Рецепт Quilt Retreat...
It was the best of times...it was the worst of times...going into the woods for a quilting retreat was the best...but leaving the next day, well, it was so very hard! I didn't want to leave, I wanted to stay and light a fire and roast marshmallows and walk in the woods (to look for Sasquatch) and listen to the phone NOT ring and the TV NOT blare...I just didn't want to go home!
Barbara graciously hosted us at her cabin - it's a little piece of Paradise! In western Washington, you can throw a rock and have it land in a forest...Barbara's cabin was almost a stones throw away from our homes - one hours drive East, over Snoqualmie Pass, and we were there...and once there, we wasted no time getting down to work! We spent two days with our machines happily humming along to our constant chatter/chewing...there was as much food as there was fabric!
The views were spectacular, inside and out! I desperately wanted to ride the tire horse, but picturing Barbara explaining to her grandkids that one of her friends broke the horse kept me from taking it for a spin! The weather could not have been more perfect - I know I've said this over and over, but we have had such incredible weather - two months of SUN...that must mean something...like the end is near? (Or, Dad, that Global Warming is real?!?!) Or maybe it means nothing and we've just been undeniably lucky...which reminds me, I have lottery tickets to check! We dined alfresco on taco soup, salad, fresh fruit and corn muffins...sitting at a picnic table, outdoors in the woods with good friends, even a bowl of dirt with a side of rock would have tasted great!
This is Barbara's work-in-progress (WIP)...if you've been on a quilting retreat, then you know how hard it is to talk and sew...I think all of us spent as much time sewing as we did UNsewing - it's hard to keep things straight when you're listening to someone talk about kids/husbands/disasters/trips/shopping/food/etc. Barbara made her chevron quilt using half-square triangles - so no bias to stretch things out and no triangles needed on the sides (see Kareena's WIP below).
Lori finished this great tote, made with The Ghastlies fabric - so, so cute! Lori also worked on a chevron quilt, but I didn't get a picture of it, by the time I thought about it she had it picked up and packed away. I also didn't get a picture of what Janet did while she was there - she cut red fabrics...cut and cut and cut - piles of cut squares - I don't know what she is going to make with all of them but I'm sure it will be fantastic! And I failed to get a picture of Marsha's block...or her Grandmother's Garden project that has been in the works for years...next time!
This is Kareena's WIP...chevron quilts were the theme of our retreat - Kareena made her chevron with rectangles, which resulted in her putting triangles on the sides - a bit risky considering all of the edges are now bias - but I am certain her quilt with not have one wave in it...unlike the quilt pictured below!
This scrappy chevron, a very 1970 looking quilt, belongs to Moi...I haven't added the borders yet so it's very much a WIP, but I love how it turned out. I used the rectangle method, and put triangles on the sides, all bias triangles...long may she wave! I wanted an old-fashioned-looking harvest quilt...in my pretend world I'm going to use this when I have a sit-down dinner for 20 at a long log table in the orchard on my 200 acre farm...I'll probably use it as a tablecloth on the drink table...with bushels of Golden Apples nearby ...as you can tell, I still have my wits about me.
Becca's baby quilt is being pictured, again, because it was not bound in time for her shower, so I brought it along to the retreat, thinking I would bind it at night during one of our "therapy" sessions...but Lady Luck showed up...Marsha sewed the binding on for me! Barbara's son made this cow - he desperately wanted to be in the picture! Thanks Marsha!
This bright and happy quilt is Stephanie's...I know she is going to sew on borders, can't wait to see what her artist mind comes up with! I loved watching her piece this top together, I didn't know Stephanie was such a perfectionist! Turns out, everyone in my quilt group IS a perfectionist...everyone but me!
Because I'm NOT a perfectionist...because I don't press every seam after I sew it, I hardly press at all (and when I did my dear-sweet-quilt-perfectionist-friends took pictures and teased me about my pressing abilities), because I don't worry if blocks are aligned by color, size, shape, because I sew at the speed of sound and don't care if my thread is the wrong color or my points don't match, because I cut 8 to 10 pieces of fabric at time (and I don't press them first!), because I don't care what the backside of my blocks looks like, because of that...I was able to make TWO tops at our retreat...twinners...so I suppose when both are bordered, quilted and bound that I'll use the other quilt on the dessert table at my imaginary orchard feast...wish you could all come! A harvest chevron quilt and a harvest coin quilt...not bad - two tops in two days...being a hack quilter paid off!
I know this is bound to ruffle some feathers...but it's true...once a quilt is washed and dried NONE of those time-wasting steps matter. (What? You thinketh Moi defendeth too much?? Whatevereth! It's my blog, I can sayeth what I want!)
It's great to be a member of a quilt group - and especially great when one of the members invites us to their cabin - Thanks Barbara!! We loved it! Same time next week/month/year???
Happy Birthday to my Dear Dad!! He turns 81 today - and as we all know, 81 is the new 71!!
I know some of you think you have the best dad in the world, but I'm telling you straight - I DO! Dad is always up for an adventure, even if it's just going to Costco - no one enjoys grocery shopping more than my Dad! He got his 2nd Hole-in-One this year and continues to defy the odds of golf with a golf swing that would make a chiropractor drool! Dad only has one known flaw (in my book), he's a fan of Bill O'Reilly, but I can forgive him that, because my dad is nothing if not fair and balanced! Love you Dad!! Wishing you another wonderful 81 years!!