Fall Guild Retreat

Sue spent last Thursday to Sunday at her local guild's fall retreat.  It was great to get away for some dedicated sewing time, though it was touch and go whether or not she would be able to go.  The week before she scratched the cornea of her left eye and it was questionable whether her vision would clear in time.  Fortunately it did, though bright sunlight was (and still is) hard to tolerate.  That meant staying inside and sewing!

Each retreat has some sort of charity project.  This time we made blocks for quilts that will be donated to Facets, a Fairfax County non-profit that works to provide emergency shelter and secure safe and affordable housing for families in need.  These are the 3 blocks Sue made; she is curious to see what the layout will look like.

The next project was actually garment sewing - not typical for a quilt retreat but it was one of those projects sitting around for over a year, so it was time to tackle it.  It really is a simple t-shirt pattern, both front and back in one large piece, so it was pretty quick to sew.

Here's the pattern, "Simple, Elegant Tee" by CNT Pattern Company.  And the finished shirt below.

The fabric is a hand-dyed rayon purchased from a vendor called Fabrilish at the Quilters Unlimited quilt show.  I couldn't find a website but there is a Facebook page at the link above.

Then, it was on to a wallet pattern (again, a non-quilt item).  Sue seems to be on a mission to try out various wallet designs to determine which might be most functional and/or meet her needs.  This is the Mini Diva wallet by Sew Many Creations.  There is also a Diva Frame Wallet which is longer (Sue has that pattern as well!).

The picture below shows the open view of both the outside and inside of the wallet.  Sue added the strip of cork on the outside.

Now it was time for work on some quilt projects. This is a block for a quilt that has 20 blocks, that seems to only get worked on at retreats.  At least she is finally over half way, with 12 blocks completed.  Progress!

Another charity project that the guild works on is making preemie quilts for the NICU at Children's National Medical Center in DC.  This top was sewn together at home, so it just needed to be quilted and bound.  All the fabrics are animal prints.

Then it was time to start the final project of the weekend.  While in New Hampshire in August, Sue and Elizabeth went to the World Quilt Show in Manchester.  There she bought the pattern and materials to make a jelly roll rug by RJ Designs.  For those not familiar with the term "jelly roll", it is a set of forty 2.5" width of fabric strips.  The jelly roll rug is currently an internet sensation; there are 2 versions - oval and rectangular.  Sue chose the rectangular version and a Moda jelly roll of black, white and grey prints.  If you search "jelly roll rug", you will also find the original oval pattern and lots of tutorials. The other thing needed for this project is strips of batting.  A company called Bosal makes rolls of precut batting (2.5") that match the width of the fabric strips. It is available from a number of sources on the Internet. The fabric and batting are layered together, long edges folded to the center, and then folded in half and stitched.  Sue raced the clock to get all the strips stitched, but ran out of bobbin thread on the next to last one.  Sigh.  At that point it was time to pack up and go home, so the final 2 strips still await.

Here are a couple pics of the retreat sewing room; we had about 75 members in attendance.  It's always fun to see the projects everyone is working on.

We have been holding these retreats at a Hampton Inn in Winchester for several years, but the hotel is closing for renovation so next spring we will be traveling to Martinsburg, WV to try out a new venue.