Category Archives: Quilting Retreat

At Home Retreat

Posted on March 22, 2020 by heARTs Creations

The Spring Quilt & Sew-In has been cancelled. Although it was definitely necessary to cancel this event, it has made me somewhat sad as I so enjoy all the amazing creative souls that come to the retreats. We laugh, we sew, we share, we laugh, we shop and yes, we sew! Some I only see at retreat. Hopefully there will be a rescheduling at a later date, but more likely it will all need to wait until next year.

My last social sewing for some time took place last week at the home of a friend for 3 days. There were three of us and it was wonderful and inspiring. As usual, I came away with some good tips. I have been sewing, sewing, and sewing the flying geese made from leftovers of my Tula Strings quilt. It really is a pile of sewing! As a result of our sew-in, I have on order a flying geese trimmer and how that should make the task easier! Actually, hubby has it on order for my birthday (smile).

I also started to put blocks together for the Tangled quilt. I am using Robert Kaufman Blueberry Park collection which is in a variety of fabulous colors with a white print.

How about we all have an At Home Retreat!

Sew to your heARTs desire!

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Posted in Art, block pattern, Color, Fabric, Modern Quilting, Quilting, Quilting Retreat, Scraps and tagged Color, Quilting, Scraps. Bookmark the permalink.

Cutting Quilt Blocks

Posted on February 2, 2020 by heARTs Creations

Spring Quilt & Sew-In has 2 spots available! Please come join in the fun & creativity!

April being not too far away, and the Spring Quilt & Sew-In Retreat, I prepped blocks for the charity quilts that the attendees will be sewing. The first block is for a quilt called Mid-Century Quilt. There’s a variety of blues and tans for the blocks and enough blocks to build a twin size quilt.

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Thank you Pineapple Fabrics for donating the fabrics used in these blocks.

The next two sets of blocks are for nine-patch quilts. One will have various light neutral squares in the center of each block, with the remainder of the squares being scrappy. With the exception of some of the center squares coming from Pineapple Fabrics, most of the fabrics came from stash scraps.

The second set is also for a nine-patch twin size quilt with a gray pin stripe as the center square and the rest are scrappy. Several years ago at a warehouse sale I bought a bolt of the gray pin stripe. It’s almost all gone which is very sad because it has been such a useful and attractive neutral.

Being charity quilts, my hope is that the completed quilts will bring a smile and warmth to the recipients.

Many thanks to all those attending the retreat who are always so enthusiastic about sewing the blocks!

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Posted in block pattern, charity quilts, Color, Fabric, Projects, Quilting, Quilting Retreat and tagged Charity, Patterns, projects, Quilting, Scraps, Sewing, spring. Bookmark the permalink.

Twin Size Quilts & a Winner

Posted on January 27, 2020 by heARTs Creations

Each year at the Quilt & Sew-in Retreats, the retreaters sew blocks that are then put together for Hospice quilts. This spring, however we’ll be putting twin size quilt tops together for another great cause – Snuggled in Hope Quilts. They accept quilt tops for volunteers to quilt and/or tie and bind. The quilts are then sent to Flying Horse Farms, which is a camp in Mt. Gilead, Ohio for children with serious illnesses and is part of Paul Newman’s Serious Fun Network Camps. Thank you to Kayla, a beautiful young woman who attends the Quilt & Sew-In Retreats for this wonderful suggestion.

A real bonus to donating to this cause is that the quilts do not need to be finished! I know many quilters have twin size quilt tops in their stash that may never be quilted – please consider this donation avenue!

The above quilt top will be accompanied by the backing and binding fabric below thanks to the maker of the quilt top.

Winter Blues Blog Hop – thank you to all who hopped along with the Winter Blues. Your kind and uplifting comments were so very much appreciated! Congrats to comenter #28, Dixie, for winning the Batik Surprise.

Winter isn’t over yet! May you spend many happy hours keeping warm while creating!

Prep & Progress

Posted on October 31, 2019 by heARTs Creations

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Lots of prep has been going on here. Saturday I leave for the mountains for the Fall Quilt & Sew-In! Even though I’ve been doing retreats for thirteen years, I still get a little antsy and anxious a few days before it begins.

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Blocks have been prepped for the charity quilts from the bin of precut scraps above. There are a couple of layout possibilities for one:

And here is the layout for another quilt:

A bucket of blocks with instructions are available for anyone who chooses to complete one or more blocks. They then put their name in for a drawing and on Show & Tell night names are drawn for prizes. I and another quilter put the blocks together for a quilt – it certainly helps to get more Hospice quilts completed!

My projects – I always bring more than I could possibly complete. When you are the facilitator, time sewing is reduced. I love it though, and wouldn’t have it any other way! First and foremost, I plan to work on my Tula strips. I already have several blocks complete and all is very organized (completed block above).

A nine patch I worked on at a recent sew-in is also in the queue. The plan is to do a disappearing nine patch, but I just haven’t decided which pattern I will be using.

For when I don’t want to actually sew, there is this bin of half-square triangles that need to be trimmed to size. There’s a bunch, so trimming a little at a time will make the task less daunting.

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And finally, a bin of 3 1/2″ squares for a leader-ender. I recently spent two (exhausting) days sorting my batiks by color. There is now a bin full of scraps, and six bins of larger pieces. The batik squares will be paired with black and white squares. I think this will be quite stunning. I love to have a leader-ender project going – makes me feel so productive!

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A fun and productive week is ahead! I can’t wait to share all that is Quilt & Sew-In!

