Sunday, January 17, 2016

I'm Back!


Retreatin' and Meetin'

As I suspected, I was not able to connect to the internet last week at Rock Island State Park. Oh, well, there was nothing earth-shaking to report, anyway.

The yellow/gray exploding pineapple that was supposed to be finished on Day 1, took the better part of two days.


Exploding Pineapple
All I had to do was insert the sashing between the rows and add the borders. But it's a big quilt and I had to fussy-cut the sashing and make sure the blocks lined up. I'm sure eating and visiting with our neighbors had nothing to do with the time it took ....



It came out to be a nice queen size (I borrowed The Queen's bed -- only one in the cabin -- for this photo shoot). I'm not totally happy with the cornerstones in the border (not shown) -- they're kinda klunky -- so I may rework them. I'll put the back together this week and this will probably be the next thing to go to the LAQ.

With the time left in Day 2, I tried working on RSC16 Twinkler Stars for the column-along, however my Tri-Recs (a/k/a Peaky and Spike, a/k/a V-Block) units were coming out 1/8" too narrow. (Sorry, I forgot to photograph.) I could probably fudge the difference in the seam allowance but I was just so annoyed that despite my careful attention to detail they were not accurate. They NEVER are!!! Am I the only one who despises them???

So I shifted my attention to the borders on Celtic Solstice. (Another lost photo op.) Turns out if I used the narrow light inner border that the pattern called for, the pieced borders would be a block short. I had enough extra fabric to make more blocks but guess what? That pieced border is made from Tri-Recs units and I just wasn't in the mood -- wonder why .....

I decided on Day 3 to start something new. All the pieces for Starfall were cut at Diana's New Year house party so it should have been easy-peasy.  Two days later I had only finished 3/4 of the blocks. Granted, I started with the largest and most complex ....

Starfall - a sampling of Blocks C-A

The remaining stars have wonky star points so they should go quickly. All the mis-matched size blocks go together with filler rectangles. That one dark grey in the center is not really that dark in real life.

It was a somewhat productive week but, in the end, Geese on the Move never saw the light of day ...

I'm not complaining. It was a wonderful week with great friends. The weather was perfect (and cold). And I was able to get away from the pressures at home for a bit. (MIL is still holding her own, BTW.)

Saturday was a sew-day at the modern guild meeting. I worked on a name tag which I will share with you in another post.

Four weeks coming up with very little on the calendar. Maybe it's time to do some cleaning and organizing in the sewing room ....

Linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times.

8 comments:

  1. Your pineapple quilt is amazing! Glad you had a wonderful retreat. Cleaning and organizing is never fun. Enjoy the next four weeks

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  2. Well, at least the pineapple exploded well...
    Are your tri-recs blocks a smidge too tall, or are they spot on?

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  3. Your queen quilt is gorgeous! I've never had any luck with the tri rec templates either. I believe I don't line up the parts in just the perfect position. I chose to paper piece that unit and make the remainder of the block the traditional way. It worked for me.

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  4. Your pineapple quilt is looking great! I share your frustration with Tri-Recs units, the only way I can get them to come out true to size is to paper piece them, not so fun. Glad you were able to get away and enjoy the time with your friends at retreat.

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  5. I love your pineapple quilt. Those colors work so well together! Absolutely beautiful!

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  6. Congratulations on the progress you did make at the retreat. I really like your Starfall blocks. It reminds me of a rainbow right after a storm.
    Marlene
    marlene@coveredinstitches.com

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  7. The pineapple quilt turned out beautifully. I always have to use scant quarter inch seams when I use my tri-recs rulers or my blocks turn out a bit short. Congrats on all the progress last week, there was a lot even if you didn't get to a complete finish on any one project.

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  8. Sounds like a productive week to me. The pineapple quilt is looking spectacular. I still really love the grey and yellow together and like the look of your border fabric too.

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