Guild retreat

Three things to be happy about:
(1) lots of scraps
(2) tandem bikes
(3) Charlie Brown and Lucie

Last month my guild had its annual retreat at The National Conference Center in Leesburg, Virginia.  It was very relaxing and fun-filled, at a great place to get away for a time.

We each got a nice tote bag filled with goodies; the bag was embroidered by Sarita, one of our member attendees.

Now this retreat had something for everybody - there was a lot to hold your interest.

One of the workshops we had was on improvisational piecing led by Cheryl, based on the book Improv Patchwork by Maria Shell.

See some of the fruit of our labors at the left!

I'll definitely get right back into this book, it was a lot of fun once I stopped trying to be so "exact!"

And houses - I love houses!

Jennifer made the quilt, and she led the foundation paper piecing workshop for the houses in "It Takes a Village."

She also tossed some little 2-1/2" patterns and a New York beauty block into the mix - just to make sure we got it!

Deb led a Half Square Triangle mystery challenge, handing out random HST patterns to be sewn into a block; the finished product could be any size you chose.

As usual we had plenty of time to work on our UFO's and WIP's; I knocked out some more of those little wonky churn dash blocks I was working on at last year's retreat ... no hurry!

Notice the super-large HST block by Renea!

A quilt appraising lecture and quilt appraising was done by Nancy Franklin of Atlanta, GA, and Renee Anderson from the African American History Museum delivered a textile lecture.

Looking forward to next year's retreat, sew forth and sew on ...

It was a challenge

Every year our guild is invited to submit quilts for the SewExpo in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and this year our challenge was to make 36 x 36 quilts using half square triangles.  I didn't make it to the show to capture all the entries, but here are some that were shown at the guild meeting:

I apologize for all the "head shots" - I wasn't standing in the best place for pics!

I like how each quilter put her own spin on the challenge, making it uniquely her own! 

And last but not least!  Remember this disobedient quilt? 

I swapped the first border for one with a smaller print.  Although it isn't super perfect (the sunflowers are too large for one thing), it got finished and put into the show!

That's it for now, enjoy your Monday ... sew forth and sew on

First weekend in October

Seems like it's been a lonnnnng time since I last updated my blog.  Well, actually it has - where has the time gone!??

Let's start off with the annual bus trip to Lancaster, PA, that I took yesterday.  My guild gave a trip in June, but I wanted to take the Faithful Circle trip because I was curious about the new places they went this year.

We started out at Wilbur's Chocolates in Lititz, which originated when H. O. Wilbur of Philadelphia partnered with Samuel Croft, creating the Croft & Wilbur confectionery company. 

Their business grew, expanded, divided, changed and prospered before finally becoming the chocolate company that we know today. You can read the entire interesting history of Wilbur Chocolates here.

This five-story building was built sometime in 1913 to provide more operating space. 

Now it's being converted into condos.

Antique chocolate pots from France and Germany.

An antique chocolate cooker, repurposed as a candy holder.

There were some interesting and intriguing shapes made of  chocolate!  I know you've seen their melting chocolate in places such as Michael's Arts and Crafts and A.C. Moore.

We left Wilbur's and stopped at Weaver's Dry Goods in Lititz.  I had never been there before but I was impressed with the prices - I got some nice Kona solids for around $5.60 a yard. 

The outside is deceptive, it's really large inside!  There were two and a half levels; their sales room downstairs had popular brand fabrics for $3.99, and a $2.99 flat fold table.

Looking down into the sub-basement - lots of crafty stuff down there!

Going back up to the main level. 

I missed their batting; I understand they had cotton batting for a great price.



After our buffet lunch stop at the Lititz Family Cupboard (it ain't Shady Maple ... just sayin') we arrived at the Kitchen Kettle Village in Intercourse, where I had to get my pumpkin butter!  I wasn't interested in fabric so much, but it's always nice to wander around the area.

Pretty quilts (for classes) on display at the Old County store.

ideas, ideas ...



It was a gorgeous day, just a bit cool but it felt great with a light jacket.

I didn't buy much fabric this time; I don't really need any. 

That's it for now, sew forth and sew on til later!