From One Hill to Another

Weekly Wrap-up

Mountain Quilt Camp 2017 (a/k/a Wildcat Lake Spa Retreat) is in the books.  While I passed on the massage and olive oil hair treatment, I did head to the sewing room in my jammies a couple of days. 




View from Grigsby Hall

The Joyful Quilter and I shared a bunk room with Tiffany in Bell's Cottage up on the left.  We sewed in Grigsby, where this picture was taken.  The dining hall is just a few steps from Grigsby.  That was the extent of my world from Sunday night to Thursday morning -- not enough steps to compensate for the delicious meals three times a day!

Coconut cream pie parade

All-in-all it was a productive time.  I spent Sunday evening wrestling with ideas for the last round-robin round which is due at the guild meeting today. 

Emily's quilt

I made flying geese and pinwheels from their cutoff corners.  I made 4Ps with Grunge polka dots.  I thought and stewed and thought some more.  In the end I set it aside, hoping inspiration would strike.  And strike it finally did on Wednesday night but I didn't have time to finish until Friday at home.

Final additions to Emily's quilt

I added the strip across the top, using pieces of Emily's fabric that came along in the bag.  Then I put the miscellaneous bits I had made on the right, combining some of my fabric with bits that appear elsewhere in the quilt.  Of the five quilts I've worked on, I think this one was the toughest.   I'm glad I participated in the challenge but I don't think I will do it again.  The stress of trying to make my more traditional style fit with the improvisational style of the others took the pleasure out of the exercise. 

I spent about a day and a half assembling the RSC17 scrap jar stars into a finished top.

Scrap Jar Stars

I added a second round of sashing so that I had complete 9-patches around the edge.  Because I cut the sashing WOF, there is a lot of stretch so I will need to add a border.  Lesson learned.

A quick stop on the way home at Tennessee Quilts in Jonesborough and this plaid Kaffe Fassett fabric came home with me.

It has many of the colors that are in the stars and I'm hoping it doesn't overpower the stars.  We'll see.

I spent some time making 5 more blocks for Grand Illusion (a/k/a Grand Mess) with the units I had finished during Bonnie Hunter's 2014 mystery. 

Grand Mess

I am short a few units to complete the three more I need for a 3x4 setting.  I hope I can find enough scraps of the light gray and coral fabrics ...

In between this and that, I used the grandsons' shirt squares as leaders and enders.



Picnic quilts in progress

On Wednesday, the last full day, I finally addressed the guild paint-chip challenge which was due at the September meeting that I missed.  I wanted to experiment with shadowing and used the book Casting Shadows by Colleen Wise for inspiration.

My chip colors were Parliament Green and Coral Perfection.  It measures 5.5" x 7.5".  Not sure if I should call it an oversized mug rug or a mini.  Not my finest work, but it's done, including the quilting.

With gorgeous weather and pleasant company, the week at camp is deemed a success!  Now to get dressed and gather everything I need to take to the modern guild meeting for show and tell.

Linking with Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun than Housework.