Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Quilt Retreat!

If you're looking for a serene setting to inspire your next quilt project, you have to check out the White Oak Bed & Breakfast in Strasburg, PA. Just a short ride from Lancaster, and with almost a dozen fabulous fabric shops nearby, it's a quilter's dream getaway location.

Owners Carol and Rob Kroth made the Notre Dame quilting ministry members feel right at home in their B&B when we stayed there this weekend: tasty Amish food + peaceful locale = lots of sewing projects completed.
I knew in advance I needed to get working on my daughter's dorm quilt. She'll be heading off to college at the end of August, so I bypassed the shopping excursions to focus on her quilt. It's going to be all batiks, lots of blues, purples and reds, with a few yellows and pinks thrown in to add sparkle. I'm using the flip-flop block, and this will be my first attempt at curved piecing. I did manage to get about 1/3 of the blocks completed, pictures to come soon.
Some of the quilters brought projects out of hibernation to work on at the retreat. Here's a black and bright wallhanging down entirely in half-square triangles:

Others came to the retreat with a clear purpose, for instance, to make a quilt for a little boy's second birthday this month:

Or to work on a wedding quilt for a special friend....

or a crib quilt for a new arrival...

The weekend flew by, but we left feeling relaxed, refreshed, and happy with our projects.

In fact it was so much fun we plan to do it again next year, in the spring perhaps! Thanks Carol and Rob for such an enjoyable weekend!






Sunday, July 11, 2010

First steps

Having created this blog more than a year ago it seems shameful that I haven't posted yet! Today that all changes...I wanted the opportunity to show off my quilts and crafts, and hope to have enough to post to make this worthwhile. Come and see what happens when I invest the time to take up needle and thread, fabric and yarn and create something beautiful.