Retreat Recap

It's bad manners to go somewhere without a hostess gift, so we four 'guests' made our hostess a quilt top. The pattern is Trimming the Tree by Sharon Holland Designs.  I was having a good snicker while I ironed this.  Any longarm quilter knows that group quilts are, generally speaking, a bit three dimensional.  That is a polite way of saying "OMG - who the hell pieced this.  Don't they have a measuring tape?  Or an iron?  Did they cut the pieces out with a hacksaw?!!*".  This quilt is no exception.  And since we retreaters are ALL longarm quilters, the recipient should know what she's getting.

You can see we had no intention of going hungry. 
This baby is crammed to the gunnels, and there is MORE food in the downstairs fridge.





We had no intention of going thirsty, either.  And we didn't want a cold.  And there's that Looneyspoons cookbook I'm always raving about.  That darned thing is everywhere.

We often do little 'gifty' things for each other.  Diane made us pincushions.

I took the easy way out, and ordered us all t-shirts.

This was my first completed project.  These are the fabrics I purchased on my trip to Asia in 2009.  They had marinated long enough that I knew what to do with them.  This pattern (and I NEVER follow patterns, so I have changed the measurements) is Fresh Vanilla by Karen Montgomery. You can find the real instructions here.  My pieces were cut wider and there are lots more of them, to fit our king size bed.  Quilting needs to happen soon-ish because I want this ready for the trunk show I'm presenting in November at the Ancaster Quilters' Guild.