MORE Fabric!

"Hello. My name is Beth Schnellenberger, and I am a fabric addict!" Yep, I said it. When you look at my stash, you would think I don't need any more fabric. Well, I bought some more fabric.

On the left, you can see the contents from two of the other baskets I bought at the live auction at the PUPs Retreat in Memphis. (They auction off baskets of goodies to raise money for their next big retreat. I always buys a basket or two to support their efforts. If you'd like to see my "Kiss Me Goodnight" basket, check it out here.) I bought a basket of mostly yellows ("Hello Sunshine") and a miscellaneous box ("This & That"). I did give away some of the fabric, a ruler, and a couple of patterns from the two that I didn't think I would use. Besides the fabric, the basket contained some hand-stitched coasters, ten cloth hankies, some thread, and a Curtis Boehringer pattern. I am a collector of Curtis Boehringer quilt patterns; I have all twelve months of his snowmen patterns. I was excited to see this one included in the box.

On the right you can see MORE fabric. Unfortunately, our local Ben Franklin store is closing. It is the last place in my town to purchase good quality quilting fabric. I stopped by before I went to my latest quilt retreat and found that the fabric had been marked down 80%. The fabric had a pretty good presale price, so 80% off made it irresistible. I bought all that was left on these bolts for $1.29 per yard. I figure I can use most of the fabric for charity quilts. I like the bright fabrics for the kid's quilts I make.

Hopefully, I'll have a chance to get another charity quilt top made at my next retreat. We'll see.

 

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Cabin Fever Autumn Retreat-Spring Mill 2016

I just got back from my latest quilting retreat. It was held at Spring Mill State Park in Mitchell, IN. Everyone tells me to be sure to share what the attendees do at the retreat, so her you go...

Here's what I got done. (I know, I know, it doesn't look like much.) But...

I got a dozen 6 1/2" blocks and two 3 1/2" blocks for my 365 Challenge done, one 15" block for a BOM, ten 6 1/2" blocks and LOTS of partial blocks for charity quilts (not pictured). I'd like to have gotten more done, but those 365 blocks take FOREVER!!! I'll be working on more of them at the next retreat in a couple of weeks.

We have such a nice room at the Spring Mill Inn. We each have a big table (although, that isn't enough for some people). LOL!

I don't know if they do it every year, but this year a group of these quilters made a challenge quilt. They really look different based on the fabric selection. Some got totally finished with the quilts--quilted and bound. Some just got their tops done, and some people only finished some of the blocks.

There are almost always children's quilts at a retreat. The owl quilt was made by some little children with the help of grandparents (I think). The rest of the quilts below are baby quilts.

There were LOTS of different projects.

Robin worked on some table runners/table toppers.

We all always have a good time at this retreat. I look forward to it every year.

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Getting a Little Work Done

I have spent the day working on getting things ready for my next retreat and machine quilting on my latest art quilt (Scorched Earth). I also spent a bit of time washing fabric purchased at my last retreat. The "Kiss Me Goodnight" basket of red and black fabric I purchased for $50 contained approximately 35 yards of fabric--what a GREAT deal! Check out the pile of fabric that came out of that little red basket. (It was rolled as tightly as it could be and STUFFED into that basket. I had NO idea there was that much fabric in there.) I see a red and black quilt in my future!

Last night I had a chance to quilt a few hours on my Bouquets for a New Day quilt. I'm really liking the texture created by the hand quilting.

I have a long way to go on this quilt, but I really enjoy hand quilting. I look forward to sitting down with Nate in the evenings and spending time with him and this quilt!

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Fall Retreat 1 of 3

I am SO fortunate to be able to do a lot of quilt "retreating." I have three retreats in October; the first of which was last weekend. That retreat is put on by the PUPs Quilt Guild and is held at a retreat center in Bartett, Tennessee. This guild knows how to put on a retreat! They have a group of people meet you at the door to unpack your car and deliver ALL your "stuff" to the appropriate room (sewing room or bedroom). That is worth the price of admission right there. But that is not nearly all they do.

When we arrived in our classrooms, our places were marked with a name tag, and lots of "swag." It included a bag of M & Ms, a home-made cell phone/tablet holder, a fat quarter of fabric, a Frixion pen, a ball point pen, a ruler, a plastic storage bag, a paperweight with the guild logo, and a home-made mat with pockets for our sewing machine.

The retreat committee worked for two years on raising money, making items for "swag," snagging a well-known teacher, accumulating items for the silent auction and the live auction, putting the baskets for the auction together, putting the guild teacher classes together, putting together and quilting four quilts to give away at the retreat, and SO much more.

This retreat (offered every other year) has a "feature teacher." This year's teacher was Denise Green a certified Judy Neimeyer instructor. The first night shd had a trunk show.

Her classes are included in the price of the retreat. I chose not to take any of her classes, but the people who did RAVED about her as a teacher. You can check her out at her site. Here are pictures of the work from her classes.

Classes were also taught by guild members. Here are pictures from those classes--a string quilt class, a 3-D pillow class, and a modified Dresden plate class.

There was also a thread play class.

They had a challenge this time too. The theme was time. Julie was the big winner.

