Category Archives: Quilting Retreat

Polka Dot Fun

Posted on May 19, 2019 by heARTs Creations

When I was getting ready for my April Quilt & Sew-In, I prepped an easy and quick quilt using the many polka dot fabrics I have. I paired them with some striped fabric I had and cut all into 2 1/2 inch strips. I got the inspiration for this quilt here, which she called the Ernie Quilt. For me, it’s best to have something fairly mindless, quick and gratifying for when I am facilitating a retreat. This worked!

Here is the quilt top on the design wall at the retreat:

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And, very unlike me, I quilted it as soon as I got home! I used evenly spaced curvy lines. Oh my, that was a lot of sewing and I love the look. SEW worth it! I find myself looking at other fabrics I can use this pattern for. Some of the donated fabrics I’ve received for Hospice quilts will be perfect for this pattern. Hmmm, maybe these strips coupled with solids? So rewarding and fun!

Linking up with Needle & THREAD Thursday

Post Retreat + Enjoying my Passions

Posted on May 8, 2019 by heARTs Creations

After being home a week, I’ve finally made it to the computer to do a wrap up of my somewhat productive sewing at a quilt retreat I attended in South Carolina. I began the week full steam ahead by making string blocks for a border that I cut into fours. I then paired each with a white on white square and made half square triangles. All of my notes were at home (why oh why??) so I just made bunches! This is the quilt top I was preparing the border blocks for:

These are the border blocks, not yet attached to the quilt:

And these are the leftovers! They will make a sweet little quilt. I will either add a couple of border to make it a baby quilt or add to it to make a lap quilt. That is a decision to be made at a later date.

Following my “string fling” I just piddled. I did some pinning, some sewing, but didn’t really attack anything else with much vigor. Mostly I enjoyed my time away and being with an awesome group of quilters!

What’s really been keeping me busy is the great outdoors. I am in the process of dividing my ferns. They are truly glorious this year! And tree work was done in our yard and this pile of mulch was the result. I can only load a few wheel barrels a day and do the spreading. Hubby cut this pile of wood and we’ll need to get a log splitter to finish the job. This is not fun yard work.

There is also much weeding to be done. I attack it a bucket at a time and have the wonderful ability to look past the weeds and enjoy the pretty plants and flowers. Fortunately, my one side bed manages to stay weed free!

The temperatures here have been glorious so I am enjoying the outdoors fully. I will sew more when it becomes very hot – mid to high 80’s and gardening do not go well together for me!

Embrace ALL your Creative Passions!

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Posted in Art, Color, Design Wall, Fabric, garden, Projects, Quilt Setting, Quilting, Quilting Retreat, Scraps, spring and tagged Color, flowers, garden, projects, Quilting, Quilts, Scraps, spring. Bookmark the permalink.

Prepping and More Prepping

Posted on April 27, 2019 by heARTs Creations

Off to another retreat! I’m a guest at this one, so I get to do a lot more sewing. Prepping has been going on for about a week and I am SO ready! There’s something wonderful about being in a room full of creative quilters that serves to feed my creativity and productivity.

First – a scrappy flimsy that needs a border. It’s a strip quilt and I’ll be doing more strip blocks, making them into small half square triangles with a white-on-white, and adding as a border.

Second – a baby scrappy quilt that was started a very long time ago. The paper piecing portions are complete and now I need to do the curved piecing. Each block is cut, pinned, and on its own paper plate.

Third – Log cabin wall quilt. I worked on this last year at this same retreat – made many, many blocks but didn’t like the way they were squaring up. So now I am starting all over but this time on a paper foundation. I’m definitely committed to accuracy on this one!

Fourth – not that I’ll really need it, but just in case something goes awry with one of the other projects, or I just don’t want to work on one of them. This will be a queen size for our bed. Very simple – green leaf prints and white on white, all 3 inch squares finished. Simplicity is what I’m going for.

Hopefully I’ll be back next week with some impressive results!

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Posted in Fabric, Organization, Projects, Quilting, Quilting Retreat, Scraps, Stash and tagged Color, projects, Quilting, Retreats, Scraps, Sewing. Bookmark the permalink.

