I Ran Away -- and I Liked It!!!

Runaway Retreat was the BEST EVER this year!!!

Let the retreating begin!!!

We started out huffing & puffing - it's hard work packing THREE quilters and all their stuff for FIVE days into one car....

Yep, it took an extra luggage carrier to get it all to Kentucky!!! :*D  

Friend Carole has a large SUV, but even it wasn't big enough for all of us - and I packed light!  (Don't laugh - I really did!!!  I have witnesses!!!!)  Of course, it was even more full on the way back LOL!!!
We made a few new friends on the way ....

There's nothing quite like a road trip with quilting friends - you never know what might happen!  On the way home I called 911 for the first time in my life because of the drunk driver directly in front of us on the interstate!  He was going at least 80 mph, weaving all over the both lanes and even several feet off the shoulders.  Then he lost control completely - we knew it was inevitable and were just praying he wouldn't hit anyone else!  He veered wildly all over the road before he went all the way down into the middle of the median and almost turned over - but he never even slowed down, just turned it around and headed back up on the highway - straight toward us!!!  Thankfully, Carole was calm under pressure and kept our vehicle a safe distance from him.   Prayers sure kept us safe that day - and believe me, we were all praying!!!  We never heard if the highway patrol got him, but I sure hope so!!!

So.... back to Runaway Retreat 2014..... What could be nicer than spending five days with great quilting friends, many of whom I don't get to see very often?

Norma, Judy S & Barbara

Ruth, Carole & Betty

Terry greeted us in full "LET'S HAVE SOME FUN" mode!!!
(Love the Scissors through her head LOL!!!)
Terry and Margaret put on this retreat every year and do an EXCELLENT job!!!!

I didn't realize until we got home that I didn't get a picture of Judy L & Brenda :(  They live in Kentucky, so it's always special to see them every year.  (Judy L gave me the precious Kitty Pincushion I showed you yesterday ♥).  Sorry girls - you know I love you!!!!

The Retreat Center is always like returning to an old friend .... 

View from the 3rd floor my last morning -
Ahhhhhhhh what a view!!!

This quilt hangs on the rails of the courtyard to greet us every year....

The Courtyard leading to the cafeteria and classrooms -
Such a peaceful place to find a relaxing few moments :)

Mornings at Runaway this year were especially beautiful and serene.... 

The Auditorium where we sewed is on the right

The first evening, I put together the ORANGE Soul Searching block, and then sewed up the flimsy quilt the next morning.... you can read more about that HERE.

It feels GREAT to finally have something finished this year :)  After that, I concentrated on getting my Blooming Nine Patch rows together ....and I still have a ways to go!

On Wednesday, I taught a class on my new pattern, Amish Beauties, to 20 students ....

..... and then on Thursday we took a little side trip to Boonville, Indiana, to visit one of our favorite quilt shops, The Village Mercantile.  This excursion is one I look forward to all year long!  What could be better than going on a day trip with great quilting friends???

I sat in the third row on the way and knitted

After shopping, we stopped at this restaurant to eat
(I kept looking for Dolly Parton but she never showed up!!!)

Then we had to stop at our favorite ice cream place for real ice cream cones!!!
Mine was a double scoop of butter pecan in a waffle cone -
Can we say "Oink Oink"???????

                                              Carole was trying to be "good" so she got a "Baby Cone"
                                                Really????  This is just WRONG on so many levels!!!!!
                                       Where does this thing get the nerve to call itself an ice cream cone???

Our last stop was at an antique shop on the way back.  Now I'm not a big antique fan, but even I found a couple of things I couldn't live without....

Antique yarn spool, twine holder & cast iron pressing iron

Won't this be cute with a ball of yarn instead of the twine?  It even has a surprisingly sharp pair of scissors that sit in the top!

And I always loved my grandmother's little black iron - I believe I actually remember her using hers. I do remember that it weighed a TON!!!  This one does too :)  It is in pretty good shape and has a lot of nice markings on the handle.  I'll think of Granny every time I see it, and that's worth any price!!!!

Oh, and I know you are wondering .... what did we buy at the quilt shop?  I'm not sure you could handle all that today!!!  Let's just say that fabric acquisition was accomplished by all of us - and lots of it!  I mostly bought some cool tools that are hard to find, but I also found some great pieces that will work nicely in a few of my projects :)

Carole and Judy L even visited a couple little antique shops on the square while waiting for the rest of us to finish up our purchases.  I almost choked when Carole said she bought TWO sewing machines!  I figured I would have to be tied to the roof on the way home, because there sure wasn't any room in that car!  But then she smiled and said they were toy machines :)  Yeh, she's real funny.....

We made it back that afternoon just in time to get in line for dinner - and we were all stuffed!!!  But we knew we had better eat something or we'd be starving at midnight LOL!!!  After that, it was time to start thinking about going home.  That was tough, because we had so much fun and weren't really ready for it to end.

