Design Wall - Retreat

What a wonderful retreat weekend we had!  I had to come home to rest up.  Our church ladies started a retreat about five years ago.  We choose one weekend in February or March and take over the Family Life Center at our church.  The room's walls are all carpeted so every wall is a design wall.
As the weekend goes along, we fill the walls with quilts in progress, finished tops and blocks.  We leave the quilts on the walls so the church members can come view them after church service.

Here is my friend, Mary, who worked on a 10 minute baby blanket.  The center panel is regular cotton fabric.  The back that wraps around to the front is purple chenille and light blue minky.  This took her all weekend not 10 minutes  (she was not with us full time as she had to work during the day).  I don't think she would recommend using the chenille or minky again.  The backing fabrics were very difficult to work with.  We learned the technique using flannel or regular fabric at another retreat.  She persevered through the difficulties and has a beautiful finish!

 Here is her lovely label. 

 

 

 

Here's Kathy C. and Susie M. working side by side.  Notice in the background is Kathy C's Four Patch Posy being set on point.  We auditioned different setting triangle and border colors. 

 

Susie M. spent her time making a second quilt to go on the back of this quilt.  Susie makes her grandchildren's quilts reversible and designs the quilts as she goes.

 

Here is another Four Patch Posy quilt by Karen M.  Way to go Karen!  She stuck with one project all weekend and got the center assembled.

 

 

I finished my Country Threads 2013 BOM. The border went on perfectly.  Just have to piece my backing and its ready to quilt.

 

My other project with this wedding quilt with signature blocks.  This is an eleven year old project.

 

 

Barb A.(on the right)finished her Majestic Mountain quilt with no fabric to spare.  Another UFO done.

Then Barb started on her son-in-law's t-shirt quilt.  Another UFO 7 years in the making.

 

This is Kay B.  She was able to finish two quilt tops.  This one will get a border, but she had to make a run to the local quilt store to purchase fabric for the border.

This one is headed to the longarm quilter and then to Louisiana as a gift.

 

Here is Corry's Four Patch Posy ready for sashing.  We auditioned many fabrics for corner stones and sashing.  We settled on a milk chocolate brown for sashing and a sage green for corner stones. This quilt was not camera friendly.   I took many pics but none of them are very clear.

 

Corry was our quilt retreat planner.  Its the cheapest retreat, about $3 a meal, plus a small additional fee for classes.  Thank You, Corry, you did a great job.

 Corry also worked on the 2009 BOM Lincoln Quilt.  Isn't lovely.  I have made this quilt also.  My center is together, I just need to add that large outer border.  Corry and I have king size beds, so we make large quilts (112" x 112").  The lady with the big smile is our friend, Lisa, who stopped by to cheer us on.

 

Below is Nicki (on the left) with her Majestic Mountain quilt in progress and her mom, Donna.

They were working on this baby quilt together.

 

Maribel's bright, cheery quilt. 

 

Kathy O's Legacy Sampler Quilt.

Kathy O's (in the dark red) chain piecing.  Look at those big smiles. 

 

Finally, a preview of the Washington Tornado Recovery quilt project.  These little blocks are only

3 1/2" big!

Stay tuned for more information.  I will be posting the paper piecing pattern soon or my friend, Cathy, will send you all the pieces die cut and you can just sew a block together.  Their goal is to make 1000 of these mini blocks in remembrance of the 1000 homes destroyed or damaged by the tornado on November 17, 2013, in Washington, IL. 

 

It is snowing and blowing here this morning and we are expecting 4-7 inches of new snow. 

 

Today I am linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times.

 

Yours in quilting,

Terry