Fall Retreat

Our annual fall retreat is close to home and always the same four friends - although sometimes someone is missing and many times people have to come and go. We've been doing this since 2016 and it works for us. I stopped taking pictures of the people and projects a few years ago. However I did take a few photos on my walks around the property. The corn around us was being picked while we were there. The fields are down in the background of the first two pictures.

We stay in this neat older farmhouse where each of us enjoy our own bedroom, and plenty of common space for quilting, knitting, crocheting, reading, relaxing, cooking and, of course, visiting.

I worked on various projects this fall and finished two quilts that just needed the binding. 

Colleen's Farm Animals is a cute 49" square quilt. All of the fabric except the backing was Colleen's. I used a blue with bright color flecks for the back - it was purchased in Holmes County in August. I quilted this with a spiral loop using Glide 40-wt #10877 sterling thread on the top and #30281 blueberry thread on the back.

There is so much texture in this quilt that it's hard to see.

I also finished Pastel Shells. (Ray calls this the Easter Quilt.) I bought the shell fabric, a pastel jelly roll, and the backing fabric (dragon flies) while traveling in August. The border and binding are a Grunge fabric from my scrap basket. This 52" square donation quilt was quilted with meandering using Glide 40-wt #10877 sterling thread.

I also sewed two tops together - I already had the blocks made for both. 

The first is Tumbling Blocks. It still needs a border.

JGQR2C is really the last of J's graduation quilt rejects. When I was cleaning up the red and grays, I realized I had enough pieces for one more quilt. This fabric was for the 2nd graduation quilt that I rejected. It is the third quilt made with the fabric for that quilt.

I enjoyed the retreat. Although I didn't accomplish as much as I used to and using a sewing machine is hard on my body, I am very grateful that I still can sew and spend time with friends. 

One evening I walked outside and saw the remains of the sunset with some fog in the low areas. A beautiful ending to a great weekend.