Retreat 2016

Each summer my two best quilting buddies and I get together for a private retreat to sew and catch up.  Ellen lives 2 hours south of here so we don't get to see each other as much as we'd like.  We have a great room to work in at a local church.  We brought healthy lunches to share each day, went out to dinner one night, and Sharon's husband always cooks grilled chicken for dinner one night.  My husband gets to enjoy that meal as well and he looks forward to that.

Here is what I worked on:

Ruby, my painted Featherweight, to commemorate the Red and White Quilt and the year 2014

This is the June segment of Rajah Revisited, the 2016 Block of the Month from www.thequiltshow.com . I enjoyed making the 72 units of 2" square in a square by paper piecing--it is precise and allows me to use a wide variety of fabrics efficiently.  There are different ways to make them--that's why there is chocolate AND vanilla--pick the method you prefer.

I started a new class sample, a folded log cabin--I'll save that for another post--when it's farther along.

Then I got to work on a class sample for Fall:  Southern Star by Calico Carriage Quilt Designs.  This is my go-to quilt for gifts--all of our nieces and nephews have received one upon college graduation.  As I've given all of them away, I needed to make another sample.  I got things a bit off-kilter, as Sharon discovered when we were packing up.  My successful full day of work needed some fixing:

It is easy to get these pieces mixed up and I sure did.  So last night I spent some quality time with my stitch ripper and removed the pieces that were turned the wrong way--of course, they were interior pieces, not on the outside edge  AND only 1 star point was correct--UGH!  Boulder, Boulder, Boulder... (That's a big dam...)

 Today I fixed it:

Now it's on to the center. That will be Monday's job.  Tomorrow I teach two quilt classes and Sunday we plan to see a movie--summer heat means movies.

Ellen worked on these and more:

Her Splendid Sampler blocks around a center we all worked on a few years back

Sharon was in heaven making Antique Rose Star blocks, each one more delicious than the last:

And here we are in our send-off selfie:

It's great to spend time with friends.  We're already planning for next year.

Let's quilt!

Barbara

Featherweight TLC

I had a grand time this afternoon learning how to service and clean my Featherweight sewing machines.

Here is the Centennial, "birthdate" 8/22/1950, after her cleaning:

I installed a new LED lightbulb and she really puts out the light now. 

Diane Lowe, a friend who really knows her way around Vintage Sewing Machines, came to my house and showed me all the things I needed to know about cleaning and oiling the Featherweight.  This is no small feat when it's a 100 mile round-trip from Winchester, TN to Huntsville, AL.   We worked on this one as it is the machine I plan to carry to classes.   I have two more, one I will clean and oil myself for practice, and one I am having painted Candy Apple Red, to commemorate my 2014 year of the Red and White-By the Numbers experience.  Here is that one, before it gets painted:

I found this on Craigslist out of state and had my son pick it up for me right before Christmas.  It's "birthdate" is 4/1/1941 and has the lovely Egyptian Scroll faceplate I really love.  The clear coat and decals are about gone, this machine was really used a lot!  But it sews a beautiful stitch and is the perfect candidate for a fancy red paint job.  That will happen sometime this year so stay tuned.

For all my local friends, Diane is willing to come to Huntsville to give a class if we can get a group together who want to learn about their Featherweight machines.  This sewing machine was designed to be maintained by its' owner and it is not Rocket Science, there are just basic steps to take to keep the machine in tip-top shape.  Let me know if you are interested and we'll get a class put together.

Let's Quilt!

Barbara