Monday, June 9, 2014

Quilt Retreat!

 In May, our small group went on a quilt retreat for a week - well, for some it was two days and others the full week but we had a great time and really got a lot accomplished with our quilting. Gerry and Wonda are sharing pictures on their iPads and always ready with a smile.
 Gerry is stitching now. . .
 and so is Gloria! From early morning til late at night!
 Nancy, from Tattered Garden, got a lot of stitching on her appliqué, plus some other machine projects. 
 We finally got out one day for a quilt shop visit and lunch.
Jane made great progress on a quilt for her daughter and son-in-law. She began with 20 star blocks and when I left a couple of days early, she had doubled that amount so I'm sure she's done even more now. We even took out time to walk and enjoy the beautiful surroundings in the North Georgia mountains.
 Here is one project I worked on - another construction quilt like I made for my grandson last year.
And now it is quilted!
 I've really been trying to finish up my last year's SBOW with Primitive Gatherings - Words to Live By. I should have put the date 2014 on it but I wasn't thinking when I inked it last year that it would not be finished then. Oh well, that was the summer it began.
 I do have all the wool stitched and hundreds of half square triangles in the making.
 My last two blocks in the border.
 Two more finished blocks with the Primitive Garden. . .
A close up. . .
 This is so perfect with all the crows, as they are all around us where we live.
One more close-up.
And now, it is summer again, and time for another SBOW with PG. My first package arrived today . . some pieced blocks and wool sunflowers! I think it's going to be another beautiful quilt!
And last but certainly not least, who I have been spending a lot of time with lately! They steal Nana's heart with every smile!! 

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

A Trip to the Zoo!

 This is another one of those fun quilts from Villa Rosa Designs called Mojave. I saw it at a quilt shop in Florida last year and bought the kit for $29 it was so cute!
 It was also SO easy to sew together!
 Very simple blocks, large pieces of the theme fabric and some squares around the quilt for the border.
 I quilted it with the pantograph "Amaze Me", which looks like a maze or puzzle pieces to follow. I noticed my 3 year old grandson following the actual quilt design on one of his quilts a couple of weeks ago. That was fascinating to me that he would even notice the quilting, but he did.
I tried my hand again at sewing the binding on the machine for both sides. It is acceptable, but I still need to improve on it.