My first morning back home was a shock to the system - I actually had to COOK MY OWN BREAKFAST!!!!

Boy did they ever spoil us at Runaway:*)  The old saying, "Wish you were here!" was definitely true for me - it could only have been better if all of you had been able to be there too!  I'm already looking forward to next year....

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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Design Wall Monday - 8/18/14

This week was a week of stepping back and setting some priorities on my projects.  There are a lot of things calling for my attention right now, and some of them are pretty loud and demanding!

In two weeks I will begin the first of several classes for my pattern, Amish Beauties!

This class was accepted at Runaway Quilters Retreat in September this year, and I'll be teaching it to 20 students that week!  How exciting!!!  Locally, The Quilter's Path is also offering a couple of opportunities to take the class and make this quilt - Friday, August 29, and Saturday, August 30.  You can contact Marita at the shop for more details if you are interested.  The best news is that she is putting together KITS for this quilt, and her bright solids are amazing!!!!  Patterns will be available for sale on October 1, but those who are taking classes will of course receive their pattern at the class.

Needless to say, I want to be sure I have all my ducks in a row on this class, so a lot of paperwork is in process and taking up a lot of my time!  But it's a fun time and I'm enjoying it tremendously :)

On my Design Wall this week, I have my Blooming Nine Patch still, and I did mange to carve out some time for the joy of making 9-patches for it.

I finished up Color 8 this week and got halfway through Color 9, which is the Dark Purple and the last color.  These final strips quickly became units for the last of the 9-patches.....

Here are some units cut and ready for the final row of 9-patches, with a strip set all ready to cut more when needed....

I can't say enough about how fun this quilt design is proving to be for me!  I'm almost disappointed to be finishing up the last row of colors!  I've decided not to put a border on it, just finishing up with setting triangles and a binding in the dark purple.  Of course, there's still a lot of sewing on this top because all of those squares have to be sewn together to complete the top.

Then I saw this CUTE little Shark Pencil Case - it's a FREE pattern and tutorial on Patchwork Posse  - and knew immediately that I had to make one for Sara for school this year.  Doesn't every Marine-Biologist-in-Training need one of these???  I've even had a few other family requests for this cute little helper :)

I haven't started on the shark yet.  Of course, I had to wash all my GRAY fabric first :)  That worked great since I didn't have a color to wash for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this month.

I even threw a few recent black purchases into the darker grays - isn't this just the cutest little black & white print????

So that's what's going on at A Quilt and A Prayer... how about you?  

What do you have on your Design Wall this week?  

Share with us at Judy's Patchwork Times!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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Design Wall Monday - Catch-up Style!!!

There are so many things to do now that Sara has gone home!!!  

Not only do I have to get back into reading all my favorite blogs, but all my projects are screaming for attention!

This is why my Design Wall is in two pieces....

I often have to get behind it to get into my stash closets :)  No work has been done on my Blooming Nine-Patch this week, and I really want to get that next color up there.  These strips are just waiting patiently to be sewn up and made into delicious 9-patches - YUM!!!

You can see tons of wonderful projects in progress at Judy's Patchwork Times today!

My next priority is to make sure I am ready for several classes for the below quilt that I will be teaching soon.....the bright and beautiful Amish Beauties!

Then I have TWO Bertie's Year blocks that desperately need attention....

Yep, they've been languishing!  I've got them fused down, but not yet stitched down.  And I was doing so well at keeping up!  And I got an email that the next one is already on it's way - yikes!

I want to make a See-N-Go Project Bag  - from these gorgeous scraps (you can see mine HERE and get your FREE pattern from Jacquelynne Steve's Summer E-magazine - also FREE - HERE!) to match my Stitchery Keeper - see more about it HERE.




And then I have "just a few" other projects that are calling my name LOL!!!  

This month is Light and Lime Greens for the Rainbow Challenge over at SoScrappy, and I don't need to make any more green blocks so I'll take a break from that this month.  Hopefully that will give me time to catch up on some of these more pressing projects :)

So I know you're wondering if we got everything made for Sara before she left, right?  Yep, we did!  And then some, because I did some repairs on several of her pieces of clothing the night before she left :)

The Foxy Shorts turned out really, really cute!

I was a little nervous about making the Woodland Creatures PJ's.  It had been quite a while since I did any apparel sewing and working with these new-fangled all-in-one patterns was a little bit of a challenge at first...

And working with jersey knit fabric again - let me just say UGH!!!

But they really did turn out cute and very, very comfy!!!

And Sara finished up her second pillowcase - cupcakes for her sister Emma!

Yesterday morning we met her father and sister halfway between Nashville and Monroe NC to get her on her way back home so she can begin getting ready for school.  They start on August 26 there.  On the way, Sara finished up the little cuddle rag quilt I made the night before for Miss Link by snipping all the edges to make them ruffle when they are washed ....

