UFO Saturday fun!

Lots of quilters for last week's UFO Saturday. I love it when we get a big group like this and they all start sewing and sharing. Julie worked on her Lone Star from the class a few months ago. She learned how to do set in corners. It's half finished!

Jane found some blocks she made several years ago and decided to put them together for a scrappy quilt. Love it!

Rose sewed the binding on a charity quilt and then quilted and finished a gift for a friend.

Dianne bound this cute fleece quilt and then worked on some holiday bowls...she had purchased the preprinted fabrics several (???) years ago and decided now was the time to finish them.

Pat made this cute Boxy Corner bag. She quilted the fabrics too.

Brenda had these soft green prints and was making a Take Five pattern.

Darlene had some preprinted squares, and had to fussy cut them and add borders for her quilt. She got a lot finished!

Phyllis was working on a new quilt for her bedroom.

Gina worked on her Scattered Thoughts quilt...I didn't get a picture of her blocks even though we put them on the wall....sheesh. It's coming along nicely, though you will have to take my word for it.

Ruth wanted me to show her how to use several rulers that she had purchased after seeing me demonstrate them at Cut Up and Quilt. First up was the Flying Geese x 4 ruler by Lazy Girls Designs. She loved learning how to use this ruler to make flying geese the no waste way and can now adjust any of her patterns to using this method. It's a great help!

I got her started using the Curvy Log Cabin ruler by Creative Grids also. She loved how easy it was to use and has lots of strips at home to make a quilt using it. Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures of hers either....she did a great job and loved how easy both rulers were to use.

Trying to get caught up here, it will help to have a long weekend next week!

Free form pinwheels

 Saturday's Peppermint Pinwheels class  was so much fun. The pattern is from the book Cultural Fusion Quilts by Sujata Shah. She uses free form cutting methods to make slight curves and interesting patterns. I was fascinated by several patterns in the book, and decided to make Peppermint Pinwheels first. It was so fast and easy to make, and so much fun. I love trying new techniques and this is similar to how I cut the Circle and Spin series blocks and then square them up. No worrying about seams matching as each  block has an identity of it's own.

Jane used some gorgeous blue and white batiks for a striking look...then we played around with centers.

Diana had a collection of  Christmas fabrics and spent some time pairing them up. She also had some Christmas bandanas, so tried cutting one of them up for a pinwheel. As you can see, it turned out great!

Bandana on the right

 Dianne is using 2 different backgrounds on her colorful blocks.

These blocks are 16"finished, so it doesn't take long to make a quilt. I am excited to see the finished quilts from this class! 

Mini Retreat, mini Serenity...

When I made Serenity, I made extra blocks so that I would have plenty to play with. Even when you love the fabrics, the blocks don't always fit in with the others. I took those blocks along on my retreat last weekend, plus fabric to make more. I wanted to make a smaller version and wanted lots of fabric  choices. this top went together fast because there are no setting triangles like in the original, just a straight grid. I did add a black batik print border to finish it. 

Lots of other creativity going on...Pat made this colorful quilt top using the Yellow Brick Road pattern.

Karen's 30 minute runner turned out cute!

Deb's cute graphic quilt (I forget the pattern name, sorry!)

Karen's Simply Posies center. She's trying to get caught up.

Deb's Disappearing Nine Patch.

There were a few more projects worked on and finished, but they are being made for gifts, so can't show the pictures yet. It's always fun to spend some solid time sewing...amazing what you can get finished!

Mini Retreat fun

I went on a mini retreat over the weekend to the Retreat Center at Log Cabin Quilting in Exira, IA. A couple of the gals went Friday morning, 2 more came Friday after work and I drove up early Sat. morning. What a great time we had sewing, chatting, sewing.

My first project was to sew a backing together for a quilt top I finished on my last retreat, but haven't quilted yet. That went quickly and I could put a check mark by it! 

 I then went to work on this Super Tote pattern by Noodlehead. I came across the pattern one day and loved the size, the recessed zipper, and the front pocket. I had trouble picking out the fabric for it at Cut Up and Quilt, starting with these gorgeous circles, picking out several others, but then coming back to the circles in the end. I'm so glad I did and wonder...why did I waver? They are perfect!

 It's a fairly large bag with a deep gusset, so it will hold lots of goodies.

 There are large pockets on the inside too, perfect for your smaller treasures. I worked on figuring this out and making it most of the day on Saturday and plan on making another one soon to see how much faster it goes the second time around. I want to teach this pattern in January.

There was lots of creativity going on at the retreat and I'll write more soon with more pictures of my friends' projects as well as my other project. I really enjoyed myself on this retreat even though it was shorter than I'm used to. In some ways it was easier to pack and plan for and I didn't get so tired from all the late nights. No matter the size, retreats are always fun!