Getting There!

This morning we had a little treat in the backyard. No, not more snow....migrating swans!

 There wasn't good light for taking photos, but I did the best that I could.

There were a few ducks swimming around with the swans.

There were a few over this way too. They were honking at each other.
Mr. Moosebay, who happens to be a bit hard of hearing, thought there were dogs barking.

Aside from the swan honking, it was so quiet on the bay.
 Most of the houses are vacant until next spring.

The blocks and border are all sewn together, the binding has been prepared,
and the top is loaded onto the quilting machine!!

Retreat:Works in Progress

I'm sharing a few photos of some of the works in progress at retreat. I wish I had been able to get pictures of everyone's projects--they were all so awesome. Since we have a huge space, we lay out our blocks on the floor near where we are working. These are just a few of the quilts being worked on in my "area" of the room, taken during leg stretching breaks!

Carol was working on this quilt.
I believe it will be a QOV--almost everything she does at retreat  goes to Quilts of Valor.

You can see she is using up LOTS of scraps! 

Jane was working on this fun quilt. Her quilts are SO happy!

Happy, scrappy! 

Bunny cut her leaves with a scrapbook cutting die. So charming!
I love the little fairies dancing inside the mushroom circle.

Cindy's quilt was inspired by the blue sky peeking through the colorful autumn leaves.

This is Jan's work in progress--some very complicated piecing!

 Lydia's cute quilt here is just about finished.

I believe this is Bev's top--totally gorgeous! I liked that there was one twisted block,
but I think she decided to change that.

Perfect piecing and a great mix of repro fabrics! We all wanted to get the pattern for ourselves. 

I made this photo really big so you could actually see the teeny tiny bow-ties that Miriam and Nancy were working on. They both need to make thousands of these little sweeties for their quilts. These are Miriam's.

There are more retreat photos to come! 

Sewing Setbacks

I haven't been able to sew a thing for the last three days and I'm feeling a little stressed about it. I am SO anxious to start on something new, but I'm trying to stay focused to finish my A Bountiful Life completely instead of sticking the quilt top into a tub to await the actual quilting. There isn't anymore room in that tub!

Before I was on my forced sewing hiatus, I managed to figure out what I wanted to do on my top (and only) border. I traced out elements from my first block onto Pattern Eze so I would have a placement guide. I only did half of the width, then folded the Pattern Eze and traced the other half so they matched. Since I used parts of a block that I had already appliqued, I had all the freezer paper templates already made and just had to choose my fabrics and start starching--that was a huge time saver! 

See that fabric in the background? I found it in my tub of backing fabrics that I purchase in massive amounts when I find them on sale. Amazingly, it is a Jo Morton fabric--perfect for this quilt!! 

The last three days have been wasted  spent test-driving cars, traveling (in a snow storm)  to the Minneapolis area (Eden Prairie) to purchase the car, learning to use the car's Sync and Nav system (I am going to need a 9 year old child to show me how to do a lot of this), and transferring title, etc. to the gal who bought my old car. Whew! I'm glad all of that is done with. It's all so time consuming and it doesn't help when Mr. Moosebay and the sales people at the dealership start trading car stories to prolong the torture. Yawn.  We did have a wonderful sales person though, and if you are in the market for a Ford, let me know and I'll hook you up--lol!

More retreat photos coming soon!!

A Bountiful Block of Circles!

My final block of my abbreviated version of A Bountiful Life is ready to trim up. I think this may be my favorite block.
I know, I say that about all of them! I have loved working on this quilt, I have to say.

There is something strange about this block, though. This is how it is positioned in the original quilt. 

I think that what happened to the original quilt maker was something that happens to me ALL the time:

"Oh bother!

 I do believe that I have quite mistakenly sewn my block into my quilt not quite correctly."

 Well, that's how she may have said it--I would have used a bit stronger language, myself ! 

I am going to put my grapevine block into my quilt like this:

There, doesn't that look better? 

There were a LOT of circles in this block (and in some of the others, too!). I really don't mind doing circles since I got my hands on the Karen Kay Buckley Perfect Circles. I purchased mine from my local quilt shop and I'm sure if yours doesn't carry them, they would be happy to order them for you. By the way, this is my personal endorsement--I'm not being paid to say this: I just love them! 

