One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Somehow it's always the same old story - I head off to a retreat with plans to make great progress on projects (I always pack several) yet somehow when I return home I am farther behind than when I left!  It's crazy how inspiring it is to spend time sewing with friends and see what they are working on. It's also quite dangerous to go shopping at a really great quilt shop with them and see what they are purchasing! I seem to always end up with pattern and fabric for a whole new quilt (or two) when I go. 

This is the project I was working on.  It's the "Carnival" pattern from Gudrun Erla's latest book.  The blocks are HUGE!  I was able to finish six of them at Kinderhook.  There are nine total plus sashing so I still have a way to go.

One of my firends finished several quilts over the weekend.  This one only needed borders so it was almost instant gratification once she found the perfect fabrics at Hickory Stick:

I love the pattern!  It's called "Bento Box".  I'm not sure who the designer is.  It's a great pattern for Bali pops - and I seem to have a few of those around.

One of the other projects she started and finished over the weekend used neutral jelly rolls we had created from an exchange we did at a guild retreat several years ago.  I've been saving mine for a neutral log cabin.  She used a keyhole pattern and it turned out beautiful!  (Sorry, I failed to get a picture...)  Seeing how wonderfully they went together inspired me to get back to mine - and to pick up a few extra fabrics to throw in:

Speaking of new project, I also picked up a bunch of fabric (including four Bali pops - imagine that!) and a pattern for a new Judy Niemeyer quilt in blues and browns.  Not sure when I will get to that one...I seem to have a serious backlog of her patterns even though I really don't like paper piecing. 

I also managed to finish binding the Sauder Village rug on the trip.  I still need to sew down the binding tape, but it is almost ready to make the trek to Ohio:

 I'm still plugging away at my baskets, too.  Here's the last one I finished:

I want to keep sewing!  Too bad we can't retreat every weekend - it's scary to think how much fabric and how many new projects I would end up with!

Hooking with Jayne Hester and Other Things

I'm a little bit behind on posting (not unusual, I know) so I have so much to share...  I attended a fabulous workshop with Jayne Hester at Wooly Woolens in Blue Springs the weekend before last.  Jayne was a great teacher, and Janice and Jim are absolutely incredible hosts!  We had great food, fantastic conversations (especially talking gardening and cooking with Jim!), visited one of my favorite quilt shops of all time (Quilter's Station) and shared the company of a group of wonderful people.  My rug was a bit of a challenge, however.  It was far more difficult than I anticipated, and made even more challenging by Jayne's affinity for low-contrast hooking. I somehow completely forgot to take any pictures during the workshop, but I did snap one of my pattern when I finished drawing it:

It's a quilt block called a kaleidoscope.  When done correctly, there is a secondary pattern that develops that looks like circles around each block.  We learned the hard way that this doesn't work unless there's enough contrast between the mediums and darks.  I ended up pulling out a good portion of the work I did over the three days.  I have corrected some, but still have a little work to do before it is right.

I went back to working on the Sauder Village rug when I returned home.  Now that I've figured out the grass and sky colors it's just a matter of finishing the hooking.

I am making some progress on my summer BOW but am falling behind at a rapid rate (again, nothing new!).  It isn't all my fault - block one was a week late (shipped with block two), so I was one block behind from the start, and then I had to order thread.  It took a week to get the thread, and by then block three had arrived.  Since I didn't have the thread for the BOW, I set to work on the summer freebie:

Once the thread arrived, I set to work on the BOW.  I finished block one over the weekend:

I also finally got back to the project I am supposed to be focusing on - the quilt I want to have finished for our June 2013 show.  I finished the last of the four rose blocks, so now I can move on to something different.

I have a long way to go on this one - 19 more blocks, I think. It's a bit daunting to think that I have only 11 months left to finish all those blocks and piece the border, not to mention get it quilted.  I haven't given up yet.  I prefer to live in my little fantasy world just a tiny bit longer.  Just 2 to 3 blocks per month - not a big deal, right? Sigh...

Dyeing Frustration

I am making great progress on the Sauder Vilage rug.  So much so that I wanted to start the grass and sky this weekend.  I hate leaving all the background for last!

I broke out the dye pots on Saturday.  I hadn't done any dyeing in a while and was really looking forward to it.  I went through several recipe books and finally found colors that looked perfect - a light, bright green that would contrast with the corn stalk and a happy, sunny sky blue.  I did everything just the way it is supposed to be done, and ended up with this:

The colors in the photo aren't great...but the green clearly isn't light and bright!  The blue is way too dark.  Both colors are very pretty, but neither will work.  I considered starting over, but thought I might be better off just waiting to get them from Nola.  Definitely an 'epic fail'!

I spent a little time playing with a very old project in the sewing room this weeekend. About three years ago I went to Runaway Quilters' retreat and spent the entire weekend in sit & sew stitching these triangle papers.

I spent several hours cutting them apart, tearing off paper and pressing them.  I barely made a dent in the stack - those things are time-consuming!  

I am excited about working on this project, though. Perhaps I could finish this one (lap quilt size) in time for the quilt show....

Retreating at the Lake

I had a chance to get away to the lake house for a couple of days and focus on sewing and hooking (and working a bit, but that part isn't fun to talk about!).  I've been spending most of the time doing applique and managed to finish my third rose block. That makes five blocks out of twenty - and three out of four roses finished.



















I also finished two more of the applique blocks for my house quilt.  Four more and I will be able to piece the top and add the rest of the applique.

I have made progress on my Sauder Village rug over the past week or so, too.

I plan to finish the chair tonight and start on the lettering.  I'm heading home tomorrow so I want to make the best of every uninterrupted minute I have left!  Too bad I don't have any of these to munch on while I hook:

Amaretto macaroons from Missouri Baking Company on The Hill.  Delicious!  It's a shame they are back home in the freezer!

Basket Fun

I had a little time in the sewing room this weekend and was able to finish up another basket block and prep two more.
 

I am absolutely loving this project!  These baskets are so much fun to put together and I am very happy with how they are turning out.  I really want to have this one finished for the quilt show.  So far I've finished 3 blocks...only 17 more to go!  I'm planning to work on another while sitting through a 3 hour conference call today.  It sounds wrong, I know...but I am completely amazed at how much better I listen to calls if I stitch during them!  It prevents me from multi-tasking with other work and I actually pay attention. If the people on the other end of the line only knew!

I am also working on a new rug project - hopefully one I can knock out quickly before my next workshop in June. This is Linda Pietz's Sauder Village pattern. 

It's a very fun pattern and I am particularly enjoying doing the color planning as I go rather than thinking it through in advance.  It probably isn't the smartest approach, but hopefully it will all come together in the end!