Pieceful Retreating

After several weeks of long days and weekends working, I made a last-minute decision to attend the Pieceful Gatherings' Spring Retreat in Crystal Lake, Illinois. Around 60 quilters gathered at the Crystal Lake Holiday Inn for a weekend of stitching that included a workshop with Lynn Wilder of Sew'n Wild Oats.  The retreat room was very spacious and the lighting was surprisingly good for a hotel ballroom.   

We worked on Lynn's new "Calico Cottages" pattern which includes tiny paper-pieced cabins at the center of log cabin blocks.  The cabin centers are 3" finished. 


I didn't work on the class pattern exclusively, but did manage to get two blocks finished while there.


The highlight of the weekend was show & tell - the quilts that were shared were amazing!  This is an antique, dated back to the early 19th century, shared by Pieceful Gatherings' shop owner Carrie:

This pattern was designed by Lynn and was featured in a class taught at Pieceful Gatherings.  This version was made by the person that taught the workshop:

I have always wanted to do a Lucy Boston quilt and have bought numerous tools (paper pieces, stamps, etc.) over the years. Pieceful Gatherings has been running a Lucy Boston club for a number of years and one of the participants recently finished her version:

And yes, I am now a club member and have started my first block!  I am finding fussy cutting a bit challenging - it's hard to position the paper pieces in exactly the same place every time.

I also worked on my Blue Baskets at the retreat.  I need to finish up the rails and hand stitch several basket handles but overall have been keeping up with this one fairly well.


I am continuing to stitch my tree for my temperature quilt, really hoping to have it finished by the end of the month. I'm also madly working to starch fabrics to get a start on Edyta Sitar's Stars Upon Stars quilt when the sew-along begins next week.  I have wanted to do this one for a while and collected BOM kits for it several years ago, so I figure I may as well jump in on it now.  

So that's three new UFOs added to my list this month. 🤣

February Update & March OMG

Well, it looks like I missed the monthly OMG link-up once again!  I started this post last night but ran out of steam.  I made some progress on both projects, but with a crazy month at work (February is annual report time, which means working days, nights and weekends) I didn't have much time for stitching or hooking.

I did get a start on my tree for my temperature quilt. This thing is large - about 60" tall and wide. 

I had to lay it out on the floor to trace and then baste in place. It took almost a day to do and was very hard on my knees! I am cutting it out as I stitch.  I didn't capture a picture but have about one and a half branches and the trunk stitched.  It is a bit of a struggle to manage all the fabric when doing needle-turn so it is slow, but I am hoping to finish the tree and start catching up on my leaves in March.


Again, work got in the way of meeting my goal on my basket rug, but I did make pretty decent progress.  I am going to stick with this project for March also, and this time am confident I can finish. I am hooking it in a 6-cut, even the background, so it does take some time to fill in, but it is pretty easy-going now that all the motifs are finished. 


I did manage to find a little time to start up one of the new projects on my "want to do" list - Blue Baskets from Piecing the Past Quilts.  I have my first two baskets finished and am nearly done with the second two.  I am off to a retreat this weekend and am hoping I can catch up on this weekly stitch-along.


On a whim - and mostly to celebrate (and get away from) the tough month at work - I decided to grab one of the spots that opened up at Pieceful Gatherings' Spring Retreat in Crystal Lake, IL. I have never been to the shop so am looking forward to visiting, and I have followed the retreat instructor, Lynn Wilder, for many years so am excited to meet her in person and work on one of her latest designs.  I am looking forward to a weekend of stitching!

I am linking up with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal again this month - let's see if I can remember to post my updates before the end of the month this time!