Retreat time

Spent the last 4 days on retreat with my Bee friends.  We had a great time, the 8 of us, however, 3 had to leave a day early due to other commitments.  Quite a sight to see them pack all 3 into 1 SUV along with all their sewing machines and fabric bags, etc.  It was quite quiet (hey, when do you ever get to see those two words together!) after they left as they were the talkers in our bee. We really missed them.

While there, I was able to make it down to Granbury to visit Houston St. Mercantile for a little bit, mainly to pick up their row and license plate but also to pick up some fabric to finish up a couple of the rows already started.  As for my quilting, finished up 4 more rows for the Row by Row and added the final borders to the spring quilt so here's the results.

  Now to get the back together so it can be quilted.

The rows used so far were from  Kaleidoscope Quilt Shop, Whitesboro; Lone Star House of Quilts, Arlington; Not Your Mama's Quilt Store, Plano (don't you just love the splash blocks, so fun!); Peggy's Quilt Studio, Pantego, (added some extra fish here); and Sew So Easy, Saginaw;  plus the block pattern from the row by Quilting Mayhem, Snohomish, WA.  Note, these were done with my own fabric choices so that the whole group coordinates.  I won't be sewing the blocks and rows together until I've completed all the rows so this placement may not be my final placement.

I have enjoyed doing the different techniques these rows have required.  It really has rejuvenated my quilting desire so that I'm eager to do more. I would say that so far, most of the rows have required some experience with piecing as the directions have been minimal.  The easiest so far is doing the applique (both Not Your Mama's Quilt Store and Peggy's Quilt Studio used applique as did part of the row from  Passtime.  

 It's been awhile since doing any applique so asked my bee what was the best iron-on to use now for applique.  They  recommended using Trans-Web as it's easy to use, doesn't gum up needles and allows you to re-position an applique if necessary.  Of course, all the applique needs to be machine sewn around the edges to keep it there more permanently.

The other 3 rows will be from Passtime Fabrics, Gainesville; Quilter's Dream, Colleyville; and Quilt Country, Lewisville.