Me and Jonathan Livingston Seagull ...

It's been alnost a week since I arrived home from my November long weekend quilting retreat.  Six of us ladies packed up and headed upisland for a weekend of quilting at a charming beach house in Bowser, just north of Qualicum Beach.  The majority of us arrived on Thursday, November 7th and we were there for four nights.  Two eager beavers quilters wanted an extra day so they went up on Wednesday and stayed 5 nights.

And WOW what a great weekend!  This was our first retreat together and here are the highlights:

1.  We were RIGHT at beach level in a 6 bedroom rancher.  The kitchen window faced the ocean and every morning we were met with beautiful sunrises (for those up early enough...like me!) and a visiting seagull who perched himself on a rock which was visible when the tide was out.  I nicknamed him Jonathan Livingston Seagull (of storybook fame).  I also spotted some rather large eagles with an approx. 6 foot wing span.  What magnificent creatures!  What I noticed about these eagles is that they were at the seashore.  I've only ever seen eagles perched in trees or soaring...never at sea level so that made me curious. So to google I went and found this:

What do Bald Eagles eat?

Bald Eagles are primarily scavengers. Whenever possible they find and eat dead food like spawned-out salmon or road-killed animals. Their favourite food is fish, but they will eat small mammals like rabbits and water birds like ducks or gulls.

(source:  http://www.hancockwildlife.org/forum/viewtopic.php?showtopic=949

Food!  What a good reason!!  I guess they must settle for small land critters near home but by the seashore, they have plenty of other prey to choose from.

You can see the tip of the rock to the left of the bush.  This is where Jonathan Livingston Seagull was perched

 2.  You can sew into the wee hours without interruptions with like minded ladies.  And sew we did!  After we set up our work stations we pretty much dug right in to our projects. I'm very pleased with my progress (pictures to follow below) and so were my buddies.

3.  We each took turns cooking so we were able to keep the costs for the retreat down.  Affordable and fun is a great combo!   I made eggs benny for the girls on Sunday morning and also made my Linguine Marco Polo with chicken and mango cream sauce for dinner on Sunday evening.  That means I had Thursday, Friday and Saturday with no chores, which of course meant more sewing!  Our bellies were very happy with everyone's contributions and we were amply fed.  It seemed that we went home with more food than we brought.  A loaves and fishes moment for sure!

Smells good whatever she's making!  Thanks Linda!

4.  HOTTUB!  There was a hottub on the deck which was a wonderful treat after the sewing muscles were flexed beyond the comfort zone.  Birds overhead, waves lapping at the shore, fresh air...you get the idea.

And now, without further adieu, here are some more photos of the fabulous fall retreat of the "Bodacious Babes of Bowser" (in no particular order).

My first project:  A baby quilt.  I started by cutting 5" charm squares from my four colours
and the white background fabric.

Blocks on the design wall

Adding the prairie points

Tricky but I got 'er dun!

And done!

i

Diane relaxing...that's what retreats are all about right!?

Linda's cooking dinner; Pam is calculating setting blocks.  My work station on the right

Drie brought her trusty featherweight and worked in the livingroom

Linda's fabulous quilt

Linda's second quilt.  Great pattern and colours!

Borders now on for Linda's awesome Kaleidoscope

View from our livingroom

Cozy fire for those chilly November mornings and Terry's sewing area.

Pam working on her window design wall

Pam's almost  finished quilt top for her mother-in-law (borders to follow)

Busy at work

My second project, another UFO called Tennessee Waltz

When I arrived all the snowball blocks were done but I had to build the star blocks

And DONE!!!  Except for the borders that is...

Third UFO project:  I had to unpack these components and then remember how to put the blocks together.

Another quilt top UFO done!  My third project done. So happy!

 

Sunrise is gorgeous!  View from our kitchen

Terry cutting fabric for her king sized diamond quilt

Terry cutting her diamonds

Can't believe she got it done.  Nice!

And on Monday we headed home...back to reality... and these furry bundles of love were very excited to greet me after my absence.  I was unpacking and cleaning up my sewing room that evening with some company...pretty darn cute!

Snuggled down in her favourite corner is Miss Sophie

Cooper fast asleep in my sewing room keeping me company.

Busy weekend!!!

