Long Time, No Blog Post

Quilty friends, hello! I haven’t popped in, in a month and wanted to give you all proof that I’m still here and sewing. Blogging is a blessing and a curse. I’m thankful for the friends I’ve met and the skills I’ve learned through it, but it is a time suck. And what does my blogging time cut into? My sewing time, of course.

So since I last blogged I’ve been doing a lot of sewing and quilting. I’d love to share the highlights—and corresponding pretty pictures—with you.

First off, I helped my guild, the New Hampshire MQG, wrap up a charity project we were working on. This post, over at the guild’s site, will fill you in on all the details. What I’ll tell you here is that the design is by Krista Hennebury, a Canadian quilter and designer, and it is a great scrap buster.

It can be hard to find a good group quilt project. If you choose one with a lot of special cutting or matching seams, you could be in for a big headache. This one worked out well. A guild mate and I handed out scraps from the guild’s stash, asking sewers to supplement with their own scraps, so there was zero precision cutting up front. Then, when piecing the leaves into rows, we strove to get the green stems to match up between the blocks. Inconsistencies that existed elsewhere in the leaves—which is what happens when you have a bunch of people working on the same project, right?—were rendered undetectable. Yahoo!

Also, I had the pleasure of venturing to Cape Cod with my guild for our annual fall retreat (we also retreat in Maine in the spring). I hadn’t been on a guild retreat in a while, and a weekend with my friends was just what I needed.

I spent a good chunk of that weekend working on a second Christmas tree quilt. (Check out my first one here.) I also pieced two baby quilts, which are in the process of being quilted and bound, and scored some awesome swag: two of Latifah Saafir’s Clammy templates.

Surely that was enough to make for a fabulous weekend and worthwhile retreat. However, my guild mates and I also enjoyed a trunk show with Melissa Averinos. I know Melissa’s work well, but seeing it in person is a different experience. Pictures don’t capture the texture of layer upon layer of fabric or the subtle low volumes she uses or the intricate detail of her piecing and applique.

The retreat was just a few weeks ago, and I am already raring to go again!

Are you active in a local guild? I am thankful for the NHMQG! If you haven’t hooked up with an organization near you, I recommend checking it out and considering getting involved with the planning, programming, and meeting execution. You’ll get so much more out of the experience! After two years of serving on the board, I am stepping down, mainly because my whackadoodle family life makes attending nighttime meetings difficult. I am still plotting ways to contribute, though. Right now, I’m thinking of reviving some past programs, like organizing a monthly fabric swap or a designing a guild T-shirt. : )

Linking up to Finish It Up Friday ...