This is how the Perfect Circles are packaged. There are several of each size made from heat resistant plastic. I would say the smallest is about 3/8" and the largest is 2".They come with the ring clip to keep them from escaping--trust me, they are slippery little devils and try to run away!

 Cut a square of fabric about a quarter inch larger all around and then snip off the corners

Using a  heavy thread, stitch all around within the seam allowance with tiny stitches.

Gather up the stitches around the plastic Perfect Circle and knot  it tightly.

Spray some heavy starch into the can cap and, using a Q-tip, saturate the entire fabric circle.Allow it to  sit for a minute or so to let the starch really soak in, then press the circle until it's completely dry.

When the fabric is completely dry, just snip one of the basting stitches and remove the plastic Perfect Circle. There is no need to remove the stitching thread.
 TIP: I iron freezer paper to my pressing surface to protect it--you can see my paper is well used! When you are ready to remove the freezer paper, warm it a little with your iron to make it easier to peel off of the ironing board.
I know, mine is disgusting! Just think if that was my unprotected ironing surface.

Tada!! Here is a perfect circle. How easy was that???

On to the border of A Bountiful Life!!

Linking to Podunk Pickin's HERE

Making Progress at Retreat

I'm getting near the end of my mini version of A Bountiful Life. 

Before I left for retreat, I managed to finish up one more block AND get the all nine of the finished blocks trimmed to size.

I'm not sure what those wings on the urn are supposed to be--a Stag-horn fern maybe?

I sewed the nine finished blocks together while I was at retreat. 

Hmmm....maybe I should just make a square quilt? 

Too late, since I already had the final three blocks prepared to applique. 

One thing I really wanted to get done was the table runner background I need to have ready for my Kim Diehl machine applique class I am taking in November. Once that was out of the way, I felt a lot better.The squares in the center will be covered with appliqued flowers, so I didn't worry about matching the rest of my fabrics.

I spent the rest of retreat appliqueing my A Bountiful Life blocks and managed to finish up two more blocks! I'm getting SO close--I can see the end in sight!

Bountiful Fruit!

These are "red-winged blackbirds in blue".

I wasn't the only one working on applique at the retreat. These are some of Sandi's blocks, and they are spectacular! She is using true needle turn applique to do Blackbird Design's Bird of a Feather quilt. 

Sandi's background is from the Mary's Muslin line by Windham #26599--gorgeous!!

Hot Hexies

I think everyone knows that hexagons are the hottest things going right now. There was some hexie love going on at retreat. Check out these fun quilts:

Hexagons of all sizes!
 Cindy's cute table topper (upper left)  is from the latest issue of Quilts and More.
Terry was working on a version that can be machine pieced in rows (lower left).
My cousin Barb made the English Paper Pieced wall hanging on the right

This is Terry's quilt a little further along.  The size really shows off the fun fabrics.

Terry has information on the ruler she is using to cut her hexagons at her blog Notes from Terry Ann

Barb's amazing quilt is made with 3/8 inch hexagons. Check out the fussy cut half diamond in the upper left corner!

A close-up of some of the diamonds.

More retreat photos to come soon!!

Linking up to Help for Hexie-aholics at Sara Did It 

Green Lake Retreat

I got back from retreat today and have a lot of fabulous Show and Tell stuff that I will share as soon as I do a little photo editing.

In the meantime, this is a shot of Green Lake in Spicer, MN where the retreat takes place. 

We had some wonderful weather! Our sewing tables overlook the lake.

Somehow, I almost always end up in Room 101, AKA: The Scary Jesus Room. 

The room gets it's name reputation because of this picture that hangs in the room.
I'm not sure if he is that scary. I think he looks a little disappointed, myself.

The most important day of the retreat is Monday. After dinner, we have Show and Tell.  It  is awe inspiring and I can't wait to show some of the wonderful quilts that were shown soon. 

BUT:

This is what's in store if you don't have any Show and Tell:

Yes, you will be doomed to do the hokey pokey. You can bet that I will be sure to
always have some Show and Tell to share!