It's Sunday night and I'm ready to collapse in exhaustion after my weekend, but it's a happy exhaustion!

Firstly, I finally got my Easy Street quilt top done!  SUCH a relief!!  I was a little worried that it was going to scream YELLOW but I like it!  and it's going to my nephew who has seen a picture and he loves it...and after all, that's what counts, right?

And here's the MAMMOTH quilt backing for Easy Street.  You may not be able to tell very well in the picture but the centre is a bunch of leftover block components with a strip of blue on either side.  The quilt backing was still shy about 2" on each side so I ended up adding some of my leftover reds as an outside border.  It was hard wrestling that baby through the machine but I got it done.  And then I delivered it to Jeni Mummery of Quilted on the Rock long arm quilting for quilting.  I should get it back about the 3rd week of November which will give me time to bind it before I give it to my nephew for Christmas.

And the best part?  I got it done before the next mystery starts!  I'm very excited about that.

And if that wasn't enough activity for the weekend, I also did some of this:

It doesn't look like much but I sorted and cut 1 1/2 bags of scraps and the Easy Street leftovers.  That's a stack of bricks on the front.  They measure 3 1/2 x 6 1/2 and I will use those for Bonnie Hunter's pattern called Bricks and Stepping Stones.  I was thinking of doing that in Christmas fabrics.  After all, I've got a ton of reds leftover and if I can cut some other fabrics from my stash into bricks it should work together quite quickly.  The goal was to clean up my sewing room.  I like to tidy and put away after a project is completed.

Oh yeah, and I also prepared the binding for Easy Street and tucked it away until it comes back to me.  So enough for one day!

And now, this girl needs some sleep!

Until next time,
Mavis

Starting new quilt and finishing one...

I had a sewing day with my satellite group on Saturday,  My goal was to get a start on a baby quilt for a baby shower I'm hosting on November 27th.  I've been waiting for the inspiration.  The parameters are "no brown, traditional".  So I've chosen the pattern Four Patch on the Diagonal and spent the majority of the morning cutting my blue scraps.  I did manage to get 2 squares done and a bunch of the little four patches made.

Another thing that happened on Saturday...I purchased some companion fabric for my batik bolt (far right) which I'm going to use for the Celtic Soltice mystery quilt that is being hosted by Bonnie Hunter at Quiltville .  First clue is just after the US Thanksgiving so now I'm all ready!

And lastly, I felt inspired yesterday to finish a UFO.  I decided it was time to quilt this one.  It's been quilt top/UFO for over a year so its time has come.  So I played with free motion quilting and got it done.  So another baby quilt is done and another UFO is OFF the list!  That makes for a good day.  The feeling of finishing something is so rewarding that I wonder why I wait so long sometimes.

This pattern is by Deborah Cohen and is called "Giraffe at Kilimanjaro".  It is published by Ruth Arbee of Arbee Designs.  I modified the pattern slightly by evening out the black borders (they were offset and bugged me) and adding the batik piano key border.  The back is green batik.  This is for a baby boy named Koen and hopefully I will get to present it to him soon!

And now it's Monday.  Right brain on hold, left brain going to work.  Happy Monday everyone!

Mavis

Foray into the Modern World...

Modern Quilting World that is...

The Victoria Modern Quilt Guild had their inaugural meeting in September and will be meeting again on October 17, 2013 at Satin Moon Quilt Shop.  The link is here to the site/blog.

ANYWAY...since the inaugural meeting I've been working on a modern quilt and am pleased that I was able to put the finishing stitches into the binding on a recent trip to Vancouver during 'waiting room' time.

I purchased the Dahlia fabric and the grey solid  locally at Capital Iron.  I purchased them together unsure of what I would make; I just loved the fabric.  I added the lime green as the accent colour after a consult with my DH.  Tried orange but too overpowering.  Anyway this is the result...

I quilted it with just random (as in not measured distances between) straight lines which I was able to do on my domestic sewing machine.  I kinda called this my 'instant gratification project' because it went together so quickly with the big blocks.