They have a silent auction and a live auction at the retreat to make money for the next retreat. I got two items from the silent auction--a plastic thread keeper/case for $2, two yards of heavy duty stabilizer for $1, and a Moda Frivol tin that included the pattern and fabric for a small quilt for $10. I was thrilled! At the live auction, lots of different baskets were available. I think there were more than 65 items in all. I scoped them all out and listed the top six or seven I was interested in. I ended up getting three baskets--This & That, Kiss Me Goodnight, and Hello Sunshine. (They gave all the baskets very clever names.)

I love this retreat--I get to visit with friends, learn something new, buy quilting supplies at a great price, and have a truly wonderful time. I'm already looking forward to the next one.

I'm leaving for my next retreat in less than a week. I'm hoping to get some more of my 365 Challenge done and work on my "artsy" string quilt. Stay tuned.

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New Extreme Embroidery Project

Not long ago, I bought a Yazzii bag. What is a Yazzii bag you might ask, well...at my last retreat, one of my friends had a small bag with her. She had it filled with her wool applique supplies. She had decorated the front of it with the cutest wool applique project. I really loved it and thought it would be very useful, and decided I "needed" one. I ordered one that was a bit larger than hers. This is what mine looked like when I got it. I put the ruler beside it so you could see how large it is.

(I know, I know...you are saying what's the big deal--why did she want one of these "ugly" bags.) Well, this is what my bag looks like now. I decided to draw a design and use my "extreme embroidery" to decorate the front of the bag.

I took the "ugly," undecorated bag with me on our trips to Colorado, Arkansas, and Lake of the Ozarks (which we did the last three weeks). I worked on my "extreme embroidery" for the cover while we were gone. It is REALLY a good thing I can stitch in the car. I finished it during the trip and appliquéd it to the bag when I got home. Here is how I did the finishing.

I blocked the piece and colored around the edges of the embroidery using my black Pentel Gel Roller for Fabric. (In this picture, you can see I have colored around three of the edges--not the top.)

I finished coloring the edges and cut it out.

I was a bit concerned about the middle of the embroidery piece being too loose, so I added MistyFuse the front of the bag. (Just enough so it would be covered by the embroidery.)

I also covered the back of the embroidery with MistyFuse and ironed it (MistyFuse to MistyFuse) to the bag. (Jane Dunnewold told us in a class I took from her that if you want something to stay fused when using MistyFuse put MistyFuse on BOTH pieces.) After fusing, I used a blanket stitch to attach the edges to the bag. I'm pleased with it.

I got my "large" Yazzii bag from Amazon here, but it is available from lots of places. The bags come in other sizes and colors. Mine is about three inches deep and has eight different pockets along with a deep compartment where I store balls of pearl cotton. I'm really happy with it. (I'm not affiliated with Amazon or Yazzii in any way. I'm just a happy customer.)

I'm off to visit my sister and head to another retreat (my first of three in October)! I'm hoping to have some retreat photos to share with you. Stay tuned.

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23rd Annual Juried Art Exhibition at Krempp Gallery

I mentioned in an earlier post that I had a piece juried into an exhibit here in Jasper, IN, at the Krempp Gallery held during the month of September. Well, yesterday I finally had a chance to see the exhibit.

This show is an "all-media" show. There was only one fiber piece in the entire show (as often happens in exhibits like this)--mine...

My piece, "Then We Pray"

This piece ("Residuum" which was labeled "mixed media") by Gweneth Dunleavy. I would consider it a fiber entry too (although she didn't list it as such in her description).

There was sculpture

(Top--"Aquagirl," limestone, by Eric Harmon; Middle--"Pseudochlea," foam and fiberglass, by Bob Zasadny; Bottom--"Hyperbolic Parabolids," foam and fiberglass, by Bob Zasadny)

(Left--"Crossing Over," mixed media, by Pamela Deaton; Right--"Safe Haven," mixed media, by Pamela Deaton)

and LOTS and LOTS of drawing and oil painting (again typical for an "all-media" exhibit).

(Top Left--"Southwestern," Honorable Mention, oil, by Wyatt LeGrand; I didn't get the name of the apple painting; "Great Gray Pumpkin," Honorable Mention, acrylic on canvas, by Kathy Houghton; Left Middle--"Shop Talk," pastel, by Laura Pommier; Bottom Left--"Building Demolition," Honorable Mention, oil on canvas, by Todd Snyder; Right--both pieces by Charlene Jobe, oil on linen)

I think it is always interesting to see what the juror chooses for awards. The top left was given an "Award of Excellence," the top right was given an "Award of High Honor," and the bottom was given the "Best of Show."

(Top Left--"Sentinel," oil on canvas; Top Right--"Shenandoah: Daughter of the Stars," oil on canvas; Bottom-"Sisterhood," pastel, by Laura Pommier)

Of course, I haven't shown you nearly ALL of the exhibit. If you'd like to see it in person, it will be open through September 30th, 2016. The Krempp Gallery (in Jasper, IN) is open Monday-Friday-8:30 am-5:00 pm, Thursday's- 8:30 am-7:00 pm, and Sunday's-Noon-3:00 pm.

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