Retreat Block, Prewashing Fabric and More!

Future posts

Goal number two on my February list was to take photos of book club quilts that I haven't written a post.

A couple of years ago, I started a page for these quilts; but, I haven't stuck with making progress on updating the page. Last month, I listed taking photos as a goal on my monthly list. 

This month, as I've spent some time on the page, I learned that for some books, I needed to link the photo/page with the blog post. I do need to write more posts. There are more posts to write than I thought. I do need to pull photos from an external hard drive for photos of quilts that I gave away.

Finished embroidery piece

It is no big deal. Now that I have determined what I need to move this documentation process forward, I have revised my plan. Beginning in April, I'll make my Wednesday post a blast from the past. Eventually, I'll get caught up.

My end goal is that by the end of the year I will have documented all the projects I have made which were inspired by a book. When I complete the documentation, I will publish the page for you to review. I have enjoyed the journeys my book club as taken me!

Goal number three on my list was to fully finish the embroidery piece that I purchased the frame and mat in January.

2022 Temperature block progress

I had planned to lace the edges around the mat board; but, when I was ready to start that process, I realized that I didn't have enough fabric around the edges of my embroidery. 

Prewashed and ready for the project

I ended up gluing the edge of the work to the mat board. Next I laid the mat frame on top of the embroidery. Then I laid the frame on top of all of it. My husband added a staple in the center of each side to hold the mat board and mat frame in place. It took about half an hour to finish this job. I have been procrastinating about a month to finish this piece!

In retrospect, I could have stitched a fabric around the edges so I would have had fabric available to lace. I could have also placed a layer of batting under the embroidery but, I didn't think of either option until I had finished!

I'll be taking this piece to hang on my newest granddaughter's wall when I travel to London, England next month.

Second charity top quilted

Goal number five on my list was to baste papers and stitch 30 blocks of my 2022 temperature quilt. I've stitched about 45 blocks. I am on track stitching two blocks together each day of the last two months.

On Monday, I had a Zoom session with a friend who helped me with parts of the decision making progress. I have a plan and will be moving forward with this project!

I prewashed the BOM fabrics. This was goal number six on my February list. It took me many days of hand washing a few fabrics. I checked each fabric in the kit for color fastness. Since I've dried each fabric in the dryer, there should be no more shrinkage. Interestingly, the fabric likely destined to be the road was the worst bleeder in the lot!

Goal number six on my list was to quilt on the longarm four days this month. Today was scheduled to be day four; but, there needed to be a change of plans. I quilted three days. I quilted two charity quilts, two baby quilts and one other quilt which I'll share in a later post.

Winter block

Our guild's virtual Spring Retreat begins tomorrow, February 24th. The retreat theme is "The Four Seasons." I'm in the Winter group. We were to make a block that was representative of our season. The block needed to finish at six inches. 

I pulled my blue strings and made a string block using a triangle shape to start. After I had finished the block, we were to add sashing to the sides of the block. The sashing strip came in the mail.

I look forward to seeing all the blocks that people made. I've seen a few blocks that people posted on the Facebook group page. There are some great blocks!

Sunday, February 13 was the drop off day of the blocks and the seven inch squares. We were encouraged to cut 44 seven inch squares of our season fabric. 

Because it is more than an hour drive to the drop off, I spent $5.40 and let the postal service do the driving! Last Sunday, February 20, was the pick up day. I did drive to pick up my bag. I'm waiting to open it until the retreat begins! Posting a photo of my block was goal number 13 on my February list. 

For the remaining days in February, my plan is to begin the quilting on my lone star quilt, work on the heart table runner, continue to make progress on my 2022 temperature quilt and to begin piecing the Rhododendron Trail blocks together.