Quilting Fever: September 2007

What happens to the quilts when we bring them home ...

Once I got home from the Sept 2007 retreat today, I hauled all of my quilting stuff back up to the sewing room. During the retreat, I put the binding on three lap-sized quilts that I made for snuggling under while watching TV, and made the Bears pillowcase to be used for the same purpose. So while I was hauling the rest of the piles upstairs, I tossed two of the lap quilts over the back of the sofa, and put the pillowcase on the pillow. Libby Jean immediately adopted these "new" items and has been sleeping there for the past 2 hours!

Sarah and Sharon, Sept 2007 - UPDATED!

This is the only work-in-progress photograph that I took during all 4 days! (I think we all have a tendency to be so busy at our sewing machines, that we never look up long enough to get out the camera unless somebody is announcing that they finished a project.) Although Sarah worked like a machine to get piles of blocks done, I never got a photo of them. Sharon was sitting at the machine next to me, Sarah is on the other side of Sharon, Carole's mom Sandy is in the left background, and Carole's sister Molly is in the middle background.

UPDATE: Sharon took some work-in-progress photos plus a picture of Sarah's blocks, so now I can add these to the blog! Thanks, Sharon!

Jari's projects, Sept 2007

Jari arrived at the September 2007 retreat with her Lady of the Lake quilt center all finished. She added the mitered borders, and the effect is beautiful. Jari also assembled the blocks of a "foldy" offset Log Cabin lap quilt -- that is a project I am going to have to try. Much of the retreat was spent creating one-of-a-kind handbags, and unfortunately, I didn't get a photo of any of them!

Jorjan's projects, Sept 2007

Jorjan came to the September 2007 retreat with some show-and-tell for us to see: a stunning Blooming Nine-Patch, a hand-pieced Grandmother's Flower Garden, and a Twisted Bargello. In between work on a Eureka quilt (purples and greens), she also worked on blocks for a Drunkard's Path.

Sue's projects, Sept 2007

I have been hauling around the fabric (already cut!!) for this Christmas Tree Skirt for about 5 retreats now. I started with this projects on the first day of the September 2007 retreat, and finished it on the second day. I also made a Bear pillowcase and put the bindings on a couple of other quilts and this wall hanging. I also finished the blocks for another lap-sized quilt. (The gorgeous purple-green blocks are Jorjan's.)

Carole's stripey, strippey quilt, Sept 2007

Carole has been working on this stripey, strippy quilt for quite a while -- a really long time, if you count the number of times the bag of fabric came to a retreat without being cut! (We've all done that!) Carole finished piecing the top at the September 2007 retreat, and it has already been shipped off to the longarm quilter. Very cool indeed!

Wedding quilt for Bethany, May 2007

I made this paper-pieced wall hanging for my secretary Bethany, who got married in May 2007 -- and of course, she had to pose with the quilt!

A Turning Twenty Again quilt for a friend, April 2007

I made this jewel-toned quilt for my good friend Annette, and finished the piecing at the April 2007 retreat. Annette has also been the "babysitter" for my critter kids for many years now, and if it weren't for her, it would be very difficult for me to get to a quilting retreat!

Mom's first two quilts, Sept 2007

Mom worked on the blue and black Turning Twenty Again quilt at the April 2007 retreat, and finished it this summer. She's just gotten it back from the longarm quilter. This was mom's first quilt since she was 10 years old. Her second quilt used the same pattern, this time without the sashing to break up the blocks, and she finished this one at the September 2007 retreat. Once this one was assembled, mom started working on a 4-Patch Stacked Posies (like a stack-and-whack) in burgundy and green.

Rita's samples, Sept 2007

Rita stopped by on Thursday night of the retreat to show off a few projects (one still in-progress). Absolutely beautiful work!

Sandy's Puzzle Quilt, Sept 2007

Sandy started this project in November 2006 at a retreat down here in Austin MN, and finished it up this summer. The pattern starts out with a fully-completed quilt top and border, and then you use a template to cut shapes from the quilt top, and sew the shapes back together in the same order you cut them out. The result is a puzzle quilt, and it is really striking. (Sandy, don't you dare try to cut out and replace any of these blocks!!)

Molly's quilt, Sept 2007

You know how you take a ton of pictures, and then get home and realize you forgot to take certain photos? This is one of those times. Carole, her sister Molly, her mom Sandy, and her niece Sydney all worked every day in the September 2007 retreat to assemble strips for Molly's quilt. It is going to be king-sized, and they got about a third of the blocks done. I didn't remember to take any pictures of the sewers with this one! Carole was quite the task master while she directed the piecing and sewing -- Molly referred to their sewing area as "Carole's Sweatshop". Despite the frequent admonitions to use "only one red strip in any section" and not to "sew the same colors next to each other," we think this quilt will be gorgeous once it is finished. Might take a few more retreats to get there though . . . !

Caitlin's Quilts, April 2007

Caitlin "found" quilting in January 2007 when she came to her first retreat. She started on the center of this Northern Lights quilt then, and finished both it and this Atkinson floating star at the April 2007 retreat. Although the Northern Lights quilt was a kit, Caitlin gets full credit for choosing the fabrics on the floating star. She has a great sense of color.

Unfortunately, her school and work schedule didn't allow her to come to the September 2007 retreat.

Sydney, the Newest and Youngest Quilter! April 2007, Sept 2007

Sydney started her quilting experiences in April 2007 also. She sewed a rag quilt, and Caitlin helped her cut the fringes (they finished about 3 in the morning). In April, Sydney also made this adorable horse wall hanging. When the September 2007 retreat time came around, she helped out with Molly's quilt, and made two more wall hangings (a dog and a cat) to memorialize two pets that she recently lost. Great job, Sydney!

Sharon's very first quilt! April 2007 to Sept 2007

This is Sharon's very first quilt, and she did an outstanding job. She started the piecing in April 2007 at a retreat, came to my house this summer for another day of sewing, and added the borders and pieced the back during the September 2007 retreat.