Yet another banner crib quilt

I also worked on this quilt at the retreat a couple of weeks back. It's a crib size quilt- I used basic white muslin as the quilt & when I quilted it I used a decorative stitch (just looked like large squiggles) that was preset on my sewing machine. So essentially I was sewing straight lines, just the machine & needle were doing all the work. That was the most time consuming part, but I'm pretty happy with how it came out. I took it to the retreat and added all the banners & appliqued on the bunting/banners and the letters as well. I've always machine stitched on my binding, but I finally googled and youtube'd enough to figure out how to hand stitch the binding. I'm pretty proud of myself! After washing it, from the decorative stitch quilting, it came out really cool with the way the quilt gathers after washing.

Speaking of google & youtube - the other day someone asked me who taught me how to quilt- I replied with "Google." HAHA it's the truth! I'd love to take some various quilting classes, but I honestly just don't have time. So google & youtube it is :)

This crib quilt has just been listed on Etsy!

simply spoken quilt

I worked on my simply spoken quilt at the retreat and finished it up last week. The weather has been amazingly gorgeous so we finally had an evening early this week to get out and take a few pictures. I'm getting kind of sad, I love taking pictures of my quilts outside- but when all the leaves are gone, not sure how pretty it will be outside :( I'm not a winter kind of girl. boo hoo.

Anyway, here is my finished quilt- front and back were both finished at the retreat! I need another retreat- good thing the DMQG saturday sew is coming up this weekend!

1st DMQG Retreat!

I attended my first quilt retreat this past weekend! I started attending the Dallas Modern Quilt Guild monthly meetings over the summer & even though I only knew 1 person in the group- I've gotten to know these ladies. SO I signed up for the their 1st annual retreat and it was so fun! Next year I will plan better & go for the entire weekend. The retreat started friday thru sunday afternoon. I wasn't able to get there until late Friday night & had to leave early on Sunday- so next year I'll plan ahead better.

After FINALLY arriving late on friday night & only going 15 minutes out of the way- GPS wasn't working, phone was about to die & it was DARK out, I'm surprised I actually found the place! Compass Centre is in Mount Calm, Tx- about 30 miles outside of Hillsboro. What a great facility. They provide all the necessities including yummy meals, beds and of course a really great work room.

I stayed up pretty late on Friday night, determined to catch up for all my lost time & get 1 project accomplished. I finished my 1st quilt top by 1 am & finally headed to bed. I slept great and woke up ON my own (no 3 year old or cats waking me up!) just after 9 & got cleaned up and headed straight for my sewing machine. I was almost giddy I had the ENTIRE day to work. 16 hours is what I spent besides eating meals, bathroom breaks & took a short walk after dinner. oh and i took a 15 min break for a quick photo shoot before dinner too. Getting to know such wonderful ladies was probably the best part. I loved getting that extra hour with the time change. I took full advantage of it!

Sunday morning, (after going to bed pretty late again) I woke up early at 7:30 (sounds of deer season isn't the most pleasant & probably heard 20 shots in 15 minutes.) I figured Bambi was on the run, so I should get to it as well. I had to leave after brunch, so I got a good hour or 2 of work in before breakfast & had to head out shortly after. Even though I felt my time was short at the retreat- I really got a lot done!

I accomplished:

2 quilt tops

1 quilt back

1 crib quilt

started 1 tickertape quilt (basted & started sewing on the scraps)

Not too bad!

I really can't wait until the next retreat- it was so fun! Lots of good food, conversation, learned some new techniques and came home with some new friends.

The Compass Centre

These are 2 of the sweet babies that live on the property. Forgot the cats name, but I swear I heard the dog's name is Pyrex. But I could be mistaken. But if not- i love it! haha They were so sweet & the dog could be my dog's twin. They accompanied me anytime I went outside for a walk.

What a nice break it was to get away from the city! The sunset was gorgeous and the stars at night were AMAZING!

Walking the property with my 2 companions. Sweet babies!

Heading down a country road for a nice walk with the dog. Saw some deer and then heard lots of gunshots. So we headed back.

On my walk after dinner. Nice sunset.

Inside the work room on the design wall- finished my 1st quilt top. LOVED these design walls, now I have to figure out how to have one for myself.

Went for a quick drive before dinner and found these old abandoned buildings. I would have loved to investigate further, however trouble is more fun in pairs. So i did my photo shoot & headed back.

Quilt hanging on the metal gate.

Quilt top again.

My other quilt top on the design wall

Jenna, Juanita & Lori working away

We had such a great set up!

Fabrics galore every where you looked :)

After seeing some items these ladies brought, my christmas list has doubled with quilting items!

Can't wait for next year's retreat!

Going backwards....

Mason's car quilt, originally uploaded by ArtsyFartsyDesigns.

Mason's quilt was the first quilt I completed about 18 months ago when I first began quilting & realized that his quilt was never "photographed". Meaning I took a pic of it on my dining room table (back before I had a craft room) and that really just doesn't do it justice. So we took it out last week & Mason helped me. I love him peeking out. There were actually 3 of us hiding back there. After quilting for over a year & now feeling more comfortable with my quilting skills & techniques- I see some oopsies in his quilt, mainly just the binding which should be easy to fix......when I don't have a plateful of projects!

Vintage Kitchen Quilt Finished!

SO glad this is done! I love the stacked stripe quilts- but it sure did take a long time! Probably doesn't help I stippled large loops (and mirrored them). Stippling isn't my biggest strength (but at least I'm working on it!) and I really think this quilt needed it despite all the lines. For the back, I did the simple aqua blue dots to contrast with the muted orange binding.

I'm happy with the outcome and I LOVE LOVE LOVE these fabrics and colors!

It will be listed on Etsy soon!