Lutherdale Retreat 2019

I just got back from my annual 5 day sew-fest at Lutherdale.  I don't know what it is, but every year, the time elapses faster and faster.  In the blink of an eye, our retreat was over and it was time to pack up and go home.  I accomplished quite a bit, but of course, I would like to have done even more. Isn't that always the case?

The main project I worked on was starting a new quilt -->I don't have an official name for it yet. Winter Mountains? Steep Mountains? Rugged Mountains? Climb Every Mountain? Alpine Mountains? It is a wedding present for my mountain climbing cousin that has been living in New Zealand for a few years, but is moving back to the US this year.  The blocks are designed by Kristy from Quiet Play.  The layout I am using will be based on something shared on a FB group by @CamilleSews (on Instagram).  I hoped to piece the entire top (ambitous, I know!) during retreat.  The reality was-- those trees are a lot of work!! There are 25 pieces in the small tree and close to that many in the larger one.  It's been taking approximately 2 hours per tree!! Yikes!  I did complete all of the mountain blocks (15) and 1.5 of the 5 pair of trees.  In the last week, I've finished the second pair of trees and completed another pair.  Only 2 more pairs of trees to go!  Woot!  I can't wait to see this come together into a top.

The other main project I worked on was facilitating a group quilt to donate to Lutherdale.  Again-- my inspiration came from something shared on FB.  We cut bright scraps into 2" squares using my Go Baby! cutter.  It's turning out LOVELY!! The sashing will be a light grey and I'll add some more blocks to this throughout the year and have it finished up for next January's retreat.  What to name this?  It's kind of sparkly, jewel-like.  It's scrappy.  It's rainbow.  Hmmmm "Rainbow Sparkly Whatnot"?  Naming quilts is hard! 

The last project I have to share is a simple panel that I added 3 borders to.  This is something I will quilt up with fun doodles and donate to Lutherdale's August auction. I think I'll name it "Seaside Friends"

While at 'Quilt Camp', Mother Nature brought us a fantastic snow storm.  Using a quilting ruler, we measured 8" of snow!  Winter this year has been a bit dodgy and what little snow we have had has melted.  I'm happy to have a layer of white to make winter feel like winter.  The subzero temperatures we are experiencing right now...that's another story!!

I'm already counting down the days until next year's retreat!

xoxo,

Kristin

Linking up with Oh Scrap, Design Wall Monday and Let's Bee Sewcial

Goodnight Irene!!

I've seen this pattern before, but never knew it's name, Goodnight Irene!  I love it!  What fun!



















A few weeks ago, I had an a-ha moment and knew this was the pattern I would use with the leader/ender 4 patch brights I've been accumulating for ages.  Immediately, I started putting the 4 patches together into 16 patches. I had several yards of different solids in my stash. After a bit of auditioning, I selected a bright royal-y blue.

This weekend, I was able to start on the 'X' Blocks.  It took some experimenting with scraps to find out the X-blocks are made using the same size square as my 4 patch!  Did I mention I'm not using a pattern?  For some reason, I thought I would need to add 1/8 of an inch to the corner pieces (like when making 1/2 square triangles).  Nope!  This is a big win, because I bought a Go Baby! cutter specifically to make cutting 2" squares easier. 

This cutter is fantastic and it makes cutting up my scraps a breeze!  It's been a little while since I've cut my scraps into squares, so I spent some time making squares yesterday.  It's super fun!  I would never say that about cutting with a ruler!

Terry is doing a QAL for Goodnight Irene. I'm just a tad bit late to the party. Fashionably late!!

Also, I'm linking up to Design Wall Monday with Judy at Patchwork Times. I'm hoping to have many more X's for next week's link up.