As I observed from my spot at the side of the room, one project after another came forth from impossible spaces in suitcases and boxes and bags. Projects like this one. Patty has brought this with her for several consecutive retreats and finally finished the top! She told me that the pattern was originally inspired by a Snap Sack kit she made. Lovely!
To thank Robin for her work in planning the annual retreat, everyone attending, and a few that couldn't attend, gave her blocks made from Adirondack-style prints. Now she's got to assemble them into a cohesive quilt. Looks to me like she has a pretty good start!
Of course, you couldn't complain about the surroundings! Here's a view of Blue Mountain Lake. The lake is frozen, but surprisingly, the weather was quite mild. About 60˚warmer than the same time last year. By the end of the weekend, the frozen lake had lots of puddles in the center. No ice fishing this trip (aw, shucks!)
Speaking of ice. I thought this little ice formation was interesting. Yep, I'm okay, just taking pictures of ice on the pavement.
As for my projects. I spent a good deal of time making some fussy labels for some of the quilt projects from the soon-to-be-released ScrapTherapy book, ScrapTherapy, Scraps Plus One.
For a couple of the labels, I incorporated some hand stitched embroidery and some cross stitch. When you include cross stitch, because the canvas can be a very loose weave, I like to reinforce the canvas edge with an additional zigzag stitch after the 1/4" seam is sewn.
Here's the label all done! I couldn't remember some of the quilt names, so I left the label part blank to fill in later.
I got several labels done. Not all, but these are the more fussy ones. I have a few left to do, and I think I'll make those much simpler. It's nice to mix things up sometimes.
And I promised myself I would play with some of the Creative Grids specialty rulers I brought with me. I'm working on a pattern for a scrappy version of the Double Wedding Ring using the new Creative Grids ruler by Judy Niemeyer. Isn't it fun? It's a lot of piecing, but sure uses a lot of small scraps! And the curves sew together beautifully. I'll keep you posted when the pattern is ready, in case this type of thing is your cup of tea.
And, we didn't sew ALL the time. A couple of cocktails in the late evening took the 'edge' off, and Sally brought a jigsaw puzzle. A piece here, a piece there, and it almost got done during the weekend!
Last week I started with a list, and I loaded the car with a bunch of projects. Did I finish all of it? NOPE! And that's perfectly okay, because I came home with some great memories . . . again.
When is the next retreat? Sign me up!
Next week, I'm headed to Road to California. I'll be walking the floor for a good part of the time. Except during mid-day Friday and Saturday I'll be in the Ginger's Quilt Shoppe Booth. Can't wait! Will I see you there?
Enjoy!
Joan
this is just the greatest thing...everyone looks so joyful and cozy! enjoy your trip next week. xoxo
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