Large Tote from My Stash

I went to the Red Barn for a three day retreat at the end of February.  This is one of the projects that I wanted to finish that weekend.  It turned out so cute.  I got the idea from The Missouri Star Quilt Co.  They have a Youtube video posted on their website with full instructions.  It is called, "Three Big Bags from one Jelly Roll". 

 I used fat quarters from my stash, so I had to cut 2 strips (2 1/2 " x 22") for each jelly roll strip that it calls for.

Here is a link:  http://youtu.be/M4-41NHuFe8

 

Approximately:  19" x19" x 4"

I had such a hard time cutting into these fabrics.  They are so scrumptious.

 

This Tote was donated to the WHQG to help raise funds for the Guild.

Texas Wildflower Quilt

The Texas Wildflower Quilt top is finished. The last two borders were sewn on at my weekend retreat, at the Red Barn, in February.  It was the beginning of my" I am in love with ORANGE" phase.

 Finished Quilt 66" x 86"

6" Blocks, 2" orange border and 4" Wildflower border.

While visiting the "Needle Nest Quilt Shop" owned by Joyce Godfrey, I expressed my interest in several quilts being displayed.  Joyce gave me the sheet of drawings that the ladies had used for the pattern.  Joyce passed away in 2011, so I am dedicating this quilt to her memory.

April, 2011 Quilt Retreat, Part 3

Here are some of the quilts that were worked on during the retreat.  We have a lot of talent in our quilt guild.

We played Quilto at our December Guild meeting last year.  We purchased our Quilto cards with
rail fence blocks.  At the end, the blocks were given to a winner.  She decided to make two charity quilts and showed the finished quilts at our May meeting.

Love these colors together.

I'm adding this quilt to my 'to do' list, only smaller. This one is queen or king.

A good beginning, she pieced a lot of those red & green blocks

And a possible border.

The border fabric was too short and one of the ladies came up with this solution.
I'm sticking that idea in my bag of tricks for later.
Her shirt says, "This Is My Sexy Lingerie".

This is the quilt top that I finished.

A close up of the pretty fabric.  I gave fabric details, a few postings back.

April, 2011 Quilt Retreat, Part 2

The Red Barn sleeps 24.  There are two large rooms, divided down the middle by shelves and hanging rods, with 6 beds on each side.  Even though, the majority of us take our own quilts to sleep under, each bed is covered in a beautiful quilt, when we arrive.  These quilts were donated by the different groups that stay at the Red Barn.  There are more quilts on the walls.  Each room is like a quilt show.

Carpet quilt on one wall of the first bedroom

Carpet quilt on the wall of the second bedroom

There are even quilts in bathroom #1

And bathroom #2

10 Minute Quilt Block

I went to The Red Barn for a quilting retreat earlier this month.  I made the 10 Minute Quilt Block.  I used my seam ripper too many times on these blocks.  It took me two days to make this quilt top, containing six blocks.  That included sashing and two borders.  The blocks should be easy, but my layers of fabrics kept sliding, even though they were pinned.  I'm sure this was my problem, somehow.  In the end, I came home with a finished quilt top and that is all that matters.

It really is square.  I finished at 2:15pm and we had to be out by 3pm.  I threw it up on the design wall and took a quick picture.  These fabrics are beautiful.  I got a lot of compliments on the main fabric.  The main fabric is a golden floral, called Boutique by Chez Moi for Moda, pattern # 16041.  The border is a dotted fabric from the same line, pattern # 16046.   The centers and sashing are a wonderful chocolate brown with a tiny brown leaf pattern. It is called Botanical Journal by Bella Lu Studio Licensed to South Sea Imports.  The top measures 48" x 66".

Moon Dance Quilt

Sometimes I just need to sew.  I don't want to figure or think hard, just sew, mindlessly.  This is the perfect quilt pattern for that.  An added bonus is, I get to dive into my container of scraps.

If you want this pattern, it is by Lyn Brown.  She has graciously made the pattern available on her blog.  You can go to MoonDance Swap Quilt to download a pdf of this pattern.  She, also, has a picture of this quilt in Batiks.  We are playing strip poker with Batiks at our next retreat.  Hmmm, sounds like a plan.

Quilt Retreat Part 4

I have finally joined a Quilting Bee.  We have a whooping three members at this time.  Our Bee is new and should grow with time.  We meet from 5-8pm, once a month, between my work and home.  It was a perfect fit for me.  All three members were at the Retreat last week.

Night Divas Bee

At the last retreat, we played strip poker with 2 1/2" black and white strips.  We had a blast.  It didn't hurt that my BQF and myself, each won one of the jackpots. 

At this retreat, we had a contest using the black and white strips that we had won last Spring.  Below are the entries.

The three quilts were judged. Olivia quilt, checkerboard quilt (complete with a pocket on the back for the checkers and ties.) and tablerunner (Note initials, LMS).

And the purses and totes were judged and then an overall winner was chosen.

First Place Quilt: Olivia Quilt by Jackie

First Place Purse:  Top Left w/Blue trim by Marty

Overall Winner:  Black and White Purse w/ Pink Bow by Polly (bottom middle)

We played strip poker with Christmas strips this retreat and I won two Jackpots.  We are talking about another contest, I may have to enter this time.

BQ Quilt and Retreat Part 3

I spent three days with 23 talented quilters.  I thought you might like to see what some of them were working on.

Note the Black and White and Pink machine cover.  Jackie made it at the retreat after looking at one brought by one of the ladies . 

Isn't this pretty.  The white blocks are hand embroidery by the quilter.

This is a little blurry, but I wanted you to see the lovely batiks.  We had Sally Schneider as a speaker at our August Guild meeting.  This was her workshop the next day.

This is the BQ Quilt I worked on.  I finished the center on Saturday afternoon, then decided it was time for a change.  It still needs three borders.

This is my BQF, Judith, she decided to spend the weekend working on her stump work.  It is exquisite, I'll have to get a better picture for you.

Ruth had some issues with her machine and decided to hand quilt awhile.

This is what Ruth was quilting, isn't it awesome.

Selvedges sewn to prequilted fabric.  These are going into an item or two for the Guild Shop at our Quilt Show in April, 2011. A tote bag or machine cover were some ideas tossed around.