Post Retreat Catch Up

I’m back from retreat, which was followed by Easter services, and then some medical appointments. Today (Friday the 14th) will be the first full day that there is nothing scheduled. For once, I can dive in to a few things without interruption or distance from the sewing room. But, I can tell you , I did have fun sewing for 4 days and 3 nights!

Moving My Website

The move happened while I was on retreat. If you notice anything strange, please let me know. It went pretty smoothly, but there are still a few background things to do. I like that the chat is responsive on Bluehost, I may need to actually talk with someone but I would say it was a good experience for me, I will summarize this all in a post in a bit.

Sewing Retreat

Here are the things I finished! I made 3 tops, a block for our group quilt, and a basket. For three days work, this is awesome. I did precut some things which was a huge help.

First up is my “Ships Ahoy” quilt, from the book  Just One Charm Pack* by Cheryl Brickey. I think I put a blue border on it, but it is not unpacked and won’t be until it is going on the frame – I hope this weekend as it is my OMG. Before I left I switched my background to grey, and I was glad I did. The strip set had a lot of cream in the background and there would have been no separation for the life savers! I did use a charm pack for this pattern and it was a quick top to make. I think I would be happier if they were more medium and darks, but such this is what happens with precuts. I love the pattern and will make it again!

The second is a pattern called “My Strippy Stars”, from  Carole Carter at From My Caroline Home. In fact, I used the cream colored strips from the jelly roll as the background in this pattern. This is a terrific pattern for a set of strips and a background. Again, there is always a struggle with the split of lights mediums and darks and this set had way too many lights.

This next quilt, Broad Strokes, is from the book 3-Yard Quilts on the Double and was fast to make. I did one thing different and that was use two fabrics from the same line (there will be another version of this quilt in a bit). This was so fast to make.

This is my one complete finish and I am so happy with it. It was a pattern I picked up, called “Basket of Charms*” by Sweet Jane . I love it and loved making it. I will definitely make this again with charm packs. I don’t love that the decor bond used didn’t stick well, despite my best efforts. Next version will use some top stitching to keep it all together. It was such a quick make, that the added topstitching will not affect how fast you can make this!

And last is this little “Tell Me A Story Block”. The blocks are from Amy Friend’s book, Intentional Piecing*. We are all making blocks and it will be a fun quilt when we are done. You typically write a short one line story with the block….something like “Harry the Airedale is searching for his loyal comapanion, Scraps, who likes to lurk among the shadows”. And if you like the idea of this, Amy is running a block exchange on her blog.

Acquisitions

The Quilted Crow is in Bolton, and runs the Cottage Retreat House that we stayed at. I purchased a few things….some that can’t be shown and some that can. Some of the fat 8s will be used in my first Rainbow Neighborhood block (cut out and waiting to sew). I can’t figure out where my glue pens are, so I now have another.

There was also some yardage, so there will be a slight increase in my stash but the 3 tops will finish pretty quickly so there should be an even better deficit soon. The stripe may be added to one of the nautical tops as a binding or border and the scrap pieces of a wide back will become a back for one of the abovementioned quilts. So, I think the purchases were timely and will be used quickly!

Coming Up on My Blog

I will be back with the Fab Farm SAL on the 17th. There is plenty of time to get started; we do a block a week and I did see the pattern in the wild when on retreat, so I know some quilt stores have it. If you are looking for it, it is on sale at the Fat Quarter Shop right now (Fab Farm Pattern)* I have made my first block and am about to work on the second.

Fab Farm SAL Begins (4/17)
Diatom Row 2 
Fixing a T-Shirt Quilt
Ships Ahoy

Linking Up 

Finished or Not Friday
Can I Get A Whoop Whoop

Fabric Stash 

Fabric in this month: 3.75    
Fabric out this month: .5
Fabric in this year: 24  
Fabric out this year: 28.25
NET Fabric: -4.25 yards!

Disclaimer: *Links with asterisk indicate an affiliate link. Your price is not any different, but a small percentage of the sale will go to supporting my blog.