Another Quilt Retreat!

 

Yes, yes, and yes! This past Thursday afternoon through Sunday was the Renegades annual autumn retreat in Lancaster County. We're a small group, usually four or five, and we have an excellent time together. 

I took my Bernina and two Projects In Progress. 

First up was Merricks, of course. I needed the huge cutting table to trim that center medallion to the designated size. And then to apply the borders that the pattern called for. 

Yup, we're getting there!

The next steps involved (1) applique of four hexagon flowers (already made), one in each corner; (2) applique of narrow strips of various fabrics, about an inch outside of the leaves; (3) applique of eight small circles, all the same, flanking the hexagon flowers.

I began with the hexagon flowers and almost immediately decided that those small circles would add nothing, really, to the final design, and didn't move further on that feature.

The narrow strips were something else entirely. I'd had fun picking the fabrics for them and cutting them out. So I was eager to see how they were going to look.

The retreat center has a couple of excellent design walls, and I claimed a portion of one of them to work on these strips. They are cut to 1-1/2" and to finish at 1" in width, in various lengths. As I began to lay the strips in place, I got a feeling that was something like claustrophobic. It was all so crowded!

I took a couple of the strips and folded in the seam allowances and put them back in place. Better. But . . . .

The bazillion elements that make up the Merricks Nth quilt are busy. With lots of different fabrics, with lots and lots of details in the various techniques. I began to think that the center should be uncluttered so it could serve as a place for the eye to rest. A poll was taken. One of the retreat mates said that she liked the center either way. The other three -- plus Joe who was face-timed in for a consult -- were in agreement with my position. So the center will be stripless and circle-less, and all those little cut pieces found their way into the pile of our member who really really likes scraps.

The final element needed was the re-do of the panel that I completed months ago and promptly lost. I had three hexagons that I needed to put in place, and then I appliquéd the design onto a low volume background.

It is difficult for me to believe that all of the piecing for Merricks is finished. 

Now the real fun begins (written in sarcastic font): seeing how closely my elements match the measurements of the designer's elements! I've not put anything away yet because I know that in all likelihood I'll be needing to add some bits here and there.

Deep breath.

My second project was the sawtooth stars for Joey's quilt and I found a rhythm and put together quite a few. Some of them are pictured here. I'll need a total of 63 of which 21 will have embroidered centers. There are five remaining to be embroidered and those will fill my evenings for a while. 

Now you know that math is far from my strong point, but I do believe that I have 39 or 40 of the plain stars either assembled or cut and pinned together in sets. 

I went over to the nearby gateway drug dealer fabric store on Friday and picked up some red on white and some white on red pin dots (Judy informed me that these dots were too tiny to be called polka dots) to use for lattice and cornerstones respectively for this project. 

It was a delightful retreat. We oohed and aaahed over each other's projects. We laughed and advised. We ate some very, very delicious Italian food and, as always, had one dinner at The Diner Formerly Known As Zinns. We may or may not have consumed some shiraz, some moscato, and some Trevi-special vinos. We had a good time.