And now back to my regularly scheduled UFO projects.  Today is Thanksgiving Day in Canada and while the turkey and other items are baking away I'm hoping to sneak away and work more on my Easy Street which has been hanging  drooping (see what I mean below) on my design wall for way too long.  How long?  Well, Bonnie Hunter is set to start another mystery which means it's been in progress for a year.  I think it will be the next quilt to be called finished.  Such a wonderful word 'finished' when used in the quilting realm.

I'm quite enjoying my foray into the modern quilting world.  I think my Easy Street colours are also kinda edgy, modern and definitely away from what my regular palette might include.

Here's a sneak peak and my first corner of "Easy Street".  I've started assembling the rows and am doing the pieced setting triangles as I go.  I was thinking that the final borders would be red (inner border) and grey (outer border) but am now thinking of picking up the blue, which I do have enough of.  We shall see!  Anyway, without further adieu, top left corner of Easy Street:

And now back to the kitchen to check on the list.  We have 10 for dinner tonight.  But I'm still determined to get some sewing time in today before back to work tomorrow.

Until next time,
Mavis

in my inbox...

I received this email yesterday from a friend in my satellite group:

"Thought you might me interested in the Downton Abbey fabric that is coming soon.

See you soon.Cher"

SHUT!  UP!  REALLY !!???  GASP!

I had heard in the news that there was going to be a line of Downton Abbey products.  I guess that's a natural outcome of such a popular program with an almost cult following.  I guess I figured there might be Downton Abbey fabric but I thought it would be more for house furnishings and drapes/decor than quilting.  But guess what??

I WAS WRONG!!!

Not only is there fabric, but Ebony Love of Love Bug Studios is hosting an online Downton Abbey Mystery Quilt Along.    You have to subscribe and I sure did!  (click the link above to register).  It starts on Sunday, November 10th just before the new Bonnie Hunter Quiltville mystery comes out, so sadly I've had to pick one or the other.  I am going to do something different this year and play with Ebony as it just so happens to coincide with my November quilting retreat that weekend.  I will be following Bonnie's mystery and saving the steps and will decide after the Quiltville quilt is revealed whether I will make it.  If you've never done one of Bonnie's mysteries, I encourage you to live on the wild side and jump in!  You can follow Bonnie on her blog here.

The Downton Abbey fabrics will hit the stores in November.  I'm just hoping that one of our local quilt shops will carry the line.  I've chosen my character - the Dowager - mostly because of the colourway.  But I really love her character on the show.  You can check out the colourways/characters here. but here's a peak:

Anyway, check out the badge underneath my UFO list on the right.  Wanna come play too?

Until next time, counting down the days to November 10th when the mystery starts!

Mavis

First Finish for September! "Tuscan Hillside"

It feels SO GREAT to get this quilt finished.  The idea for this quilt came from this one called "Trailing Hearts" which I finished about 8 years ago.  It was a class with Denise Gunn who was then teaching at Muriel's Sew and Surge on Admirals Road.

Trailing Hearts...the inspiration for Tuscan Hillside

Tuscan Hillside

I wondered what would happen if I replaced the hearts with grape clusters and the flower/heart vine with grapevine.  Then I asked my friend Celia, who has an embroidery machine, if she might be able to embroider some grapes in squares.

This was the start:

I wanted 2 different varieties and she did a great job.  Thanks Celia!!

From there I worked on the log cabin blocks.  Once again I stuck to batiks and so glad I did!

And then played on the design wall:

Then last November at my retreat I played with the vine and grape leaves.  This has been in the UFO pile for a few years.  I'm not sure why I procrastinated, but I can finally say IT'S DONE!!!

And here is the result after Teresa Ranson quilted feathers on the diagonal for me:

Tuscan Hillside - completed September 15, 2013

Now, off to amend the UFO list.  Another one done!  Such a good feeling to complete something.

Credits:  Embroidery by Celia Modell, machine pieced by Mavis Reynolds, machine quilted by Teresa Ranson.

Until next time,

Mavis

New this week...

I haven't posted for awhile.  It's not because there was nothing noteworthy, but because it's been a very, very busy summer with work, B&B, quilting for Calgary flood victims, and new puppies.

Here are a couple of finishes:

Strings Quilt from LOJ Quilters for Calgary Flood Victims

Off to Calgary!

Closeup of quilting

More to follow.  Just a quick post today.  Off to kiss the puppies goodbye and then to work.

Mavis