Retreat Wrapup

I made it home safely and DH helped me unpack the car.  I still have lots of stuff to return to the basement sewing room but that's a task for another day.  It was a great retreat, though a much smaller crowd.  Of those that stayed home, one had Covid, one had the flu, and one had an ailing husband, so the remaining nine of us could really spread out in the very spacious sewing room.

Ruth spent her entire time making a HUGE commissioned T-shirt quilt -- so big I couldn't get the whole thing in the photo! It contains pieces of nearly 40 T-shirts.  Talk about heavy!

Nancy finished her French Braid quilt she began in a 2010 class.  She debated about adding the outside borders because it was already quite big, but she was pleased with her decision once it was done.

My second almost-finish is Granny's Stars, a pattern by Nancy Mahoney.  According to my paperwork, the pattern appeared in a 2009 issue of  Fons and Porter magazine.  I took this class with her in 2016.

I was curious if the block had a name, so I searched in Judy Martin's 1998 The Block Book  and she called it Blackford's Beauty, except her block doesn't have the little white strips.  Personally, I think that's what "makes" the block so interesting.  

Working on an older project has its own set of problems.  I started this project on a different machine and I think I have improved my quarter-inch seam over the intervening years so it was a bit of a challenge getting things to fit.  Thankfully, all the pieces were cut and many of them had been clipped together in blocks.  Still, it was a challenging puzzle and I'm pleased with the result.  

The pattern calls for a 6-1/2" border with LOTS of applique.  Not my cup of tea.  I do think it needs something so I will be looking at what batik I might  have that would be appropriate.