Winter Blues Workshop, Day 1!

I am loving the relaxing pace of our Winter Blues workshop with the September Quiltvillians!

They are on retreat.  They want to relax, sleep in a bit after sewing into the wee small hours.

I get it!  This is their vacation - they shouldn't have to deal with an early class start time.

So the plan?  Brunch at 10:30am.  Class begins at NOON!

And here we are for our 3pm beverages and nibbles on the porch in the afternoon.

Because it's retreat.

But tlet me tell you, when it's class time - it's pedal to the metal!

All the machines were humming!

And strip sets were being made!

First things first though - seam test!  Strip sets needed to measure out right, so there was some adjusting of seam allowance and test runs were made to make sure we wouldn't be fighting with block sizes down the road.

Cheers all around when quilters put the ruller down and the numbers came out right.  YAY!

Barb's beautiful flowers.  Lovely!

Strip sets being sewn.

And Morning Glories being worked on in the off hours.

So many fun fabrics everywhere!

Digging through, sorting, draping -

Cutting into already matched pairs by placing strip sets right sides together, seams nesting.

Working with short strip sets increases opportunity for more variety!  You don't end up with the same thing next to the same thing throughout the quilt.  Things look more random.  Short strip sets are our friends!

Recycled shirts - be still my heart!

Not all  Winter Blues quilts are blue!

This one will be pink!

This one will be scrappy rainbow!

And this one in black and whites! Awesome!

Sharing is caring!

And that includes sharing the cutting tables!

We've put more cutting space in the front foyer as well - it's all being well used.

After our workshop instruction time was over - folks were free to do their own thing and many scattered to the grocery store, to Walmart for different items and I headed back to the QPO studio to get some trimming done on the newly quilted Stardust quilt.

There is no doubt that string quilts are heavier due to so many seam allowances.

And that is added to by the number of seams in the backing as well - but I love a good heavy quilt for winter sleeping.

I used a large square ruler with an easily visible 1/4'' marking so I could trim the quilt 1/4'' from the star points at the edge of the quilt.

It was a binding wrestle!

I set the ironing board at table hight to my left, and behind the ironing board I set my machine pressing table to help support the weight of this big beast.

I went with a scrappy blue binding from 2'' cut strips for a double-fold 1/4'' binding that won't chop off the star points at the edge of the quilt.

 I used the extra backing margins for the scrappy hanging sleeve - 

Evenings of feet-up binding flipping and stitching ahead!

Happy Anniversary!
This was the sweetest surprise - When I walked into the studio after our workshop time I spoted this sitting on my mail order counter.
Hubster Dave must have snuck in and placed it threre while I was teaching next door.
Burgers on the grill for dinner - No cooking by me required.
44 years.  It all flies by so fast.
And today we'll be moving on to the alternate block for  Winter Blues.
But not until NOON.  Because it's retreat. We are not rushing. We are relaxing. As it should be.
Maybe a road hike up Bear Branch road later this afternoon? We'll see.

Log Cabin Love!

If you love log cabin quilts you will also love the simple scrappy paper piecing of the gently curved appearance of these blocks! 100% foundation paper pieced for scrappy perfection! Printable paper templates included.

This pattern assumes that the maker has some experience with foundation paper piecing and following a foundation paper piecing template.

Quilt Size: 90’’ X 90’’

The PDF pattern for Abundance is currently marked 25% off in the digital pattern section of the Quiltville Store - No Coupon Needed.  On sale through 8/31/25, Hurry - Just a few days left!

Quiltville Quote of the Day -

This just about sums it all up -

Have a fabulous Friday, everyone!