A Night of Basket Lattice

 We have been working on piecing together some rows for our Basket Lattice class, and here are 2 of the results.  What great use of color!  We also have had quite a discussion about pressing--to press or not to press, that is the question.  I tend to press only as much as is needed during the block assembly, preferably not much.  Then when the block is done I give it a good press.  I feel that I get better matching of seams and points when I do it this way because the fabric seems to have more "give".  Most quilters do much more pressing of each step along the way, and if that works for you then all is good in the world.  But maybe you might want to take a walk on the wild side with me and see what happens!

Our Show of Projects

We have put together a little slideshow of just a portion of the things that have been underway during this retreat.  I tried to get a representation of all kinds of projects by as many people as I could.  It will take just a minute to load, and if you don't want to hear elevator music then shut off your speakers now!

Picture slideshow personalized with Smilebox

There is a whole lot of thread involved in this type of sewing, and last night we had a little bit of a contest.  I asked everyone to give me a fairly accurate number of spools of thread that are here in our workroom.  All kinds of thread.  Here are the results for the 20 attendees:

4,438 spools

based on an average price of $8/spool, that is $35,504

based on an average yardage of 750/spool, that is 3,328,500 yds

That is the equivalent of ~1,891 miles.  8 round trips from Minneapolis to Augusta, WI!  Or a little more than Grace's return flight to Florida!

Tonight is movie and popcorn for those that want to give the machines a rest.  Tomorrow is finish up and pack up for our return to the real world.  We have a list of people who will return next spring for Round 2!

Plenty o' Projects

Debbie is finishing up
Suzy's Sack by This & That

Tracy is hooping a section of a tablerunner
for a quilting design.

Season's Greetings by Stitch Connection all done!
By Diane.

a common scene--computers talking to each other
and Jeanne talking to the computer

sweet little baby bibs that Mary Pat has made,
designs from OESD Baby 10

trapunto work by Char

a sample stitch-out to test a design for Dianne's next project,
experimenting with variegated thread

Leila has made little bibs for Abigail--

and pillowcases for dollies!

Retreat Update for Friday AM

One thing that these ladies have in common is the tendency to be thread hoarders.  I think this might be a new reality TV show!  Can you see the gleam in Carol's eyes as she looks over one of her many thread boxes?  Always looking for just the right color number!  She forgot to pack her thread color number chart on which she keeps a record of which of the hundreds of Isacord colors she possesses.  But she does share!  Such a dilemna.

Judy is trimming up some threads on a block for her Feathered Star quilt, the same design that I wrote about in my last post.  Her machine accommodates a bigger hoop, so her blocks are a little bigger than mine.

Zane was stitching some great words to live by on dish towels.  I wouldn't mind a set of these for myself!

More towel stitching, this time Kelli is putting cocktail recipes onto black towels--very lovely and oh so handy to have around in case of a cocktail shortage!

Grace is showing her completed puppy dog from the Animal Antics by Stitch Connection.  This makes an adorable little baby quilt along with a whole zooful of other critters.

Grace is one very devoted retreater!  She flew back to MN from her winter haven in Florida just to come here with us!  We have another fun day ahead of us and I will have more inspiration to share very soon!  I have also posted a few things over on my own blog so take a look over there!  And if possible, sew a stitch today!