Messy Studio

After preparing for our Celebration retreat, coming home and hauling in all the bags - but not unpacking them - and then spending most of the week working on thermofax screens for some new projects, it was time to clean up the studio.  What you can't see in this photo are the bags on the floor surrounding the perimeter of the room.  So after working on some projects all day today, I finally unpacked the bags and got most of it put away.

Here are the goodies from the retreat - most gifts, a few purchases, and some from a generous friend.  The Celebration committee worked really hard at making everyone feel special, had fabulous door prizes and lots of little gifts for everyone.  Not to mention the great classes, vendors, lectures, and other events like silent auction, raffles, AAQI competition, show & tell.  A good time was had by all!

Secret Projects Revealed

A few weeks ago I shared a sneak peak at some projects I was working on.  They were teacher gifts for our VCQ Celebration retreat weekend.  Since that weekend has just passed, I can show the whole pictures now. 

These are 'mug rugs", about 9 x 12.  My friend Elizabeth stitched the machine embroidered pineapples.  I added the strips and quilted the 9 mini quilts. This was good practice quilting on the new Baby Lock machine.  I also tried a fusible binding technique I learned from Cynthia St. Charles' blog,

This is one of the "Pockets to Go" from a Terry Atkinson pattern.  Three of us each made 3 of the cubes, which we filled with various treats for the teachers. Now I need to find time to make myself one!

It was a great weekend, wonderful classes and teachers, and lots of fun activities.  More later.. 

New Pillows

I'm in "getting things crossed off the to-do list"mode.  These are some pillows I promised to make for my daughter.  Nothing fancy, no printing or quilting; just basic pillows with a corded edging and zippers so they can easily be taken off to be washed.  They are for the couches in her apartment, so I anticipate that washing them now and then will be a good thing!

Our VCQ Celebration retreat is coming up next week.  Still finishing up some Alzheimer Art Quilts and a few other odds & ends.  Next week I'll be able to show complete pictures of the "secret" projects I showed parts of a few weeks ago, and of course all the fun activities.  Looking forward to 2 great classes, vendors, and evening programs, including buck night, fat quarter night, and Saturday night strippers!

Block Lotto

Celebration, our bi-annual quilting retreat for Virginia Consortium of Quilters, is coming up in a couple of weeks.  There is usually a block lotto, where people make blocks according to a selected pattern/fabric, and for each block contributed, get a chance to win a set of blocks for a quilt top.  I finally made my 2 blocks yesterday; this year's block is a traditional design.  The blue is the focus fabric selected by the committee; everyone adds their own white and gold.  Should make a striking quilt.

Previously I posted  a picture of blocks I won 2 years ago.  They are still awaiting borders, hoping to get those done in the next 2 weeks to take along for show & tell!

Thermofax Screens

As a (fairly) new owner of a thermofax machine, I've found that making a good screen is a little more challenging than I expected.  There are several variables that must be taken into account - the density of the design, whether it is fine-lined or has large areas of black (or both), speed of processing through the machine, and whether or not you use a carrier.  My friend Elizabeth and I spent some time over the last week trying to find the right combination - of course, it may be slightly different for each design.  At any rate, we were quite thrilled to have success at improving on screens that didn't print as clearly as we wanted them to.  Here are a few examples of test prints.

Secret Projects

I've been working hard to finish some gift items for a quilting retreat later this month.  While I can't share complete pictures of the projects, here's a sneak peak at what I've been working on.

Look forward to showing the whole thing in a few weeks!

MLK Jr. Memorial

Seeing the cherry blossoms also provided an opportunity for my first visit to the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial. It is very impressive. Since it was getting dark, I didn't spend as much time as I might have otherwise, so I look forward to going back.