Sew Outta Here

I can't believe another BostonMQG retreat has come and gone!  After 8 years I've learned that cutting on retreat is a bad plan.  I am much better at just sewing or quilting.  That said, I may have gone a bit overboard with the retreat prep...  I started with my March Shimmer Block-a-Long blocks and then dug back in to my Liberty stack for a quilt I've been meaning to make for ages.  That probably would have been enough but with too much energy on a snowy day I started picking fabrics for zipper bags.  Of course you can't make just one and I kept finding fabric combos I loved so somehow I ended up with six.

I started with the zipper bags as a warm-up.  I only got two done before I got bored making them but it was a nice low pressure way to start things off between conversations and cocktails.

The next day I got right to work on my top priority, my March Shimmer blocks.  These aren't hard but they are a bit more fiddly than I anticipated and it took me most of the day to make all four.

Of course that may have been because I spent way too much time socializing and then there was that horrible moment when I realized I was missing 1 square.  Fortunately I also had my prepped April blocks so I could swap.

With those out of the way, I did my guild duty and paper pieced this cute block for this year's charity quilt.  I love how this one is going to come together, I may have to steal this idea for myself!

Finally with all my "obligation" sewing out of the way I let myself start something new.  I'm so in love with this combination of Kaffe Fassett smoky shot cotton with Liberty Tana Lawns from the Westwood Acres bundle of the month club.  10 hearts down and only 30 left to go but for now it's back to reality.

Go Sew

I always seem to lose my sewjo in the beginning of the year but the one thing that never fails to get it back is the annual BostonMQG retreat.  I am continually inspired by this insanely creative group of women!

My first priority was to make the Dresden Plate centers for the quilt I started on retreat in 2015.  Sewing white on white circles is definitely an activity best performed while fresh and sober.  Before dinner I was able to get all of these made and the binding for this quilt done.  I've finished hand quilting around the plates so I can almost see the finish line for this one.

Poor planning on my part, I usually like to bring a mix of different things to work on but this was the year of the HST.  3 different projects made using 3 different techniques.  I'm using the rest of these china blue fabrics and white linen to make broken dishes blocks.  This 8 at a time method for making HSTs is perfect for these blocks.

Saturday under threat of being shunned I made an ocean waves block for our latest charity quilt.  I am now addicted to Eva Paige's genius technique for accordion sewn scrappy HSTs.  Seriously, this will change your life!!!

With my social status in the guild ensured I moved onto another project...  the guild HST challenge.  I finally broke into my long hoarded stack of Tana Lawns I've amassed with the help of Westwood Acres Liberty Club.  Paired with a Kaffe Fassett shot cotton this top is as light as a feather.

Before retreat was done I was able to finish this Spoolish flimsy.  Now to get it basted and quilted.

Sometime's the hardest part of getting started is just deciding what to do but with so many projects almost at the finish line I'm excited to get back to my studio and finish these up.

Off to sew with this week's Finish it Up Friday by Crazy Mom Quilts.

W.i.P. Wednesday: Retreat Recap

This weekend was the BostonMQG's annual retreat in Kennebunk Maine.  It just doesn't get any better than a weekend away with this awesomely talented group of women.  I always come home brimming with ideas and wishing I could spend a whole week.

My main goal was to finish piecing my Snake Trail top.  I got off to a slow start but eventually worked out my issues and got my rows to go together.

 I played around with layouts and diverged a bit from Denyse Schmidt's original design.  By dinner time I had a flimsy together.

And since it's more fun to baste with friends I stayed up late to get this one ready to quilt.  No surprise I didn't actually pack enough thread for quilting but it's ready to go.

With that accomplished I wasn't really up for tackling my next project but Alexis generously shared a Kaffe Fassett shot cotton charm pack.  With no real plan in mind I just started making half and quarter square triangles.  I love the way these fabrics work together...  we'll see what this becomes,  hopefully a mini for our upcoming Quilt Show.

Now it's back to reality but I've got a quiet week so I'm hoping to keep my quilt mojo going!

Sew Together

I'm not going to lie, I spent more time socializing than sewing at this year's BostonMQG retreat.  It really is just more fun to sew together;-)

In the end I was able to check off all of my highest priority items...  the things that are really more fun to do with friends.  I quilted Let It Go, basted Spellbound, got started piecing my Briar Rose bundle, and thanks to the awesome Aimee got my maxis hemmed.  Best of all I finished up my Sew Together Bag.

I pulled these fabrics to coordinate with my Sewing Circle Tote.  I did an exhaustive search for tips, most of which boil down to follow the Quilt Barn Sew-A-Long.  Just be cautious before you check out the Flickr group or you'll never be able to choose your fabrics:-)  Seriously, I think that was the hardest part of this project.

This bag does have 4 zippers so if you're phobic after this you'll either be cured or traumatized for life.  I did use Amanda Jean's modifications for the zipper ends.  If I did it again I would finish my zippers to 9" rather than 8 3/4".  I felt there was a little extra room but this adds a polished finish to the bag and is an excuse to sneak one more fabric into the mix.

