Good Sewing

Another quilt retreat has come and gone.

Mary & Sharon & I sewed together again & shared a room at Oak Forest Center, near Luck.

It was a very productive weekend for all three of us.

Last time I was at the retreat, I had purchased a Wizard of Oz quilt kit and I made this my first project this year.  It was a lot of new technique for me to learn.  Step by step I worked through the instructions.  It was the perfect place to work on this quilt as there are so many helpers for solving problems and for support.

The panels for this quilt were cute, but not very straight.  

The yellow brick road was fun to sew.

We arrived on Friday forenoon, then sewed until about 1:30am on Friday night.

My quilt was well underway by the time my head hit the pillow.

I finished it Saturday morning.

When ever someone finishes a project, the group gathers to ooh & aah and take photos.

I used scraps to sew up a pillow case / sham to match this fun quilt.

Now I just need a backing and I can take it to the long arm quilter to have it finished.

Here is the layout of our sewing room at Oak Forest.

I'm sitting at my machine and here's the panoramic view.

Mary

Sharon

Most of the sewers come every year, but I still only know a few names.

Name tags would be good for me.

Mary finished a cute puppy dog quilt, complete with tongues hanging out.

I just love all the different dog breeds you can see in this quilt.

Sharon sewed up a little baby quilt for a great nephew / great niece that is soon to be expected.

The animals in this quilt are just too cute.

A few other finished projects:

This giraffe was so cute.

I loved this quilt by Kathy.
All those pretty reds.

One sewer was working on charity quilts all weekend.

Darth Vadar in squares.
I can't wait to make something with this technique of squares, it reminds me of counted cross stitch.

A different medium, some wool and art.

Amy and her Mom always are there, this was a beautiful quilt.

Barbs applique centers quilt.

A tree skirt, almost too pretty to cut out the center.

Pretty presents quilt almost done.

We sewed until about 1:30am both nights.

Mary was up earliest both mornings, sewing started again at dawn.

Our sewing machines got a real work out.

Sharon finished a second quilt, this one had so many borders, and what a prize.

I finished up a quilt I started at a class this summer and then made a matching pillow case.

Another quilt ready for the long arm finish.

I set up a pillow case factory for the rest of the weekend.

Cutting the parts and pieces.

Finished John Deere pillow cases.  These are headed to Spring Valley soon.

A little time was spent learning how to make a small fabric bowl from one of the quilters.

These were quick and fun and I'm anxious to make some more.

Mary made some bottle bags, I'm sad I didn't get a photo of those, 

but I'm planning on making a few of those.

My last project was an applique idea I had using Dad's old blue jeans.

More to come, but the sample turned out fine.

As I was packing up and leaving Mary was working on a fun purse bag 

and Sharon was working on a travel / make up case.  

Such fun projects, next retreat I'm hoping to make some of those.

It was all good sewing this weekend and I'm looking forward to the Spring and Fall retreats in 2016.

I left about noon and made a stop at the cemetery in Luck to see Dad & Ev.

I was expecting to remove a dead plant, but as you can see, 

this geranium and greenery just keeps blooming and growing.

So, I left it.

Looks like there will be pretty flowers for Veteran's Day too.