May 1st in MN, Quilt Retreat & Wedding Shower

Got up this morning and wished Hubby a Merry Christmas. This is what May 1st in Aitkin, MN looked like!  😉

Drove to Fargo, ND on Friday. It was a beautiful drive and on the way I stopped at Red Pine Quilt Shop in Detroit Lakes. The quilt shop is a nice one and they have a good selection of fabrics. Friday afternoon my daughter Natalie and I shopped for decorations for Brenda's wedding shower. Brenda is my youngest daughter and she is getting married in September. Natalie and I spent Saturday looking through some fun shops in Fargo and had a nice relaxing day. Sunday morning I headed back home.

I attended a retreat from Monday, April 17th to Thursday, April 20th in Avon, MN. This is a group that retreats together three times a year. We have such a fun time, Our group has come up with a name: Rippin' Good Stitchers.

Retreaters

Retreaters

Becky was working on this quilt called Bounce by Quilting on the Curve.

At the retreat I did manage to finish another ten house blocks for Journey's End by Kim Diehl. Ten of the blocks were completed at the February retreat. Hope to finish the next five blocks before another retreat. LOL

Hugs, Beth

Guild Meeting & Block of the Month

On Tuesday, April 11th, Amanda Jean Nyberg (Co-Author of Sunday Morning Quilts) was our speaker at the Ripple River Quilters Guild in Aitkin, MN. She was so much fun to listen to. While she doesn't have the sewing background that many of my generation have, she wasn't afraid to dive in and make a quilt. Yahoo, for the younger quilters! Love seeing what they are up to.

Amanda Jean with one of her fabric storage cubes

Here are a couple of the quilts that Amanda Jean showed. Not all will be in her new book, "No Scrap Left Behind." I would personally call the bottom quilt, INSANITY!!! LOL

At the last retreat attended, I pieced ten of the blocks for Kim Diehl's "Journey's End" BOM. Normally civil war type of fabrics are not my go to fabrics, but I liked the pattern. I have been cutting out more of the blocks for my next retreat. They are 9 1/2" square. The little quilt blocks in the side of the house are 4 1/2" square. There will be a total of 25 blocks when completed.

Hope everyone has a Happy Easter.

Hugs, Beth

First Finish for 2017

Due dates for projects sure help!! LOL  I finished a quilt for " Be There But Don't Be Square " challenge at my guild, Pinetree Patchworkers, of Brainerd, MN. Members took a batch of squares home and were to bring back a quilt using a shape different than a square. I decided to use the largest 60 degree triangle that could be cut from the 6" squares I took home. Some of the squares were pieced and I used them just the way they were sewn. The center of the quilt went together very fast and I decided to call the quilt, "Scrappy Hexies."

Center of Scrappy Hexies

The border for the quilt took way too long. The leftovers of the 6" squares were pieced together for smaller 60 degree triangles to use in the border. Amazingly, it didn't take a lot of adjustment to get the borders to fit.

Adding borders

Couldn't decide what to use for binding. Finally decided to use a white and black stripe. Quilted it with curved lines inside the triangles.

Scrappy Hexies - FINISHED!!
50" x 60" 

Back of quilt

I was surprised that I was able to make the whole top of the quilt with the scrap squares with the exception of the inner border, binding and backing.

Hugs, Beth

Happenings & Huge Changes

New Location

As I look back at photos from the last year, it is amazing how much has changed. In July 2016 we moved only 50 miles but it seems like a huge distance due to the lifestyle change. We are now up in the Brainerd lakes area of Minnesota. We downsized a lot but the way the house is laid out, we do not feel like it is smaller. Hubby likes it a lot up here as much as I do. He plays cards almost everyday and in between he does some fishing.

The house we now live in allows me to have all my sewing/quilting on one level and there is a sitting area for friends to come and sew with me. My longarm machine is on the same level as well. I feel so completely spoiled!!

Sitting area

Sewing Area

2017 has been wonderfully busy.  In January and February, I was able to attend three retreats. It is such a nice way to socialize and get a lot of sewing done. One of the retreats is a group that gets together three times a year and we have a blast. (Doesn't it look like it?) We did our own photo booth on one of the days.

Sonia (on left) & me

A lot of sewing has been going on but not a lot of finishes. Hope to get some of the UFO's done.

Spring fever is hitting in a big way and I am so ready to discover all that is planted in the gardens and start to put my stamp on them. The tulips that I planted last fall have started to come up. Happy Easter!

Hugs, Beth