Sunday, October 16, 2011

What I Did on my Day Retreat

I felt great all day at the retreat and got a ton of stuff accomplished. On previous retreats, I felt really burned out by around 8:00pm. Yesterday, I made a conscious effort not to drink too much coffee, and - ironically - it worked!

First up, Cracker SnapsScraps for Angela, who had the kick-off month in my one and only bee for this year: Stash Trad. I pulled a typical Felicity and made a cutting error when I was preparing the pieces to take to the retreat the night before. Luckily, I had brought the extra triangles, but it meant that I had to repeat a fabric, which I hadn't wanted to do. And during construction, I of course managed to place some strips going in the wrong direction, even with a photo to guide me. Ugh. Luckily, I only had to pick out two seams. Could've been worse:

Cracker Scraps for Angela
The tutorial to make this block is here if you're interested

Next, I turned my attention to the preschool quilts, and added some flowers to the tree quilts at my daughter's insistence. The news that I was only planning to put flowers on the Kindergarten quilt was not well-received to put it mildly! No photos yet...still in progress.

To help show the children the stages of a quilt's construction, I will bring a new WIP with me to show them: some placemats I'm making my Mom for Christmas. One's pieced:

placemat 1

...and one's quilted.

placemat quilting

Speaking of quilting, check out what ELSE I got up to:

First Feather
First feathers!

Second Attempt at feathers plus
Feathers, plus!

My lovely fellow VMQG member Janet does exquisite feathers in her quilting (among other exquisite designs - please check out her blog and Flickr!), and I asked her to give me a lesson while we were on retreat together. She gave me a few pointers, a couple of quilt sandwiches and I got to work. I have conquered my feather insecurity! I know they're not perfect, but I was so so pleased with my progress in such a short time that I'm completely determined to keep practicing so I can get better. Thank you, Janet!

Hooray for lovely day retreats, and my lovely husband, who wrangled The Child all day while I was quilting away. 
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16 comments:

  1. Heather D.October 16, 2011 at 10:09 PM

    I love the cracker scraps block! I have bookmarked it for future reference. And your FMQ is lovely! I have never tried it so am in awe of everyone's work!

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  2. UnknownOctober 16, 2011 at 10:41 PM

    What a fun day! Your quilting looks great!

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  3. Lucy | Charm About YouOctober 17, 2011 at 5:16 AM

    Love those placemats! I still plan on doing those cracker scraps at some point :)
    The feathers look amazing! Really great, can't wait to see them on a quilt!

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  4. Amy FriendOctober 17, 2011 at 5:17 AM

    Your feathers look great! How nice to have such talented friend who share their skills. I am glad you enjoyed your day away!

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  5. two hipposOctober 17, 2011 at 6:02 AM

    I love the feather quilting!

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  6. What Comes Next?October 17, 2011 at 7:57 AM

    I'm going to have to try those Cracker scraps blocks - so cute! You are such a natural with the FMQ - I'm glad you dove right in and got over those fears! Love your bounce-backs!

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  7. bronwenOctober 17, 2011 at 8:05 AM

    It was great to be your neighbor at the retreat! Things were looking awesome! xo

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  8. PoppyprintOctober 17, 2011 at 9:18 AM

    you got tons done! I just love the school quilts - you've got great design ideas Felicity. I look forward to more retreating avec toi soon!

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  9. BarbOctober 17, 2011 at 9:53 AM

    Wow, you were so productive! I always seem to talk more than I sew at retreats. Your feathers are wonderful. And I agree, Janet is an amazing quilter - I'm lucky enough to have one of her doll quilts hanging on my wall.

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  10. HollyOctober 17, 2011 at 2:15 PM

    That's awesome that you felt great and productive all day! Looks like you had lots of success - those feathers are fabulous! Janet is certainly a pro and it's great that she gave you some pointers. Isn't that what a quilt guild is all about? :)

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  11. AnonymousOctober 17, 2011 at 5:28 PM

    A bit jealous of your retreats. I wish we had those over here! Anyway GREAT fmq. Those feathers are fab!

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  12. A.J. Dub. (Amy)October 17, 2011 at 5:54 PM

    I am loving your bee block! I didn't notice the repeat fabric right off. I had to look for it. You did awesome on your feathers, too!

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  13. Katie BOctober 17, 2011 at 7:01 PM

    Holy smokes, check out your feathers! They look so awesome!

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  14. KristieOctober 18, 2011 at 10:27 AM

    Wow! You are a free motion rock star!! I totally want to branch out with FM.

    Sounds like you had a great retreat :)

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  15. Maureen Cracknell HandmadeOctober 18, 2011 at 12:25 PM

    Your FMQ is awesome! I love that feathery design!

    Did you receive your crown yet? I have been wondering???

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  16. monika@mysweetprairie.caOctober 18, 2011 at 7:10 PM

    Woah look at those feathers! What skill. ! : ) p.s. Just a reminder that tomorrow is WIP Wednesday link up for Canucks! http://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.com
    Hope to see you there!

    ~Monika

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