Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Fat Quarterly Retreat Wrap Up (Pt 2)

Sunday at the Fat Quarterly Retreat was as chock-a-block as Saturday was!  The ladies were in full spirits all chatty and giggly and classes were packed full.  It was fantastic having two full-on days of Fat Quarterly goodness.  What did my Sunday look like?

First I had a freezer paper piecing class with Kerry.  If you have a chance to take a class with her, do it.  She is FILLED with energy and enthusiasm, so it makes the whole class fun.  Kerry gave us several different freezer paper piecing patterns to choose from depending on our comfort and experience level.  They ranged from basic triangles to those with Y-seams.  Each one would make a super cute little pin cushion.


Before we started, though, Kerry tossed out little bundles of Liberty prints for each of us to use/take.  You should have seen the scramble!  Who was in the middle of it all, but Miss Susan?  Couldn't keep that one away from the deliciousness!


Once the frenzy settled down a bit, we got to sewing.  This was my first time using freezer paper, so there was a little learning curve.  Still, it's easy enough to get the hang of it in a morning.  My only problem was that the freezer paper would not stick to my solids.  Argh!  Anyway, some of my seams are a little off as it kept falling off and I kept re-applying it...or at least that's my excuse for now.




There's Susan again, with Laura Jane, right in the front row...


And Fiona (above) and Karen (below) diligently working away....


In the end I made a little hexie pin cushion.  As it's my first time freezer paper piecing AND doing Y-seams I'm pretty pleased.  I do wish I had some rice or something more weighty to fill it with.  Next time.



Next to our class was an English paper piecing class with Tasha.  And who did we find there, but Kat the amazing, who was making hexies and...



Leanne who flew all the way over from Canada!  Goodness!  Leanne was my best "surprise" find as we did not really know one another before this retreat, but I really enjoyed her company.    


There were also impromptu classes throughout the weekend.  Here, Trudi was giving a demonstration on sketching/designing free motion quilting patterns.  To watch her draw was just amazing.  She's incredibly fluid with that little pencil and baking paper!  Later she did a hands on demo with her sewing machine so we could all see how "easy" it was to do!  She was amazing.



There was also a great buzz around the Siblings Together project as they were coming to collect any donated quilts over the weekend.  Here's our lovely Hadley stitching on her label...a little last minute for you, missus.  That's not your style at all!


Sunday afternoon I took a frame purse class with Katy, our tattooed quilter.




Once we cut out our patterns, we were allowed to play with glue!  You should have smelled the toxic fumes coming off of that stuff.  And with some stitching, gluing and scissor-shoving we made a gorgeous little purse.  I absolutely loved the process and can't wait to make a second one.

My class was, once again, filled with fabulous personalities.  Here we have Mary and Trudi distracting Terri, Hadley and Lucy from there stitching....


Lucy keeping her composure to the best of her ability...


Mary with that glue...again...

and Hadley telling us how it should be done.


Ta-Da!  We each made a gorgeous purse.  I love the Melody Miller prints used here.


I went with Echino and fussy cut a few little birds for the front and back.  They make me happy.  It's lined with a lime green solid that suits the flecks of green in the flowers and leaves.



There's my full Fat Quarterly experience.  I had a fantastic weekend with these spectacularly lovely, creative, funny, charming, supportive, encouraging, inspirational women.  I'm already counting down the days 'til next year!

24 comments:

Unknown said...

LOVE your birdy purse! Very very cute!

Linda Coleman said...

love, love, love that purse you made Cindy. I have turned a very dark shade of green while sitting here reading all about your fab weekend.

Susan said...

Thanks for all the great photos! Love the birdie purse! So pleased you enjoyed Leanne's company! She is a fabulous quilter and I love her blog!

Lynne said...

Oooo! such fun!

Isisjem said...

Your purse is gorgeous - inspired fabric choice. So glad you had so much fun!

mammafairy said...

Gorgeous purse!
looks like you all had a wonderful time!

Super, hope you do it again next year!

Sarah @ FairyFace Designs said...

Ooooh, look at that, what a great post, love all your pics!! And your purse is fab :-)

verykerryberry said...

Great piccies again! loved your little pinnie- sometimes if the fabrics have got a treatment on from manufacturer it can create a barrier- I guess prewashed is best and plenty of heat with freezer paper too! lovely to meet you x

Mrs Flying Blind... said...

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too many photos!!!
It was great fun though eh! xxx

Archie The Wonder Dog said...

I love your pin cushion! (Was just about to say that FP is best with washed fabric but Kerry beat me to it!) Your purse is fabulous, I think I'm going to have to make one!!

Leanne said...

This is a wonderful post, and I was so pleased to meet and hang out with you too!

kathy said...

THANK YOU for posting photos of all these blog writers that I read but have no clue what they look like.
Thank you!!!
This sounds like a great venue that would be fun to go to. I hope it returns.
We have something similar but bigger at www.sewexpo.com in Puyallup, Washington. Lots of classes, lots of vendors, lots of visiting.

Anonymous said...

I love your little purse, and pin cushion!!! Looks like there was a lot of fun happening their! Green with envy!
Linda from Canada

Canadian Abroad said...

Great post you!! Made me laugh and made me want to go back and sort through Kerry's scraps again! Loved meeting you and when I finally catch up on sleep will be chatting again.

Strawberry Patch said...

LOVE LOVE LOVE you! I am missing everyone so much, cannot bring myself to blog! I cannot WAIT for next year :-)

www.randomthoughtsdoordi.com said...

another wonderful recap of FQ retreat weekend. Love your purse. You might have to duck and cover because you posted a few real photos of Hadley...and she was not hiding. I think it is a rumor that she is camera shy! Ha!

Nicky said...

Love your photos! You actually got people smiling! If you liked frame purse making perhaps you'd like to join a swap?

http://www.flickr.com/groups/fqlondon2012/discuss/72157630065421224/

Cherie said...

That looks and sounds like it was a lot of fun! So crazy to be able to put pictures to faces.
Love your pincushion and pouch =D


I'm having a giveaway on my blog. Feel free to stop by and enter (if you haven't already) =D
http://ibescheraldine.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/official-150th-post-giveaway.html

Di said...

Love your purse and pin cushion. There were great classes all weekend. Di x

CitricSugar said...

Thanks for documenting the retreat so well! It's really great for those of us that couldn't make it to see how much fun you had and live vicariously through your posts and photos. :-)

patchworkdelights said...

Sounds great Cindy, fantastically productive too. FINALLY to put faces to names!! Hope you are not getting rained out of it over in the West? Fi

Cille said...

Wahhhh... I so want to go next year after reading all the post weekend posts. Looks like you had the best of times.

Rhonda the Rambler said...

Ok...now that FQ is out of the way (oh wait did that sounds bitter? hehehe) can we get on with the bee? (oh Lordy did that sound impatient?). I guess I am a bit bitter and impatient. LOL

Katy Cameron said...

Ahhh, so you were high over dinner that night... ;o)

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