Todd Hall Quilt Retreat

Recently, I met with friends at Todd Hall Retreat Center and sewed all day.  What a lovely day that was!  It was fabulous to have no one to answer to for a whole day.  The stuff really hit the fan when I got home, but while I was there, it was magical.  Let's just say that the adolescent brain just doesn't work at full capacity all the time and leave it at that...  Someday, I'll be able to leave my house for an overnight retreat.  Now is not that time.  I think I've got another 5 years before I'm all clear.

Any who, I was finally able to quilt Hunter's graduation quilt!  And, only 2 years late.  My friends are so supportive.  I got a lot of  "Hey, it's still the same decade" and "If he isn't married yet, you're still good."  Quilters are good people, I tell ya.  One of my favorites was "Oh, I like the hoochie girl."  To which my neighbor replied, "Oh, you haven't met Heather yet?"  Haha!

I started at a center point and spiraled out at about  2" inch intervals.  I don't have a guide on my Walking Foot.  So, I jerry rigged a paper clip to be my guide.  I'm pretty happy with the outcome.  It's not bad for something his momma made him. 

Do you remember this project?  I did the second border a few months ago as part of the Round Robin.  (The pink and purple 4 squares)  One of the Cindy Hagen was working on her border (the last 3 strips) and I thought it was fun to see what everybody else had done so far.  The fish are hand appliqued, broiderie perse style.  No one stuck with the pink and purple like I had hoped but you win some and you lose some.  Know what I'm saying?  Now, I'm looking forward to seeing mine.  And, for the whole thing to be over.  It's stressing me out some.

So, then I decided I would show Cindy the work I did on her Round Robin from a few months ago.  You know how people don't want to insult you, so they just nod their head and make non-committal noises?  Yep.  That happened.  Very humbling.

I almost forgot to mention this one or maybe at this point I'm just afraid to admit it was me...  I decided I just HAD to piece these posies.  The border had to have Ohio Stars so, I put them in the baskets.  I wish I'd taken a close up of them because it's defineatly the best part.  The posy pattern was originally 2x4" so, first I had do the math to get it 6x12".  That took a week.  Then, making all the posies...  phew.  I was so done with it!  I'm not that impressed with them after all that trouble.  The flying geese were left overs from the previous person.  And, did I mention nothing was square to begin with?  It was SO hard to fit everything in properly.  Done. With. It.

Right before driving down to Todd Hall, Vicki and I went to Jackman's Fabrics.  We had coupons burning holes in our pockets.  Naturally, we ran into several friends with the same problem.  It was a mini Hearts n' Hands reunion.  I settled on some fabrics to finish off the Strawberry Social quilt from a year ago and was pretty excited.  At the retreat, I had a thicker green border on it but was disappointed with my choices.  Joan suggested making it smaller.  I cut an inch off and it made all the difference!  Good people, I tell ya!

Look what else I worked on!  It's been forever.  I had all of the plates done and the centers needed to be sewn down.  Last time I worked on it, I melted my center template, and there it sat.  Forever.  I just could not make myself do them again.  So glad I got to it, though.  I'm liking the end results so far.  I think I'll be setting them with black.  Linda suggested a black and white piano key border that would look amazing.  But, then I was like, "dang, that's a lot more piecing."  So, we'll have to see what happens in the end.  Maybe, I can find a black and white striped border...

I have the next 2 days off and then another retreat next weekend.  So, looking forward to it!  I love clearing things off my to do list.  You know how it ends up going.  Finish one, start two.  I just have to figure out what's next.