What to take to a retreat or "collecting WIPs and UFOs"

Well it's off to a quilting retreat this weekend with members of my Quilt Guild.  So I've been busy packing the things that I think I will need. 

There are works in progress....

and some fabric...

and , oh yes...some batting, and let's not forget the rotary cutter.

There we go...all packed including the toothbrush! 

and we're off for some fun stitching, laughing, eating and kibitzing with like minded individuals to see what magical fibre creations we can put together.

Happy quilting till the next time....

Done and next up

Well I have managed to complete my challenge piece for the Tangled Textiles, and August 18th is reveal day.  Here's one more little peek.

You can hop over to the blog to see what everyone in the group has produced...excitement is building.

The next thing is to clear up my worktable so that I can put together the sample quilt to promote a workshop for my Guild.  I'll be using one of the Stonehenge fabrics from Northcott, called Mojave,

and several of the Shadowplay line from Maywood that compliment the colours in the Stonehenge piece.  My friend and I are going to help workshop participants practice using some of the specialty triangle rulers out on the market.  The sample will have to be ready for September 2nd.  Yikes! how time slips by.

Next weekend I'll be attending a quilting retreat and it will be an opportunity to work on it.  I just might take along a couple UFOs to complete too.  You never can tell how motivated you can get when surrounded by several sewing machines whirring away into the wee hours of the night, mountains of fabric and the laughter of other fibre manipulators.

It's been a while

Yes, yes I know...I haven't posted in a while.  Earning a living has a way of sometimes getting in the way of creating.  However, as busy as it has been, I have had a chance to play a bit.  I thought I would start doing samples for techniques similar to what my friend Vicki has been doing on her blog.  I've been trying some things with Angelina fibres and film.  I wanted to see if I would be able to incorporate it in the challenge piece I am completing for my Tangled Textiles group. 

Here I just grabbed a clump of Angelina fibre and pressed it between two sheets of parchment paper.  I wanted it to look like water flowing down the side of an object, so I cut an edge to give it sufficient contour.  It was close to what I wanted.  If I used less fibre what would it give me?  A representation of spray?

This time I used a very small amount of Angelina and pulled it thinly apart.  This was not quite what I had in mind, but maybe if I add some beading for water droplets, it might help.

What if I used Angelina Film instead to represent water? 

I loosely crinkled the film, pressed it between two sheets of parchment paper, cut a shape and decided that this was not what I was looking for.  What if I really mashed the film?

A bit better, but still not what I was looking for.  This might look good for creating an ice cube or iceberg. Oh well back to the drawing board.  I need to hurry up and narrow this down.  The challenge reveal is in 6 days and counting.