Sunday, June 1, 2014

Retreated And Back Home

I had a great time at the retreat...lots of laughing and a little sewing.

The machine I use at home is big and very heavy, so I took this little Bernette 55.
It was my son's machine (from his grandmother) but since he never used it he gave it to me. 

Huge difference to sew on!

I was shocked when I realized I had to thread my own needle AND cut my threads by hand!
My other Bernina has me really spoiled with the automatic threader and cutter!

I found myself a little disorganized as I tried to put together my Garden Party quilt. It was obvious that I'm not one to adjust to new surroundings or small spaces while sewing. I kept having to look for my ruler, my scissors, my...everything. Luckily, I found my seam ripper for the gazillion times I needed to use it because of the oodles of mistakes I made sewing the blocks together.

Late in the afternoon of the second day I was feeling a little more in touch with my quilty feelings. Then my friend, Brenda, looked at my almost finished quilt and noticed I hadn't put the little blocks in the sashings like the pattern required. She thought I was just using my usual don't-follow-the-pattern thing. NOPE...I just forgot to put them in. It bugged me so much I just put it back in my bag. I'll drag it out later when I think of how I want to finish it. It definitely won't end up looking like Jenny Doan's Garden Party Quilt!

Next year I'm sure I'll be more focused...maybe.

5 comments:

  1. There's no hard rules that all quilts must look alike - relax and enjoy. I don't think I could sew in a small, crowded and noisy atmosphere - maybe that's why I don't do retreats.

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  2. It is hard to get into a groove at a retreat. I take very simple patterns (and still manage to mess them up) and just try to enjoy being with other quilters.

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  3. The Garden Party quilt will be just fine. It's called creative license. Retreat are fun and distracting. Take simple, easy priojects that require minimal thinking. The retreat I go to is pretty nice in that each sewer has their own 8 ft table. Lots of room!

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  4. I've never been to a retreat! I'll remember all the good advice if I ever get the chance to attend.

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  5. Your quilt block looks very similar to the blocks I made...I forgot the sashing too and just left it that way...works for me!

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