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Enjoy your stay under the variable skies of Eastern Washington and watch the seasons change, from planting to harvest here on the farm...be sure to wrap up in a quilt during the winter, it's cold!!

Friday, November 7, 2014

Quilt Retreat and Microwave Bowls

I got home Wednesday night from the most fabulous retreat with my local guild.  Nineteen ladies spent Sunday through Wednesday morning stitching up a storm at the Palouse Divide Lodge.  The lodge is gorgeous
and this was what we woke up to
Sunday was gorgeous, but Tuesday and Wednesday the clouds must have been tired because they were down on the ground, giving the area a good soaking!!  Wednesday we had to leave by noon and the view changed to this

 It was perfect that the two days we were unloading and loading our cars were nice and dry and the days we could just stay in and sew were quite damp!  I got a bunch of sewing done - I don't get to sew much when I'm at home - I'm too busy dancing with my longarm!!!  I got the bindings on 4 quilts, made some microwave bowl holders, came up with a way to make some microwave plate holders and made two more quilt tops.
This is the Abacus quilt I made (forgot to get a picture of the other quilt I whipped out on Wednesday morning!)
I used some of my precious stash of ombre fabrics for the two new quilt tops...I'm on a bubble kick!  And then there were the microwave finger savers:
To make the plate holders, I cut 2 14" pieces of fabric, 2 13.5" pieces of microwave-safe batting, sewed the batting to the fabric, took tucks on all 4 sides 1/2" from the center line and 2" deep.  They certainly work great!  My plates are 10" and 11" in diameter and both sizes fit perfectly!   If there is any interest, I'll work up a tutorial (it would be my first!!) and put it up here.  And I'll put up a picture of my other quilt as soon as I finish unpacking!!






9 comments:

Sandy said...

Wow you got a lot done!! Love the abacus quilt! Yes to the tutorial!! I have square-ish plates I may have to adjust for the corners, but great idea!!

Jeanie said...

What a fun time you had! Love the scenery.... rainy and all.... the setting just looks so peaceful. And you really made great use of the time. Love the circle quilt..... it was a worthy project for your special fabrics!

Teresa in Music City said...

What a beautiful place for a retreat! Sometimes that's as important to me as the sewing area - it's so restorative to gaze out over God's wonderful creation, isn't it? Looks like you managed to get lots done! I have a kit to make one of those bowls - now you've got me fired up and I'm going to have to get it out and do it :)

Helen@Till We Quilt Again said...

Aren't retreats the best? Fabric, Friends and Food! Then the added extra of completed projects. I love your Ombre piece and bet you will have beautiful quilting going on there! Looking forward to your tutorial!

Soma @ inkTorrents.com said...

Beautiful place for a retreat!! No wonder you got so many pretty finishes. Talk about being inspired :)

-Soma

Mara said...

Sounds so fun, we are having low clouds and rain here for the last 2 weeks, we finally had a sunny day on Friday, love the Abacus quilt and the fabrics you used.

Janet said...

Abacus is stunning!

Gosia @ Quilts My Way said...

Wow !!! What an awesome quilt !!! Very modern.

StitchinByTheLake said...

After I read this post the other day I started looking on the internet and found a tutorial for the bowls....I've now made 15 and have requests for several more! Thanks so much for posting this - I love it! blessings, marlene