The Retreat was a HUGE Success!

There is nothing like a retreat for getting to know people.  When all of members are together and we are sharing and laughing, that is a recipe for a good time.  Add onto that, good food and learning and it's a recipe for a successful retreat. 

Carol taught some of us how to make a beautiful tote bag.  Cece organized us so much that we actually ate healthy!  A huge salad was had by all and it was delicious.  Thank you to the party dream team that we are fortunate to have in our club.

The cares of life go away for a couple of days at a retreat.  If you have a chance to share time with your quilting friends, I hope you can.  Quilter's are solitary workers most of the time.  Making a quilt is a long process and being able to share some laughter and encouragement while you make one is a gift. 

The Great Black Out of 2011 at Pieceful Haven

The best laid plans can sometimes go wrong and it's nobody's fault.  All 18 showed up for the first day of our retreat and there was no power.  We canceled it and have moved it to June 13 and 14th.

Besides the French Braid pattern, you might like to learn techniques for one or all 3 of these quilts.

Getting Ready for the Retreat on Tuesday, May 24 and Wednesday, May 25

Hello Quilters!

Our quilt group is blessed with some pretty terrific quilters.  One of our most gifted quilters, Mary Ernwine, is choosing to share her talents with us, free of charger, for the retreat on May 24 and 25 at the Pieceful Haven retreat facility in Lagrange, Ky.  Mary has been in the group from the beginning, back in 2000.  Over the years I have seen her make some wonderful quilts.  Her gift of color selection and usage in a quilt are amazing.  She has put together some of the most stunning quilts I have ever seen in my 25 plus years in the quilt world.  She has won many ribbons at the state fair.  You do not want to miss an opportunity to learn from her.  She is a wonderful teacher!

This Tuesday, May 17, Mary Ernwine will be helping everyone organize and cut their fabrics for the French Braid quilt.  She will be teaching the construction of the quilt at the retreat at Pieceful Haven.  

Please bring your fabrics on Tuesday, washed or not, your choice to do so or not.  Mary did not wash hers, nor did I.  Also, bring a cutting wheel and if you have one, an 8 1/2 inch by 24 inch ruler.  If you don't have one, we have rulers in the cabinet that will work with some thoughtful use.  

Marie will also be there with the sign up sheet for the food.  

Working on the French Braid quilt is not a requirement for the retreat.  If you choose to get caught up on your UFO's or if you want to do the Friendship Braid quilt pattern, that is a scrap pattern that I showed a while ago, that would be great!  

I suspect there may be a scrabble game, maybe a card game or we can play anything else you think might be fun.  We all love our quilting, but it's nice to take a break and laugh and share together around a good old fashioned board game or whatever.

It's going to be a lot of fun!

Also, I will be in Oklahoma for a wedding next weekend, so there will be no quilting on Friday, May 20.  

No quilting in the room on Tuesday, May 24, as we will all be on retreat!

A Dozen horse quilts were made at the retreat!

We had our retreat at Pieceful Haven. There were 4 that spent the night, but the rest, 8, made a long day of it. We had wonderful meals prepared and ate very well, as quilters are known to do. Maybe that's why cookbooks are such a successful fund raising option.

Shirley made a quilt with the horses on a darker background which gave her horse(s) an etherial look, running out of the mist sort of.

My daughter had a special request to use retro fabrics.

Most of the ladies used the batiks. One of our new members said she didn't know if she was a quilter. I said, if you finish this then you are a quilter. This pattern gives you a great opportunity for learning multiple things for quilting, on a smaller scale.

First and for most, to me is learning to use a design wall. I can't emphasize enough how important it is to stand back and get a perspective on your piece. At Pieceful Haven, the ladies had that opportunity, because design walls were all over it. It's one thing to be looking down and start cutting and placing your fabrics for the horse, it's another to stand back, at least 10 feet for working with your design. This is true for bed quilts as well as wall hangings.

The other thing that made this retreat such as huge success was the willingness of all to share their efforts, whether it was in the fabrics we put up on the tables for all to use, or the time and effort it took to cook or clean the dishes. As we all know, these retreats don't happen by magic and I thank all who helped make this such a great time of quilting with friends and finishing, or almost finishing our quilts is a super by product.

Retreat Time Again!

Well, we are off to our second retreat for the group. The first was many years ago at the White Oak Cabins in Indiana. Back then, there were no "quilt specific" retreat facilities available. This time around we will be going to Pieceful Haven in Crestwood, Kentucky.

The horse quilt pattern, Race the Wind will be taught and the rest of the time the ladies will be working on their own projects over the next 2 days and nights. There are 12 in attendance for this retreat.

Head em up Move em out!

Anyone remember where that saying came from? Rowdy, Gil Favor? Ring a bell? Well we'll be getting our Rawhide on at our retreat as we finish our horses. This is a class that will be taught there. This last Tuesday we had a practice exercise, using Steam a Seam Lite 2 and an applique pressing sheet, which you can also use parchment paper.

The beauty of these products and having a great retreat facility like Pieceful Haven, is using one of the many design walls on the premises, you can cut, iron and stand back and examine. Examine what you might ask? Well, you can examine your horses and see if you like how it's coming together. You can peel off the fabric and it sticks again on the fabric. Then, you can peel it off again and you can move it and it sticks.

So, come to our retreat if you like or check out the pattern Race with the Wind for making the horses yourself. What I always say is patterns are guidelines and we can make them our own style or use the techniques we like. Because quilting is such a long term activity, that you better figure out what you enjoy in the craft and that will help you make it faster and more fun.