Yaya's Retreat - April 2015

Only three of us at the retreat, but that's okay!  We had a great and productive time (less folks = less talk and distraction = more productivity!) in the little cabin by the lake.

Here are some pics:

 

Brenda is doing a quilt with a block for every book of the Bible! 

These are all 6" finished blocks - yowza!

She is a very precise piecer, though, so no worries there.  Here are the first two rows:

And here are her cornerstone blocks that will be in the border:

 

Lillie was working on the Fat Quarter Shop's Snapshot Quilt Along blocks. 

She finished three on retreat!

but the teapot took up most the of the time. 

She couldn't decide which fabrics to use for the handle and the steam, but ended up with ones that don't take away from the design of the teapot. 

Most of these blocks utilize the Moda Pedal Pushers line.

 Brenda was also doing another scrap-buster quilt. 

This is where you just start sewing your scraps together, cut out 6" blocks, then use the scraps from that to star another long scrap string. 

We decided it was the "quilt that never ends" and somebody (probably me) started singing that song...

and it went on and on...my friends!  

You can see a finished quilt with these blocks at the West Houston Quilt Guild Quilt Show here.

 

Lillie was also making extra blocks for her Paula Barnes quilt, shown here: 

She wants to make it big enough for a king size, so extra blocks (and borders) are required!

 

 

 Lastly, I put borders on the t-shirt quilt that I'm doing for a collegue.  This should be the finished top; now she and I have to pow-wow about backing, binding, and quilting!

 

I was pressed for space, so the borders are a little smushed. 

I will get better pics once it's quilted!

 

 

Bee Weekend - April 2015

Bee Pics:

I didn't take any pics at my Yaya's bee!  I somehow forget when I'm with this group.  Maybe we're having too much fun?

I do remember at Thimblelina's.  There's great natural light there, so it helps, too. We had lots of finishes, so it was a great day for pictures!

Jennifer was putting on the binding to this wall quilt.

Maria put the borders on this jelly roll quilt.  Fabric is Castlewood by Moda.

Sheila finished her Jelly Roll Jam 2 quilt top.  I think this fabric is Mosaic by Marcia Derse.

Marion finished all of her pieced blocks for a batik block-of-the-month.  Now she needs to turn her attention to the applique blocks.

Karen turned this completed top over to our long-armer, Lillie to quilt. 

They spent some time picking out thread.

Lillie finished quilting this fun quilt for Karen. 

Karen is donating this to our guild for the Disaster Relief quilts. 

It is certain to brighten someone's day!

Close-up of the quilting.

I added a row onto the t-shirt quilt that I started at retreat in March. 

Do you think I need to continue the baseballs all around as a border?

I also trimmed this big stack of blocks from the Three Dude's jelly roll pattern.  They are supposed to be 5.5" blocks, but because of the sewing, cutting, twisting, sewing and cutting called for in the pattern, some were just not going to be that big. 

So I borrowed Jennifer's Tucker Trimmer II ruler to trim them all down to 5.25".  It won't affect the design of the quilt, just the size.  Since I've decided to add sashing, then I think I'll be okay on the final size of the quilt.

Fabric is Boathouse by Sweetwater for Moda.

 

Linking up to the Linky Parties on the right-hand side of my blog.

Move along little doggie...

This is the first time since January I've been able to make it to both Bees on my Bee weekend. February I had a retreat in Mt. Calm, Texas, and March I went up to Rogers, Arkansas, to pick up this cute guy:

 

Arnie, cockroaching on Grandma's quilt

Arnie grew up on a farm in Iowa with about 20 other whippets.  His owner couldn't care for them all so WRAP  (Whippet Rescue and Placement) took most of the dogs for placement in caring forever homes.  This is my second whippet.  My first, Clyde, passed at the end of last May from kidney disease.  Bailey and I miss him very much, and this spring seemed like a good time to let a new dog into our lives. 

Arnie and Bailey sniffing around the backyard.

Arnie has the softest spot in the room while I patch up some pants in front of my design window.

 

Welcome, Arnie, to your forever home!

Miss you, Clydey-boy!