Prepping for Retreat 2

Man, time flies, doesn’t it? Between working on other projects and catching a cold, it’s been several days since I’ve even thought about my retreat. But considering I need to leave here early Friday (less than 48 hours!) I better get on the ball.

I have my first project prepped to make a quilt for the VA hospital. While I pulled fabrics for that, I also dug through my parts drawer. Most of the stuff in there is lengths of binding that weren’t used, but there are a few other odds and ends, including orphan blocks.

I’ve never counted orphan blocks as UFOs. That’s because in my life, they’re just random blocks, not neglected projects. And I don’t have very many, but there are a few. One of them is the terribly cute economy block I made for my world-famous tutorial. (Yep! Google “economy block” and see. Between my original blog post and the pinterest links to it, that post has two of the top four listings.)

As cute as it is, I don’t make a lot of cute quilts, and I haven’t found use for it. Until now. What the heck, right? It’s the perfect center for either a stillborn’s quilt or a small child’s quilt. My guild donates both sizes through our university hospital. Or if I love it too much, it might be for the new baby of a family friend. And while I don’t have a lot of those sweet colors left in my stash, there is enough to cobble together something I’ll be pleased to give.

Here is the beginning of it on the design wall, pieces cut but not sewn together.

So imagine big half-square triangles in pink and yellow all around, and then a double layer checkerboard in pinks, yellows, and blue. And then probably that more vibrant pink gingham for the last border.

One thing I enjoyed while cutting these pieces is completely finishing a few of these fabrics, aside from small scraps. That amazing stripe? That’s all there is of it. And the dainty but whimsical floral on yellow background? Gone. I’ve loved having them and using them, but as mentioned, I don’t make many quilts in pastels and twee prints. It won’t hurt to use them up.

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Besides prepping projects, there is packing to do. Here is our list of suggested items:
* Name tag
* Sewing machine, power cord, foot pedal, attachments
* Machine needles
* Fabric and patterns for your projects
* Rotary cutter/scissors
* Seam ripper (just in case)
* Rulers (Please label these since they all look alike.  Address labels work well for this.)
* Marking pencils/pens
* Thread
* Tape measure
* Pins
* Lamp (optional)
* Lint roller for Sunday cleanup
* Something to drink (no alcohol) water, coffee and tea are always provided
* Snack to share (optional)
* Comfortable clothes—layers are probably best
* Pajamas
* Toiletries
* Your own pillow (optional) one is provided
* Sewing chair (optional)

Seems like they left off the calculator… I’ll also take my iron and a two-sided ironing/cutting board. And since we have a forecast for several inches more snow, and our work space is in a different building than the bedrooms, I’ll take sneakers for inside and boots for outside.

It looks like a lot, but aside from the chair, all of it is pretty compact.

Other than chocolate, I am missing anything from this list? 

 

Prepping for Retreat 1

In less than two weeks, I’ll join 15 other local quilters, mostly from my guild, for their annual spring retreat. Okay, sure, the first half of February does not really count as spring in Iowa, but it will be warm and sunny where we are.

Have you ever been to a retreat? This will only be my second time, but from my prior experience, it seems that it is good to be well-prepared. Besides bringing snacks to share, most quilters bring projects to piece. Though there will be ironing stations and cutting tables set up, it’s more efficient to use retreat time for stitching, rather than cutting.

I plan to take at least two, and maybe three or four projects to work on. That way I can change gears if bored. The first one will be a quilt for the local VA hospital. It will be simple with 32 6″ puss-in-the-corner blocks with 31 alternate blocks, for a layout of 7 x 9 blocks. With borders, the top will finish at 48″ x 60″.

I’m working from stash, but also from some pieces my small-group friends gave me for another project. They each said they DO NOT want the fabrics back! So I’ve pulled out what I want for the other project and figure a great use for the rest is donation quilts.

Cutting is almost done for this one. These are most of the fabrics:

Yes, that plaid was sold as a Christmas fabric, but who cares, right? I think it will do well for most of the alternate blocks. Here is the basic plan:

I still need to choose something for the alternate alternate blocks, because I am ONE BLOCK SHORT of having enough of the plaid for all of them. So I figured, make do! Switch them up and dress up the layout at the same time. But given the large floral with the blue background something rusty might be the right thing there.

It’s not fancy, but I think it will make a pretty quilt and something quite useful for one of our veterans.

What do you take to work on at retreats?