Retreat Report... Hard Work!!

Retreating is HARD work! Our latest SIL Quilt Retreat was a great success, with each of us accomplishing a lot of sewing, visiting, laughing, and eating.

My accomplishments included making a sunglasses case for my mom, making 8 Wonder Wallets for my niece, and getting the borders on a small wall quilt. I still need to make some wallets for my gift-giving pleasure, but I just could not face another one after doing 8 in one evening.

I did also work on joining rows of the Glorified 9-Patch, but that is proving to be a real BUGGER! I’m thinking now that I should have gone about constructing the rows a little differently, but any way you go about it, there are 12 layers of fabric at each of those intersections and it is really tough to get that to match up and not catch the seam allowances in the stitching. I have about decided that I will indeed have to hand-sew each intersection and then finish the easy part on the machine.

I also found the PERFECT fabric for sashing, setting triangles, and outer borders for the rainbow jelly roll quilt. Where? At Cedar Tree Nest Quilt Shop in Hemphill, TX.

I had bought some other fabric a few weeks ago, but I was not completely happy with it… just not the look I had envisioned for the lively jelly roll diamonds. And then, I forgot that it should NOT be prewashed and threw it in the washer/dryer while washing some other fabric. I did not realize it until several days later that I had made an “Oops!”. Since I could not figure out a way to shrink the already-constructed diamonds without creating a big mess, I decided to look for more fabric. I am SO glad I made that oops! The new fabric I bought will really make this look like I want it to. You might need sunglasses to sleep under this quilt because it will be so bright.

OK… so I am reading your mind and you are thinking, “Kathy, where are the pictures? Please post some pictures so we can see!” I promise I will later in the week… I’m just too worn out to deal with the camera now.

We stayed up into the wee, small hours of the morning (3:30 am) the first night, rose early in the morning to head to TX for the quilt shop outting, and stayed up until midnight the second night. Then we woke up early this morning to get to church in time for the special breakfast for Mother’s Day. We also had a family get-together at my sister's house for lunch and visiting with all my family. My tail is dragging today… but it was worth it all!

So thanks, Mary Anne and Debbie, for another wonderful get-away filled with fun, laughter, food, and lots of sewing!

Kat