I was busy in October. No time for blogging and I didn’t spend much time on social media.
I had three quilt retreats in October.
Sew Much Fun!!!
Most exciting of all...I finished a quilt in October.
This was a kit I bought at a quilt shop in Anchorage at a screaming low price. The pattern is, "Take Flight," from Patti's Patchwork. The fabric line is, "Soar," from Northcott.
It's a small lap size, 47 1/2 x 66 1/2-inches. Might be just the right size for my grandson someday.
Back to the retreats.
The first retreat was a daytime retreat, three days from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at my local quilt shop, Twisted Sisters. Several of the ladies in the group are loosely related so we call it the Sisters’ Retreat. We currently meet three times a year.I was a monogamous stitcher and started a new project I had kitted up a couple of summers ago. I was compelled to buy this pattern after watching a video from Jordan Fabrics
I did mine in patriotic batiks. This is a layer cake pattern, very easy but the spikes are cut from 1 3/4” strips…I messed up a few times and cut 1 1/2” strips. Easy to recover from the scraps but a little annoying. I finally marked my cutting ruler with some colored tape to avoid that mistake.
I didn’t finish that top until the next retreat with the Material Girls. This is the group I do a four-day retreat at a B&B in Wasilla. This group also has three retreats per year.
I'm calling this quilt, "Sparklers on the 4th." Another small quilt, 59 1/2 x 71-inches
One of the retreat gifts I received was all the precut pieces to make this adorable pumpkin block. Since I am known as a batikaholic, my kit was all batiks. Sew thoughtful.
My third project was starting a kit I had cut out at least a year ago.
I bought the pink version from Hancocks of Paducah. When I read through the directions (before I cut anything), I noticed there was an option to use a "Cat's Craddle," ruler from Creative Grids. I gave it a try and the ruler gets a thumbs-up from me.
I had to make over a hundred Cat's Craddle blocks so I think it was worth the expense. As you can see, I had very crisp points with the aid of the tool.
The third retreat was a day time retreat for two days...again at my local quilt shop so only 15 minutes from my house. This is a new retreat group for me, "Sew What." Several ladies from the Breakfast Club are in this retreat group. I was very excited to sew with my buddies again. Most of these ladies are from Anchorage and the Breakfast Club stopped meeting almost two years ago.
I finished most of the components for the Grand Isle kit.
I found a free pattern online from Sandy Gervais, Fall Ya All
My gift for the retreat was a copy of the pattern and a kit.
I love these four little blocks.
Below is my collection of blocks from my two October retreats this year and the row of pumpkins is from the Material Girls retreat in October 2022.
I could have a fun little sampler quilt top someday...several fun free quilt patterns on the internet that might make some fun kits at future fall retreats.
We made a fun little project each day at the Sew What retread.
A tulip basket made from two layer cakes and a couple of buttons.
And a little wallet. I think this took two fat eights to make, plus a snap.
I think we paid a little bit for the supplies, $15, which also included some treats and a special pincushion which I forgot to bring home. I was the first to leave and I'm sure I will get it from my table mate the next time I see her (Christmas party in December.)
Just a little recap of my other project. I finished another Halloween cross stitch, "The Boys are Back in Town." Those buttons from Just Another Button Company always get me to, "add to cart."
I had several retreat gifts that were added to my fall decorations. The little easel with the mini leaf wool patch and the pumpkin mug rug were from the Sisters' retreat.
And I received on more mug rug at the Sister's retreat, a witch's hat.
I shared with the ladies that I could use a black cat mug rug...
and a ghost mug rug. Just trying to give them some ideas for next fall.
I also need to share my completed set of the Halloween mantel series from Merry Stockings.
It looked great with my Halloween decorations.
I had a timely critter visit in late September. All summer I have been listening to a screeching owl. He has woken me up several times. I was sitting on the couch doing handwork one evening when I heard that owl screeching again! I looked up and saw him looking right back at me! He was perched on the handrail of our deck. It was not quite dark outside and I didn't want to scare him away by moving so I very slowly lifted my phone to try and get a couple of photos.
Not the best quality...but you can see him.
I did move to try and get a better shot and he flew away. A lovely specimen of the Great Horned Owl.
Sew much more to share. I went to the Houston Quilt Festival the first weekend of November. I'll save that for my next post.
