On a Roll

This retreat weekend has been very productive.  Today I worked on 3 projects.  I did some hand stitching on yesterday's project, completed a wall art piece, and assembled some squares and circles for a table runner.

 Above I did some stitching in a dark pink in the center of the cherry blossoms.  Below I started stitching the smaller blossoms in a lighter pink, but then decided to stop and save it for later; it's a good TV project.

 Next I had a print that I planned to mount on a canvas frame covered with fabric. The canvas was already covered; I just had to do some stitching on the screen print and stitch it to the canvas.

Then after lunch I was ready to tackle something new.  When packing my supplies, I spied a pack of 5" squares and another packet of pre-cut circles in my fabric cabinet.  They looked like they would play well together, so I threw them in the bag.

Here's what I ended up with.

 The circles are fused to the squares with MistyFuse.  I think it will make a very cheerful spring/summer table runner.  Haven't decided yet if it will have borders and how I'm going to stitch it - a work in progress.  All in all, a very productive 2 1/2 days.

Progress at the Retreat

I must say I amazed at how much I've gotten done - it's great to have this dedicated time for sewing!  This morning I added the binding to finish the baby quilt.

Sewing machines were humming all day as everyone worked on their various projects.  Of course, there was plenty of chatting & visiting  & munching going on too.

The group below all made matching "muscle man" tote bags.

I brought along this mixed media piece that I made in a workshop a few years ago to finish - there's an exhibit coming up so thought this would make a good contribution.  I quilted it first and then mounted it on a fabric wrapped canvas.  It could use some embellishment in a few spots but otherwise I think its done.  Before:

 After quilting and mounting:

And the third project I worked on is for my art quilt bee for the May meeting - the theme is flowers.

I think I've got the machine work done, which is just outline stitching so far so is hard to see in this picture.  Next I think will add some hand stitching.

Spring Retreat

This morning I (Sue) left home for a weekend retreat with my local guild in Winchester, VA. I've never been to a retreat with this group, so not sure what's in store.  Here's the car all packed and ready to go.

I met up with a friend for a shop stop at Webfabrics in Purcellville. I hadn't been to this shop before and it was quite overwhelming.  Lots of other "retreaters" were here too.

Above is the shop and the things that found their way into my shopping bag.  Something new called Art Cloth - have to buy it to try it, right?

Folks are beginning to arrive and set up their sewing space for the weekend.

That's my space in the foreground.  I accomplished more than I expected in the first few hours.  There was a retreat assignment for everyone to make 2 blocks for soldier quilts.  I got those done first thing.  Then I started quilting on a baby charity quilt that I put together a few weeks ago.  It went a lot quicker than I thought it would, and I actually got all the quilting done!  Now it just needs a binding and it will be ready to turn over to the quilt collector.

That will be one completed project for April.  There are several more projects in my bag to work on this weekend.