Retreat & Cafe Quilt

As I was sewing this 12 inch block I knew that I wanted it all for my own! Come to think of it, I seem to be quite a selfish quilter wanting to keep everything I make but I'm certain most people realized that long before I did!

I knew that I wanted to hang it on my studio wall to enjoy rather than stuffing it in one of my various finished project bins away from cat fur tumbleweed & colour-sucking sunlight, and a wonderful one day quilt retreat gave me the perfect opportunity to turn my Texting While Sewing contest block into a cute little wall-hanging.

I used high loft polyester batting which is my batting of choice and as I started quilting I thought that I had made a huge mistake! My lines started warping and spots were way too poofy! But I continued on and by the end I really liked the trapunto effect around the signs in my quilt :o)

I sewed some small pockets onto the back before adding the binding which are perfect for hanging small quilts. One wonderful quilter at the retreat asked if she could use the idea so I will be writing a small tutorial in the next blog post.

I also received my contest prizes in the mail. I still haven't spent my $50 gift certificate for the Fat Quarter Shop because I am waiting for Lecien's Inkwell to be released!

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

Quilt Retreat

At the beginning of this month, I was lucky to be part of the first annual Quilter's Connection Magazine Quilt Retreat! It was held at Edenvale Retreat and Conference centre in Abbotsford. Heather, Tricia & Susan went out of their way to create a special weekend for us. Lovely gift baskets, charm packs, chocolates on the pillows, fun games, demo, and lovely quilts decorating every common room... Fantastic!

I forgot to take photos of everything... I found a chocolate sewing machine in my gift basket and I actually remembered to take a photo before I bit into it! Here is the woodsy flannel charm pack I found at my place setting, and a few shots of busy bees at work :o)

I won three cutting rulers as a prize for the first completed project from start to finish! I made this monkey quilt in about 12 hours! These small rulers are perfect for me and I even used them all that same day!

I have a few new nicknames now... "Ruler girl" because as well as the small rulers, I also won a large pineapple block ruler as a door prize at the local quilt shop. A Great Notion opened their doors to host a special wine & cheese night. I bought some lovely fabric, new on the market Shades SoftFuse fusible web, and a new rotary cutter because my small one is too small and my big one is too big (that's my excuse anyway)!

My other name is "Liberty girl". We were playing a game of charades and we had to act out quilt block names. Well mine was "New York Beauty" and all I could think of doing was stand there the whole time thrusting one arm up in the air! There were a lot of laughs :o)

I overheard a few quilt retreat repeat offenders saying that this was the best quilting retreat that they had attended. It was my first weekend retreat and I will definitely be going again next year! If you would like to join us, subscribe to Quilter's Connection Magazine e-newsletter to receive news and free patterns.

Here are a few more photos of all the lovely ladies I met at the retreat...

*All of the outdoor group shots are courtesy of Megan Jensen*

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

Quilt by the Bay

Never before in my life have I been able to spend 13 consecutive hours focused solely on quilting! "Quilt by the Bay" in Lion's Bay was my first ever quilting retreat and what a wonderful experience it was!

There were more than 20 busy bees working on all sorts of amazing quilting projects. Delicious lunch, dinner and snacks were provided throughout the day. We were even shown a fancy new way to fold fabric for cutting binding. Many thanks go out to the wonderful ladies I met there and Krista Hennebury for her hard work organizing the whole affair!

...and special thanks to everyone who purchased crafty goodness from me, and to the rest of you reading this... YES, there ARE leftovers!

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

Retreat Goodness

Here it is... all the things I have been busy making over the last few weeks to take with me to "Quilting by the Bay" Quilting Retreat tomorrow. I was kindly invited by Krista to my first ever quilting retreat and was asked to bring some things to sell. I will be travelling to Lion's Bay early in the morning for a whole sweet day of quilting with just me and twenty-some-odd other talented quilters... I am so very excited!

Leftover crafts will be listed in my shop on Tuesday :o)

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)