I was hoping to have this finished in time to take to retreat but only made it thru Step 4.  Lucky for me, this pic was last week's Hawthorne Threads WIP It winner.  Thanks Charlie & Lindsay!!!

For some reason I could not grasp how to assemble the final zipper tabs but with a several experienced Sew Together sewists on hand I was finally able to figure it out and even won at bobbin chicken:-)

I can't wait to go away again so I can put it to good use:-)

Sewing along with this week's Finish it Up Friday by Crazy Mom Quilts and another finish for Q1 of  the 2016 Finish Along.

W.i.P. Wednesday: Here We Go...

It seems counterintuitive but I've been sewing like a maniac to get ready for our 6th annual Boston MQG retreat.  I've been busy making gifts for my BQFs (Shhh, don't tell!) and I wanted to make a Sew Together Bag to match my Sewing Circle Tote.  I almost succeeded...  finishing this will be my first order of business.

I like to quilt things on retreat.  It's a safe(er) post-cocktail hour activity and it goes faster with friends.  This week I whipped up this watercolor quilt with leftover blocks from Keeping It Together Again.  It's basted and ready for some FMQ swirls and I've got my Tula Pink Houndstooth ready to go.

I've also got a few ideas for piecing new things planned...

I spotted a bolt of this Going Coastal plaid at Fabric Place Basement at our last guild meeting and snapped it up to back a project with this bundle.

And it's probably a good time to break into this Briar Rose bundle...  a little fix to tide me over until my Mendocino pre-order arrives;-)

Somehow it's become a tradition for me to hem my latest maxi acquisitions on retreat so I threw in what I expect will be this summer's uniform...  if I'm lucky the absolutely awesome Aimee will serge them for me again.

I never actually finish everything I bring with me on retreat but I'd hate to run out of things to do:-)  What's your quilt retreat strategy?

W.i.P. Wednesday: In Stitches

This year I got perfect weather for driving up to Kennebunk for the Boston MQG's annual retreat.  As usual I planned way more than I could ever accomplish but for me the weekend is really more about spending time with an incredibly talented group of amazing artists.

I kicked off the weekend assembling these blades in to Dresden plates.  Perfect mindless piecing that doesn't get in the way of conversation.

I was getting pretty bored with these towards the end but I pushed through so now I have 16 plates ready for a background.  

The competition was fierce in the zipper challenge but I scored this awesome Zipit zipper and Cotton + Steel linen prize pack.  I'm loving my newest Noodlehead Open Wide Zip Pouch!

Saturday morning I basted my Central Park quilt that I pieced last year on retreat, another task that goes much faster with company.  Maybe I'll finally quilt it at next year's retreat:-)

From there I switched back to piecing with these snowball blocks.  I seem to be better at starting projects on retreat but hopefully I can ride the inspiration high and finish these up.

And as an added bonus my fabulous friend Aimee brought her serger AND serged the bottom of my new maxi Lilly dress so it's hemmed and ready for Spring (if it ever arrives).  It doesn't get any better than this!!!

Joining up with this week's W.i.P. Wednesday:-)

W.i.P. Wednesday: Next Stop, Kennebunk!

My bags are packed and I'm ready to leave tomorrow morning for this year's Boston MQG retreat.   Even though it's never happened I'm always worried I'll run out of things to do with all my sewing time so I've been stockpiling projects to take with me...

My Dresden blades are all turned and pressed and ready to stitch into plates.  

A very good friend asked if I would make her a Preppy the Whale mini for her nursery so I've got these fabrics pulled for that.

And I'm going to try to turn this Sunkissed layer cake into the Strawberry Fields quilt from Material Obsession.  Thank goodness I made a test block so I realized there are mistakes in the pattern and I didn't have enough fabric for all of my points before I cut all my fabrics!

Past experience has taught me that drinking and piecing can be dangerous so after 5 o'clock I can switch over to basting and quilting this Central Park flimsy I started last year at retreat.

And I grabbed some of this awesome Cotton + Steel linen for the zipper challenge.  Hopefully I'll have enough to stay busy for 4 days:-)

Checking in with this week's W.i.P. Wednesday:-)

W.i.P. Wednesday: Unpacked

Despite yet another snow storm, Thursday morning I packed up my car and headed for Kennebunk, Maine for the Boston MQG's 4th annual retreat.

As usual I spent more time socializing than sewing but I did manage to pick away at a few projects...  I got the center section of this Pure Plus quilted but decided it would be easier to use my guide bars to quilt the negative space once I got home.

I also re-made the month 2 blocks for the Toes in the Sand BOM so I'll be all set to put together the top once I finish month 12 at Quilter's Way next week.

And I finally cut up my Central Park layer cake.

I'm making Garden Fence blocks based on the awesome tutorial by Hyacinth Quilt Designs.  It doesn't quite work for a layer cake because you don't have enough for the center 4 1/2" squares but I'm thinking I'll use coordinating solids for the centers mixed in with bits of yardage I also have.

As always we capped off the trip with a stop at Marden's to pick up a "little" fabric:-)  I'm still riding the contact creativity high I got from being surrounded by so many amazing quilters.  I'm unpacked and ready to get back at it!

Keeping up with W.i.P. Wednesday