A Touch of Elegance

Posted on April 14, 2019 by heARTs Creations

Several years ago I made a pretty set of pillowcases for our bed and hubby loved them. How disappointing when one met its demise. He asked for another set! What a nice break to do some easy and quick sewing. I did them on my Jazz because it sews really fast – 1,000 stitches a minute! The first set I did is rather bold and fancy and goes with our burgundy set of sheets.

PC 4 (Medium)

Next I chose a print to go with our turquoise set. It seemed a bit plain until they were all together and on the bed – a great look!

PC 3

For the third set, I chose this feather print. It goes with our gray set of sheets and is really quite elegant. Pillowcases are also a great way to use up yardage that you may not necessarily use in a quilt.

PC 1 (Medium) PC 2 (Medium)

Funny how the little things can make a difference. Now I’d like to make a few sets for our guest beds (but after I finish another quilt or two!) (NOTE: All the fabrics used in these pillowcases were prewashed)

Spring has definitely sprung here in the Piedmont. Every day there is an explosion of growth and color – absolutely my favorite time of year. The pollen is the downside, but so overshadowed by the wonderful goodness. Here for 34 years, and have not yet taken it all for granted!

Spring (Medium)

Whew! Spring Retreat!

Posted on April 8, 2019 by heARTs Creations

The 2019 Spring came to an end yesterday. Once again there were 20 fun and amazingly talented quilters/knitters! These retreaters never disappoint – they share, laugh, work diligently, and of course, laugh some more!

Blocks were sewn for Hospice quilts. Here is one set on the design wall.

There were prizes. Tina was the lucky winner of a quilt kit from Pineapple Fabrics. And thank you to C & T Publishing – a deck of Bonnie Hunter cards for everyone who attended!

And of course, Show & Tell. WOW! Thank you Ladies for another great Spring!!

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Posted in Hospice Quilts, Quilting, Quilting Retreat, Sew-in. Bookmark the permalink.

A Word About Retreats

Posted on March 10, 2019 by heARTs Creations

Recently there have been several inquiries about the Quilt & Sew-In Retreats held in the Spring and Fall in Blowing Rock, NC. This is a great time where quilters/sewers/knitters, etc. come together to work on their projects, share, laugh, shop and enjoy the wonderful restaurants and all that downtown Blowing Rock has to offer.

Where’s the registration? Returning retreaters have an exclusive early sign-up period. After that time, if there are openings, information and the registration form will be posted on this site.

Spring 2019 Quilt & Sew-In

April 3 through April 7

The Spring retreat is currently FULL. If you would like to be on the wait list, please contact me at heARTsCreations@outlook.com.

Thank you to this year’s Sponsors!

2019 sponsors

Back from A Retreat

Posted on February 8, 2019 by heARTs Creations

Talk about fun! There might have been more laughter than sewing! Thankfully, there was a lot of sewing on my part. As usual, I brought more projects than I could possibly have worked on. Just in case I have a problem with a project, or if I should get bored with a project, or if I miraculously finish a project, I’ll have another to keep me busy. This was a “Featherweight Lovers” retreat, so we all brought our Featherweight machines. Although not a FW, Dee Dee’s Singer was an absolute beauty and I love her elegant setting with a table lamp!

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I actually worked on three projects at once. First, was my leader-ender with 2 1/2″ squares finishing as sixteen patches. Second, for the “I Spy” I am doing, I did “square in a square” for the five inch cut picture squares. Simultaneously, I sewed parts of the project using the Egyptian fabric. Only one complete block to show, but quite a bit done on the others. Update: Corrected block. There were 3 pieces turned the wrong way – this is meant to be a star!

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ALL the “I Spy” squares are now a square in a square. I set them all out and pinned – now I just need to sew together. I did need a few more and I have such awesome quilting buddies – I now have all I need. Thank you!!

And finally, my sixteen patch leader ender. I set out these blocks because that is just so much fun. A few of my 1 1/2″ strips happened to get onto one of the blocks and EUREKA! I knew I had to use them for sashings. I ran out of long enough strips, but did manage to get this much together. A little wild, but I love it. After I’ve added the other sashed blocks, I’ll work out a border – maybe I’ll have another happy accident!

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