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!