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Posted in block pattern, charity quilts, Color, Fabric, Hospice Quilts, Organization, Pattern, Quilt Setting, Quilting, Quilting Retreat, Scraps, Sew-in, Stash and tagged Charity, Color, Patterns, projects, Quilting, Scraps, Sewing. Bookmark the permalink.

Two Weeks – Week One!

Posted on October 12, 2019 by heARTs Creations

Whew! I’ve been gone for the last two weeks. The first week I went to a sew-in with some great gals, came home on a Saturday, and left on Sunday for a week vacation with hubby! Some careful planning made it doable and it was all totally worth it!

First, the Sew-In. A good friend planned this time for us at the same place where I have the Quilt & Sew-Ins – at the Meadowbrook Inn in Blowing Rock. This place is like a second home to me so I was thrilled that we gathered there. How convenient it was that my sleeping room was just around the corner from the sewing room! There were only six of us so it made it very intimate.

Debbie had the first finished project. This is such a cute mini.

Another Debbie creation. This pic does not do this beautiful log cabin justice. The fabrics were just glorious!

Pam’s wine fabric casserole carrier sure is classy!

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Yes, Debbie was quite productive. This flimsly was mostly done before the retreat – a few more seams and border – colorful and fun!

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Pam made this bag using a preprinted batting and precut strips. I love the way the strips meet on the sides. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll be getting some of this batting.

Love this scrappy block pattern that Sue was working with. The block is rather time consuming and she made several. This is going to be one beautiful quilt!

Three table toppers! Sheranna tackled the 10 minute table toppers – one Christmas, one St. Pattrick’s Day and one very elegant and formal. Full disclosure – they take a bit more than ten minutes!

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And yes, I did sew. I worked on blocks using some of my batik stash for a quilt called “Katsura” from Modern Quilts Illustrated.

I also put together a pile of nine patches with a pile more to go. I’m going to split each block but have not decided which method to use yet – something different from the most used split nine patch.

I also managed to complete a flimsy for Hospice. This will be a 2020 contribution. How nice to have a bit of a head start!

It was a great week! Along with sewing I enjoyed talking, laughing, swimming, walking, dining at a few fine restaurants and lots more laughing. Now back to reality…

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Posted in block pattern, charity quilts, Color, Fabric, Hospice Quilts, Projects, Quilt Setting, Quilting, Quilting Retreat, Scraps, Sew-in, Stash and tagged Color, Patterns, projects. Bookmark the permalink.

Sew-in Fun!

Posted on September 8, 2019 by heARTs Creations

Last week I had the good fortune to spend four days in South Carolina with a group of talented and fun quilters! Everyone brought their own projects and worked away all day and into the night. Mostly we had hot sunny days and were able to enjoy the outdoor pool.

These hat pin cushions were made and gifted to each of us by Judy. I absolutely love mine and am so thankful for her thoughtfulness and efforts.

Here’s Laurie with her very impressive bin full of 1 1/2″ solid scraps. She’s turning them into the now popular spinner blocks. What a great use of scraps!

Debbie lives nearby and is the one who introduced us to the Homeplace B&B that we were at. Thank you Debbie!

Studious Susan is carefully planning her next project. (Something I need to get better at)

Sandy really worked away consistently. She not only machine sewed but also worked on some English paper piecing.

This square in a square quilt tells Susan’s life story. The grits block was definitely a favorite!

Lots of trimming and squaring up. Sandra was another who sewed, sewed, sewed!

A log cabin quilt for a friend of Laurie’s who recently purchased a log cabin! She’ll add a border – what a wonderful and thoughtful gift.

Judy is cutely peeking out from behind her 30’s print quilt. I love the design this layout makes.

This is such an impressive paper pieced beach quilt! Lorel isn’t finished with it yet. She’s planning on adding on some amusement – shells? crabs? beach balls? Can’t wait to see the finished quilt!

Debbie brought her very impressive woven (from bed sheets) rug. Wow!!

Sandy finished this Frozen quilt top with a special little one in mind. How cute!

This minimal and very striking modern quilt was completed by Susan. I can’t wait to see this one quilted.

Five O’Clock Coffee Time!

Unfortunately, some did not get into the picture, including myself. There were eleven of us and I do believe a good time was had by all. Lucky me to be a part of this group of fun and talented ladies!

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Posted in Art, Color, Fabric, Modern Quilting, Quilting, Quilting Retreat, Scraps, Sew-in, Stash and tagged projects, Quilting. Bookmark the permalink.

Endless cutting and August Progress

Posted on September 1, 2019 by heARTs Creations

A blogger I follow, Quilt Diva Julie recently posted about a string quilt she was doing called Optic Strings, using prints and solids. I loved it and immediately knew what fabrics I would use from my stash! The prints I pulled are all the Tula Pink prints I had and matched them with coordinating solid shot cottons. It was a blast to pull and match!

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The cutting marathon began. The strips are 1 1/2″ wide by 10 1/2″+ long. There are 37 pairs of fabric and I cut two sets of each fabric with 4 print strips and 5 solid strips for each block. Whew!! It took me days because I cannot cut very much at once. The tennis elbow has improved, but I can’t push it. The blocks are all cut and clipped together – yippee! I do not have permission to post a pic of Julie’s blocks, but you can follow the link above to see them.

This past month I did manage to complete and prepare the backings for two quilts that are now at the long armers. I quilted and bound a scrappy flannel quilt that will be added to the Hospice quilt pile. I will share pics of these at a later date. And I made 8 Baby Tag Blankets. Because I am attending quilt retreats in September, October and mine in November, I have been very busy prepping so when I get there I can just sew!

August WIPS

How about you? Have you gotten to sew in August, or did end of summer activities take over? Either way, I hope you had fun!