Quilt Retreat Success / Beauties Pageant 217

Earlier this month, I traveled to Kennebunk, Maine, to retreat with the New Hampshire Modern Quilt Guild, a group I’ve been a member of since 2014. We try to retreat twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall, and although we’ve had fun sewing in middle-of-nowhere New Hampshire and Cape Cod, the Maine coastline is my favorite retreat location. We spent the weekend sewing in a huge gymnasium with tons of natural light, only breaking to grab some food or walk down to the beach. 

 

 

I had cut and organized six different projects in preparation for the trip to Maine and, in the end, touched only three of them. That was fine with me—it’s always better to have too much than too little to do when you’re sewing away from home.

 

I dedicated the bulk of my time sewing Pineberry, a pattern by Pen and Paper Patterns. Ignoring my own advice to read patterns through carefully before leaving for retreat, I managed to make several silly mistakes right off the bat. But I pushed through, unsewing and resewing when necessary. I’ll share some Pineberry blocks once I have a few fully sewn.

 

The rest of my weekend was spent finishing my Brightly top (pattern by Cluck Cluck Sew; see the second picture above) and snowballing star points for Patchwork Sky (pattern by Thimble Blossoms; see the first picture above and the one below). The momentum I had built with Patchwork Sky served me well, and I’ve nearly completed the top since returning from Maine.

 

All in all, it was a fun weekend away with friends—we shopped for fabric, caught up with friends, drew inspiration from the projects being sewn around us. I look forward to finishing these projects up and showing you the bound quilts!

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• Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
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• Visit and comment on other participants’ finishes.

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My Secrets to a Fast Finish / Beauties Pageant 216

I am perfectly capable of sewing complicated quilt patterns (anyone remember my Gypsy Wife?!), but there is a special place in my heart for the fast finish. Sometimes the thrill of a particular project is in the challenge of learning a new technique or pushing myself out of my comfort zone. More often than not, however, I find joy in the initial fabric pull. And the more fast finishes I have, the more projects I can sew, and the more fabric pulls I need, right?

My own Irish Twist pattern has become one of my go-to designs when I’m seeking a fast finish. In essence, this pattern is an Irish chain quilt, but thoughtful fabric placement, a whole-composition design, and accommodations for directional fabric bring this beauty into the 21st century.

I made the quilt-making process speedier by sending the project to a longarmer. At 63 inches by 78 inches, this quilt top was bigger than what I like to tackle with my domestic. Plus, the piecing is all squares, and the swirly pantograph I selected softens those lines. (I especially like how the swaths of solid fabric accentuate the quilting design.) And then I machine-finished the binding, because it’s faster than finishing by hand! (Click here for my technique for binding quilts.)

The majority of this quilt top—and every inch of the back—is Heirloom, an old collection by Joel Dewberry for Free Spirit. The back, in particular, was a triumph in using up yardage and scraps. My approach to piecing backs is cut and insert: First, I squared up what remained of that large-scale floral and cut it length-wise. Then I inserted the paisley fabric. The resulting back wasn’t long enough, so I cut it horizontally and inserted that row of squares. (For more on my standard recipe for quilt backs, click here.)

I really enjoyed sewing with Heirloom after all these years of admiring it from afar. And often, that’s enough for me. I got to play with those vibrant colors and transform them into a practical item; I don’t need to keep this quilt for myself. In fact, it’s being donated as part of my guild’s charity efforts. : )

Psst ... A Free Pattern

Meet my Double-Sided Diamond Quilt, a beauty that debuted on Moda Bake Shop forever ago. From one layer cake (and some background and accent fabric), I sewed the big diamonds on the front and the cascade of diamonds on the back.

A newly designed PDF pattern of the Double-Sided Diamond Quilt will go out free to newsletter subscribers later this month. Want to join in? Sign up here. 

If you’re not into newsletters, no worries! The pattern will become part of the Almost Free For Charity series in my Etsy shop. That means you’ll be able to buy it for a too-good-to-be-true price, with proceeds going to charity. No newsletter subscription necessary.

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The pageant rules are simple:

• Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
• Point your readers back here with a text link or use the button above.
• Visit and comment on other participants’ finishes.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Quilty Retreat Prep / Beauties Pageant 215

My guild’s annual spring retreat happens next week in Maine, and I’ve been getting ready for the event for the past few weeks. I approach retreats as more guild socials/sweat shops. I do a lot of catching up with friends and go out for all my meals. When I’m at my machine, I’m go-go-go—it’s more of a time to make progress on many projects and less about tapping into the collective creativity around me.

That being said, I pack several projects, knowing full well I won’t touch them all—the variety helps me make the most of my away-from-home sewing time. My retreat projects generally fall into one of three categories: fast finishes, marathons, and challenges.

Fast finishes are projects that I can bang out in less than a day (think baby quilt tops) or those that are far enough along that I can wrap them up quickly. Checking a fast finish off my list helps propel me into another project. For example, my Brightly blocks (pictured at the start of the post) are completely pieced; I just have to assemble the rows and then sew them into the top. Brightly will come together quickly at the retreat. And my Patchwork Sky (pictured below) is well on its way. I still have to do some piecing, but then it will be smooth run to the finish line.

Marathons are those that require a lot of mindless chain piecing. I won’t start and complete one at retreat, but I can make good progress on several. So, when I’m bored of snowballing a hundred pieces for one project, I can move on to sewing the nine-patches for another. I have three of these ready to go: Legendary (by Elizabeth Hartman), Pineberry (by Pen and Paper Patterns), and my own Irish Twist.

A challenge or two helps keep things interesting. I have prepared many blocks from the Bonnie and Camille Quilt Bee Sampler to that end. It’s not that these are hard blocks; they’re all different and will require some effort from me to sew. I cut everything and bagged the components for each block in a separate plastic bag. When I want to work on something interesting while on retreat, this is the project I’ll reach for.

All of that aside, I think the most important thing for me to do in preparation is to read through each pattern, make sure I will have everything I need on hand, and cut out all the fabric in advance. After a few days of socializing and staying up later than I should, it’s best—for me and for my projects—that I steer clear of my rotary blade!

Do you have any advice from your own retreat experiences? I welcome the wisdom!

 

* * *

The pageant rules are simple:

• Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
• Point your readers back here with a text link or use the button above.
• Visit and comment on other participants’ finishes.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter