Sunday, March 24, 2019

Some Pretty Spring Inspiration and Retreat Quilts

This was quilted last month, when I R.E.A.L.L.Y. needed something pretty.  It's Rainbow Trip from the book Garden Fresh Quilts.

The maker chose a lovely panto featuring feathers and flowers which suited the quilt perfectly.  I'm always so impressed by quilters who can tackle a challenging project like this and keep all their pieces where they belong.

RETREAT QUILTS
Every year the Binbrook guild goes on a three day retreat to Crieff Hills in Puslinch.  It's less than an hour away from home so it's a really easy trip to take.  The retreat center feeds us three meals a day and we take care of our own snacks and (ahem) adult beverages.  I also buy a one litre jar of honey there every year.  There's a local apiarist who sells product at the center.  The last several years we've run these as UFO retreats, instead of having a class.  I have so many UFO's I think I only did the class one year, so there has not been much change for me.  We also have Sew Little Time come on Saturday and set up her shop.  I showed excellent restraint this year and did not buy a single bit of fabric.

I promised myself I would not start any new projects in 2019 until I got some of my own sh*t finished, AND got rid of some yardage.  Last month you saw that I finished up two little panel quilts, and here I've done two more.  Yay me!!  These will go in the donation pile for either the Women's Shelter, Children's Aid Society, or ...I also plan to talk to the local food bank.  They put together Christmas hampers and might want gifts for families. These were assembled from my own stash.

Still about the Binbrook guild, one of our very important members passed away last fall.  Her mission over the last several years had been piecing small quilts for St. Joseph's Hospital, for the kids who are in there for some kind of treatment.  The newspaper wrote a story about her when she was up to 600 quilts.  By the time she passed away someone said she'd hit the 1000 mark.  Apparently her sewing room was still FULL of fabric.  A few of our gals helped the family with a rescue mission (so to speak) and the guild members are working through the remaining fabric.

I took two kits:  they'd been prepped with pre-sewn rail fence blocks, and a hunk of fabric already cut for a border.  I pieced the blocks together, added the border and brought the tops home.  Last weekend I got them quilted and bound.  They have a cozy flannel backing which makes them super snuggle-worthy.
STASH
So far this year I've managed:

  • use up 32 m. 
  • deduct the 8 m. of fabric added 
  • net -24 m. of fabric in projects that are COMPLETE.  
That's my rule - if it's not COMPLETE I can't mark it off my stash report.  I have a list of  projects I want to complete this year, which in all honesty is the same list for the third year in a row.  Note to self:  stop watching so much tv.



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