As you can see below, Miss Link was a huge help - LOL!!!

It turned out really cute and I enjoyed sewing up those scraps and getting them out of my stash!  Sara will wash it and make it all raggy and cuddly today :)

It was so much fun to have her here ... and teaching her to sew was a privilege I never thought I would have.  What a blessing!!!  And I really want to thank you all for listening to my posts about her visits :)  But it was really strange to wake up this morning and see her room empty :(  That will take a few days to get used to I'm guessing.  But my guess is that Gypsy is not missing Miss Link even one little bit!!!!

What do you think?

Oh - if cats could talk, we'd all be in trouble!!!!!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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A New Week.....

Life is beginning to get back to what passes for "normal" around here, 

and I want to say a heartfelt THANKS to all of YOU!!! 

Your outpouring of love and comfort and prayers  

has meant the world to me, and I love you all!!! 

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Sorry - it's a little blurry :(
But it makes up for it with COLOR, right????

This is my NewFO Challenge project for February ......

Diamonds are Forever

I had the pleasure of taking part in a class given at our Music City Guild this past week and completed one large block, which looks like this.....



It is actually 4 small 6-inch string blocks put together into a larger 12-inch block.  The string blocks started out like this....

These were so much fun, and I loved the play of these colors together so much, that I came home and put together a few more of these little string blocks so I could get that lovely diamond effect to begin shining through as each block was added to the sides of the first large block - YUM!!!

I can see that I seem to have some of my colors running together, but I don't think that will matter once the entire quilt is assembled.  This quilt is from the below book by Virginia (Ginger) Baker & Barbara (Bobbie) Sanders - and these lovely ladies also taught the class :)

Amazon Link HERE

I'll also link up with Sharon at Vrooman Quilts for her Let's Book It party with this project :*)

I love actually using my quilt books for a change LOL!!!

As you can see from the cover photo, the authors made their quilt with black as the neutral star points in the background, and civil war prints for the colorful strings.  I've seen this quilt made with black and jewel colored fabrics - and let me tell you.... it was just simply FABULOUS!!!!  However, I've done quite a lot of quilt projects lately using that color palette, so I really wanted to do something different.

My first decision had to be what I wanted to use for the background - the star points - and black was not allowed as an option.  And then, what colors would be brought out to play with it?  These are the fabrics I ended up with......

My first thought was to use the same fabric for the background star points throughout for continuity.  But I am really short of large chunks of fabrics that would work as a neutral.  See that lime solid in the upper left background?  I had about 5 yards of that, which would have been plenty for the star points as well as a nice outer border.  But lime?  Wow!!!  You all know I love color, but I had to be sure it was "beautiful" colorful, not "circus clowns" colorful LOL!!!  I gave quite a lot of thought to whether I really wanted to use lime, but then I got the bright idea to use the print you see at the very top as a tool for pulling other colors to play with the lime.  Of course, this was easy to do because they turned out to be some of my favorites!  Fuscia! Violet! Blue! Aqua! Purple!

After I had it all together, I was disappointed to realize that the solid lime looked too tame with all that sparkle, kind of flat - which of course led to the choice of using lots of different limes to get variety and sparkle!  Why should the strips be the only ones to shine, right?

Even after I had it all laid out though, I was still not quite sure it was going to work together okay.  How could I be sure before I cut all that fabric and invested so much time and effort?  I decided to tackle my EQ7 to see if I had progressed enough in my lessons to be able to draft this quilt and then try out some color plans before I did any cutting .....

       ..........  I think I did okay - what do you think?????

This is my favorite colorway!

I have to tell you - I am HOOKED!!!  

EQ7 is serious FUN!!!

And all that power can go to a girl's head, you know what I mean?

Here are a few more colorways I played with  ....

Of course, I loved the next few, but the black background was not allowed ...... maybe someday?

So that is what is on my Design Wall today - in addition to my February Dinosaur UFO which is getting some serious work done to it in the next few days!

Amish Beauties - center done and awaiting border treatments

I'll share more about this one when it is finished.  I'm hoping to get it to the flimsy stage by Tuesday :*)  I'm also slowly stitching on the March Bertie's Year BOM, which will probably not get done by March 1....

Most of the pieces are now appliqued down and I'm ready to make the half-square triangles for the border.  Next will be the embroidery embellishments - my favorite part of these little quilts!!!  Well, except for enjoying them once they are finished, of course :*)  

I'm a little late, but linking up with Kathy's Quilts for her Slow Sunday Stitching party anyway.

Also linking up with Connie's Tuesday Linky Party and What a Hoot's BOM's Away!

Come join in on the fun - link up your projects too!!!

Hope everyone has a lovely week!  We are expecting gorgeous weather until the weekend, when it is supposed to turn cold again.  But I'm not going to complain about that .... no indeed!  I'm just thrilled that we've been given this current reprieve, and that SPRING is finally on it's way - woohoo!!!!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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