Island Batik Fun

You may have been noticing the Island Batik Ambassadors posting unboxing videos on Facebook of their second fabric shipments. Here’s a little peek at what will be showing up at fall quilt market. Did you know that Island Batik makes rayon batiks? Ahhhh, that’s the pretty yellow one on the bottom left of the box.

This weekend was another quilt retreat at the fabulous Green Valley Getaway in Pipe Creek. Our group project was this adorable tuffet pincushion. Can you guess which is mine?

Bev made hers in Island Batik. The adorable frog was made by Sharon as a secret sister gift.

And mine…did you guess right? I’m just sooo in love with the Island Batik Dotalicious Fire collection but it’s slowly shrinking to bitty scraps. Luckily that’s all I needed for this project.

And my new baby arrived on Monday! Meet Cinder.

Hope your day is sew happy!!!!

Fun From Quilt Retreat

Last week was spent at the beautiful Valley Ranch Retreat. I relaxed, laughed with friends, relaxed, ate good food, and finished lots of things that weren’t on my “to do” list. Oh well.

My big finish was my block swap quilt. That’s my sewing bee friend, also named Carole, with her finished quilt. The other 7 are in various stages of being finished. We were the “over achievers” for this project. Oops, I guess I should have held mine in the other direction so they looked identical.

We had several group projects going on. I made a phone stand for my daughter and one for myself. Now we can craft chat hands free. You can find lots of free patterns out there to make these.

I also finished two zipper bags. This one was bound so it’s flat for my small rulers. Tutorial can be found HERE.

This is the exact same bag pattern only I stitched the sides and boxed the bottom corners instead of binding it.

My sewing bee friends and I all made table toppers. I love how they all look so different. Can you guess which is mine? These pre-stamped June Tailor projects can be found at Joann Fabrics.

Most quilters stop at the quilt shop on the way to a retreat but we had a lot more fun hitting the shoe store. These made me think of Dorothy’s ruby slippers… “There’s no place like ….quilting retreat.” Hahaha, you know I’m right!

Crazy to say but…
it’s never too early to start planning all those little Holiday gifties

Oh, did you guess the brown mat was mine?

It’s a Great Sale!

This page contains affiliate links for your convenience. I may receive a small payment for any classes you purchase.

November 13-15th
Stock up on online craft tutorials for up to 50% off at Craftsy

I just LOVE taking classes ~ don’t you?
Here are two that I’ve had the most fun with so far….

Fun With Fusible Applique by Deb Luttrell is an awesome class for beginners. You’ll learn everything you need to know to get started and be successful with fusible applique while playing with Oliver the Owl, snowmen and butterflies. Who doesn’t LOVE owls and snowmen:)

My snowmen from class are fused down but my project got pushed aside temporarily. I plan on turning it into one of those cute bed runners (toe warmers) I keep seeing around. Aren’t they just sweet.

The projects in 20 Fresh Applique Techniques by Amanda Murphy are just awesome. They include a swirl quilt, garden runner, flower power pillow, and Hawaiian table topper. I really enjoyed the section where she explained how and why she quilted each project.

Remember my mini swirl quilt? It was made using part of the pattern and techniques from this class. Lots of fun stuff!!

Hope you grab some great classes and projects.

Sew What…..

This weekend was our sewing bee retreat. I just LOVE retreat weekends ~ don’t you? It’s when I finally sit still and finish my UFO’s (unfinished fabric objects).

This was our sewing view. Relaxing or what!

Sundown on day one… but not to worry….we continued to sew until after 1am.

(affiliate link below - I may be paid if you make a purchase)

I recently took a Craftsy class called “20 Fresh Applique Techniques” by Amanda Murphy which was a ton of fun. She had some really lovely projects. I finished my mini wall hanging version of her swirly quilt.

Next I finished my last paper pieced block from Bea’s quilt along.

