first five rows.

My favorite size of 84" by 84" requires 

7 rows down in 11 blocks across.

A simalar top was  on a blog a few weeks ago , 

but the credit remains elusive! 

 I will update the post 

when it surfaces. 

So this lovely is now all clipped into rows and

packed up for transport! 

I have a few more projects packed up so now I am:

sorting threads,

winding bobbins, 

prepping my featherweight sewing box, 

and oiling the featherweight!

Now it is just coordinating travel and loading the cars!

Stay Safe and Sew on!

Linking up with :

Sew & Tell

Monday Musing

Design Wall Monday

SrSPS

To Do Tuesday

Wednesday Wait Loss

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Patchwork & Quilts

Still Finding More (pun intended)

 Well the hits just keep on coming.

I've done quite a few I Spy quilts and 

I still have fabric remaining!

So I'm continuing to do the simple pattern 

of putting rows of blocks together.

There are five sets of blocks ready for retreat.

They are turning out a nice size.

The 7 x 9 block tops finish out at 32" x 41".

Here is a comparison between 

just the blocks sewn together,

and a top with a border added.

I like the look of both. The border does 

increase the size a few inches.

The tops will be stitched together at retreat. 

I can make a decision on adding borders to

enlarge them or to just quilt them as is.

A dive into the depths of Pintrest has 

given me more options.  I will pack up some solids or reads as 

and possibly change up a few of the layouts to add interest!

A brightly colored binding might spice them up enough.

Here is a little one my GS laid out.

Lots of bunnies and even a happy little yellow fella!

This one was made with leftovers

 from the 5 and 1/2 in blocks.

There 4" x 6" bricks

with a sashing between.

The binding along the top and bottom 

will frame it nicely.

Still more fabrics to use!

Sorting out the leftovers made even more squares! 

Lots  of stripes and chunks too. Yikes!

I'm excited to see how they will all turnout.

Stay safe and so on!

Linking up with :

Sew & Tell

Monday Musing

Design Wall Monday

SrSPS

To Do Tuesday

Wait Loss Wednesday

Finished or Not Friday

Put Your Foot Down

I Quilted This

Off the Wall Friday

String Square Overflow

 It is time to get back in the groove and 

get some stitching organized. Zoom meeting 

tonight so lots of time to stitch. 

Remember that big bag project?

Well, it is full of string blocks of varing sizes

that really need a purpose.  So....

Out they all come to get and 

measured up. 

There are 7 sizes. 

Most are 8 1/2" (18) and 6 1/2" (27).

The 18  8 1/2" can go together to make a 32" x 32" top. 

Three more can be made from the oversized blocks,

bringh the top up to  32" x 42" . 

The 27  6 1/2" will make a 5 x 5 block top.

Three more of the larger blocks will get a trim down 

and enlarge it to a 5 x 6 block top. 

The binding bin was pulled out 

to add some sashing and 

a long piece of black was put into service. 

The sashing will add interest and 

divide the quilt into sections.

Quartets of blocks will point inward and

 the remaining blocks will zigzag across the quilt.

The top from the 6 1/2" blocks will get dark green sashing.

It looks quite dark in the pictures

but it is a nice dark green

Now they are all boxed up and ready to go off to retreat!

Monday Musing

Design Wall Monday

Sew & Tell

To Do Tuesday

Wait Loss Wednesday

Always a Change Up

 Well, things don't always go as planned.

I'm using the pattern from one top that's already complete

to lay out another top.

Unfortunately, I covered half of the first top with the backing.

When I was ready

to stack the blocks for the second top,

I realized I couldn't see the pattern to lay out.

Everything was thrown in the heap and the original

completed top moved to the design wall. 

The second top was then laid out without error.

Certainly made more work for myself.

I am now working in my temporary sewing room,

while we're away helping with child care.

I even have two sewing assistances.

What is it with cats and sewing machines?

This good buddy wanted to check out all the pins and the workings.

The other a tuxedoed twin decided

 to sit nearby, supervise

and obviously judge a bit.

I do have to police scraps and threads quite well. 

These cats live in a house without sewers.

I really didn't want an eaten pin or a swallowed 

ball of thread while the regular cat servants are away.

Now back to the sewing. 

The rows were numbered and then 

 picked up and stacked for easy tansport.

The blocks were all stitched up into rows,

then the rows sewed in twos.

Stitch them all together, 

and the top is complete!

Now to get them pinned and quilted up.

Stay Safe and Sew on!

Linking up with:

Monday Musing

Design Wall Monday 

Sew & Tell

To Do Tuesday 

Wait Loss Wednesday

Put Your Foot Down

I Quilted This

Finished or Not Friday

Off the Wall Friday

Bolt to Beauty

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Patchwork & Quilts

Oh Scrap

Stash Report

Stitching Stuff

What are P.I.G.S. ?

 

We quilters seem to just love acronyms.

P.I.G.S. as many of you know, is Projects In Grocery Sacks !

I seem to have projects in every kind of sack.

Here are flannels shirts bits in a store bag featuring paw prints.

Another is in a batting bag.

One big project is in a reusable shopping bag.

The project featured today 

came to me in a grocery bag!

It was given to a friend who in

turn gifted it to me since 

there was no pattern in the bag.

This assortment of fabrics

with almost half made into

this basic block.

There  appears to be enough fabric 

for two twin size quilts.

One will use all of the same color gray.

 The next will have a variety of gray using pieces from the first 

top and some additional gray that was in the bag.

Here is the first.

I did add an additional row

and call him after it came off the design wall.

It will finish 62 by 71.

This is just about the perfect size for 

a twin bed with great coverage on the sides.

I decided to use the first top as a pattern for the second.

Working late into the night. I ended up repeating

 one of the rows so it needed a redo that the next morning.

The second top will be stitched up 

while I'm away from home for a few days.

I was gifted some nice hefty gray flannel 

that will be perfect for the backs on these two tops.

It shouldn't be long before these 

two twin tops are ready for gifting.

Stay safe and Sew on!

Linking up with:

Monday Musings

Design Wall Monday

Handmade Monday

Sew & Tell

To Do Tuesday

SrSPS

I Quilted This

Put Your Foot Down

Design Wall Friday

TGIFF

Finished or Not Friday

Bolt to Beauty

Stash Report 

Stitching Stuff

Life In Pieces

Oh Scrap

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Patchwork & Quilts