This past weekend Wendy and Cyndy and I had our annual retreat. This time we went to Cyndy's sisters place close to Paris Ontario. It was a beautiful quiet place to get some quilting done and an awesome place for photo shoots.
We arrived on Friday before lunch and stayed till just after lunch on Sunday. Cyndy's sister and her husband were away visiting friends so they left their dogs Beau and Sam, to be our hosts. This is Beau.
And this is Sammy. Sammy is still a pup and never sits still.
It was great having the dogs with us. They made sure we got out for walks and kept us company.
We spent most of our time working on projects for the community outreach committee of our local guild but for today I'll just share the main one. These were blocks we received for our block lotto last fall. In a typical block lotto someone wins all the blocks but in this lotto we divided the blocks three ways. Two individuals won 1/3 of the blocks and the community outreach committee kept 1/3. We made a couple of blocks each to expand our flock and put them up on the design wall to figure out how to put the project together.
We originally thought we would use a white with black fabric for the sashing but we decided to use this vintage robins egg blue fabric which Wendy had brought along. Her parents recently downsized to a retirement complex and she needed to downsize her stash.
We put together the quilt top in vertical rows. We staggered the blocks in the vertical rows by putting a 2 1/2" sashing strip on opposite sides of each block. We then put a 2 12" strip between each block going down the row. Sorry I didn't think to take pictures of the process. We then spread out the rows a bit by putting a 1 1/2" strip between each row and on each of the vertical sides.
Of course we couldn't spend the weekend at a retreat without a visit to Quilt Junction in Waterford. We were half way there after all. Here is what I picked up there.
It's been a while since I visited my friend Beth at Cooking Up Quilts so I'm going to head over there right now and join the Main Crush Monday link up.
17 comments:
This bird quilt top is fabulous!
I love your bird quilt, it's adorable. I think it's so great that you have mini retreats with your friends. That sounds like so much fun. And you were sewing for a cause, which makes it even better. :)
I saw this on Instagram! I think the blue background is gorgeous with the birds! Well done to you all! How fun having a little retreat with your friends. I'm sure besides quilting and dog walking you had a lot of fun and laughs!!
Sounds like ya'll had a wonderful time! The blue was the right choice. All the birds just stand out even more! Well done!
Glad you had a wonderful time sewing, you were most deserving of some sew time. Your top photo is one of the prettiest I have seen. It's so perfect! Love the quilt and the robin egg blue is just right.
I like the way you staggered the birds in the rows, and the robin's egg blue seems to be perfect for a bird quilt background! The day sounds lovely. :)
I love how the bird quilt turned out and that robin egg blue works great for the sashing. Isn't it a sin to have a quilt retreat and not visit a quilt shop :P
Hi Lisa,
Oh, what a perfect color the robin egg blue was for these blocks! I love how some birds are facing different directions. It is a very fun project. Who will be quilting it? It looks like you picked up some fun fabrics and the quilt shop and a new book, too. ~smile~ Roseanne
I love those funky little birds, and the background really works well! Sounds like a great retreat; so glad you were able to do that!
I hope you had a wonderful retreat weekend. The birds look fabulous.
Great flock! My favorite bird is the one with really long legs and striped stockings :)
Your quilt top is beautiful and I love the way you put it together. It sounds like you all had a great weekend!
Lisa,
I came back to see the longer legs on two of the birds. I did not notice that the first time - I'm glad you mentioned it. So cute! ~smile~ Roseanne
I really like this quilt top, the blue background was a great choice against all of the beautiful bird blocks
I LOVE those birds!
That looks like a great weekend Lisa. And the duck egg blue is perfect for this quilt, that was a happy happenstance.
Aren't those birds addictive? My favorite is the yellow-blue long legged one.
I am so looking forward to the Circle of friends Quilt. Love that pattern and your fabric choices are spot on.
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