Then I got motivated to make the entire quilt. Linda encouraged me to try a new technique…a little 1/4” flange around the borders.  It just makes the entire quilt pop. Always try something new!

We always try to include some type of group project in our weekends. This time Janis led the group in making itty bitty pin rests….NOT pincushions…..just a little place to rest your needle so you don’t loose it on the sofa, bed, floor, etc. while working. Aren’t they ADORABLE! They’re hand sewn from 8 little hexies.

Our bee is doing a block of the month together so we all worked on getting our monthly blocks caught up. Lots of lovely batiks were floating around the room. This is going to be gorgeous.

Bev finished my “All Flakes Welcome Here” pattern. She’s did an awesome job!

Sewing with friends….Priceless:)

---

Today is also the BIG reveal of projects from the Seasons Row Along. You DON’T WANT TO MISS THIS!!!

Did you have fun? Did you collect all your rows? We’d love to see your projects.

You can share in our Flickr group.

• Quilting Queen Online
• Sewhooked
• School House Quilts
• Just Let Me Quilt
• Creatin In The Sticks
• Kissed Quilts
• Sew Incredibly Crazy
• Patchwork Breeze
• Seams To Be Sew
• Quilshop Gal

Designer Retreat

I’m baaack…from QuiltWoman.com’s Designer Retreat at Camp Asbury on Silver Lake in beautiful Perry, NY. We covered so much information that my head is still spinning.

This was our daily view. The weather was perfect and breezy. It made it hard to stay focused.

Day 1

• Introductions
• Networking workshop
• Dessert reception

Day 2

• Time management workshop with Nancy Dill
• Book publishing with Judith McCabe
• Video making workshop with Barb Sackel
• Marketing workshop part 1 with  Nancy Dill
• Group brainstorming session

Day 3

• Business 101 workshop with Nancy Dill
• Revealing your creative style exercise with Barb Sackel
• Social Media workshop with Reeze Hanson
• Group brainstorming session
• Evening Zentangle workshop

Day  4

• Working with fabric companies by Patti Carey
• Designing for the market workshop with Barb Sackel
• Marketing workshop part 2 with Nancy Dill
• Group brainstorming session

And sooo much more……networking, laughing, creating, working, walks, swimming

An amazing group of very talented designers

left to right ~ front to back

• Barb Sackel - Rose Cottage Quilting - she also has a YouTube channel
• Nancy Dill - QuiltWoman.com
• Tina Dillard - Quilting Affection
• Donna Ptak - Donna Ptak Collection
• Carol Steely - FunThreads Designs (ME)
• Reeze Hanson - Morning Glory Designs
• Frances Krupka - Franceska Creations
• Susan Claire Mayfield - Gourmet Quilter - she also has a YouTube channel
• Renee Savage - Renee’s House of Quilting
• Judith McCabe - Fox Chapel Publishing and Stylish Stitching
• Kate Mitchell - Kate Mitchell Quilts
• Patty Carey - Patti’s Patchwork and Northcott Fabrics - check out her video for Strip-R fabric
• Mary Eeg - Hairbrained Happenings
• Trisha DellaVella - Hairbrained Happenings
• Janice Holden - LYTM Designs
• Anette DeNardo - Anette’s Custom Quilting

Bucket List - Niagara Falls

Of course I had to hop over and see Niagara Falls on my way home. AMAZING!!

-----------------------

Get ready for next year’s workshop - August 3-7th

contact QuiltWoman.com for information

Bonnie Hunter is in Town

Today Bonnie Hunter was visiting the Greater San Antonio Quilt Guild. She was a lot of fun and her quilts were just awesome to see in person.

Several of my sewing bee friends took the afternoon workshop and of course we had a giggling good time as usual. We worked on Scrap Crystals from Bonnie’s More Adventures with Leaders and Enders book. That’s the project behind us.

The itty bitty piecing was a bit outside my comfort zone but I plugged along….

and plugged along….

and proudly finished a block.Woot!

If you ever get the chance to take a workshop with Bonnie Hunter don’t miss it.

 

Sewing Retreat Fun

This weekend was our sewing bee’s mini retreat. We always have tons of fun…until we get home and have to unpack everything.

We even had a little adventure this time. One person’s sewing machine got stuck in bobbin wind mode. So REALLY late Friday night three of us decided to fix it. What else would you do late at night when you’re entering that punchy sleep deprived mode from sewing all day.

With a group effort we found a small comment post on the internet about the problem, GENTLY took the machine apart, and fixed the bobbin winder assembly. Viva la Google!

Anyway, I thought I’d share a small snippet of what was worked on by everyone.

Some batik star blocks made by Carole. This is going to be an awesome quilt!!

A lovely top made by Janis. I have to tell you that this started out as a jelly roll race quilt top that somebody didn’t like. She adopted it, ripped it all apart and turned it in to this lovely top!!! You go girl!

A purr-fectly fun top made by Gail.

The group project was a padded sewing machine mat. It has zipper pockets that hang over the edge of the table for all your little goodies.

(made by Glenda)

And in case you were wondering…

I did get all my food block sections done. Now I just have to add the appliques. I’m totally loving it and glad everyone pushed me to go ahead and cut into my stash collection.

Pattern is Locally Grown by Enchanted Valley Arts

I also fused two owl wall hangings, cut out 14 new snowflake appliques and worked on some secret projects.

Pattern is Owl Be Home for Christmas by Cherry Blossoms

 

Hope your week is full of crafty goodness!

Off Playing and Random Things

 

Guess where I just spent my week playing?…..Seattle, WA. 

And this time Mount Rainier was visible almost all week!  It’s hard to believe something that big can just vanish without a trace but it does.

Mount Rainier from the Vashon Island ferry

I spent the week visiting my best friend. We organized her sewing “stuff”, set up her cutting and sewing stations, and got her sewing. Woohoo!!!

We visited the Island Quilter on Vashon Island and QuiltWorks NorthWest in Bellevue. Here’s my haul. Hmmm, apparently I was hungry and in a dottie mood now that I look at the pile.

and…FUN, FUN, FUN

I also spent 4 days at the Longarm University in Kent. What a WONDERFUL opportunity!! Cindy Roth, Dian Keepers, and Ione Whitney shared sooo much information with us my head is still spinning.

We did lots of practice doodles and I sure do need practice. I’m going to date and keep this to track my progress.

My favorite exercise was taking one simple design and learning how to progressively turn it in to other things. That’s supposed to be a palm tree by the way:)

Dian Keepers led us through a surprise paint & thread paint project. Challenging but fun. Here they are all lined up on the frame as we worked.

I LOVE irises so I added a curvy border and hung it in the sewing room as a fun keepsake from class.

Sadly the weekend has come to an end. Another view of Mount Rainier as I fly away home.

What have you been up to this week?

Retreat Weekend

This was a retreat weekend for my sewing bee. We stayed at the Valley Ranch Retreat in Camp Wood again. It’s such a beautiful location.

Here’s a little peek at all the fabulous things going on around the room…

This beauty makes me think of Blue Willow Dishes. The white fabric has little blue flowers on it. Gorgeous!…sadly it’s not mine.

Two yummy batik Turning Twenty quilts….also not mine.

I finished a travel bag for the plane. It still needs a big button for the closure flap.

It has outside elastic pockets on each side that can hold a water bottle.

Big divided inside pockets and a key holder.

There were some summer FUN blocks going on….again not mine.

These project bags were our group project. Aren’t these GREAT! The larger bags hold the small sized cutting mats!! …Guess which is mine

I finished a card bag for my daughter’s wedding reception.

Oh, and on a random note…here is my foot bling for the wedding. I may not be able to walk in these 4 1/2” heels but my feet sure will look good. LOL.

Hope your day is sewwww FUN!!!