Thursday, January 22, 2015

Annual MLK Quilt Weekend

The Brown Baggers have been holding an annual MLK quilt weekend for a very long time. The past couple of years, we've been sharing the hotel with assorted youth hockey teams which has made for some interesting experiences. This year's group was the best behaved group of young men ever, unlike other years where the kids were literally hitting a ball off the conference room wall next door. Marion and I went hot tubbing with a couple of the coaches one evening (sorry, no photos!) and made sure to compliment them on their teams' good behavior.

Here are the Girls and their Quilts (or Works in Progress...)

Joanne S. was cranking out quilt tops!
Joanne put the final borders on this amazing quilt top!
Here's a close-up.
She also put together two more tops from Birthday Blocks from previous years. Read more about our Birthday Blocks.
2013 Birthday Blocks in Kaffe Fassett prints against a vibrant orange background.
2014 Birthday Blocks in autumnal colors.





Kim P. did some machine quilting and binding over the weekend and finished three quilts!
Kim is donating her pink and purple heart quilt to charity.
Here is Kim with her completed Row by Row quilt.
This was Kim's "oldie but goodie," a curved log cabin quilt designed by her sister Karen.
Kim enjoyed frozen yogurt for breakfast one day.
She is a girl after my own heart!
Kim's sister, Karen, also spent her weekend machine quilting and binding.
Karen's sheep wall hanging.

This triangle quilt, and the one below, are made of flannel.
Karen is donating both of these quilts to charity.
She made them from her fabric stash. Unfortunately
she acquired some new stash along the way...
Karen completed her 2014 Birthday Block quilt in pastel batiks.
Karen finished at least one other project that I didn't get a photo of. Her machine never stopped!

Marion brings a different project to work on for each day of the quilt weekend. On Friday (day 1), she finished the borders for her Sampler quilt.
Marion always dresses to match her quilt project!
Joannie was working on her sister's quilt. Although in this case, her sister is supposed to be making the quilt as a wedding gift for her son. It needs to be finished by March, so Joannie volunteered to lend a hand.
Joannie spent the entire weekend appliquing arcs to background squares for this contemporary Double Wedding Ring Quilt technique. Joannie is making one of these for herself too. She got a lot of practice this weekend!
Joannie's daughter, Jill, came to visit us and was pressed into service.
Sue was gracious enough to bring her AccuQuilt GO! fabric cutter to our weekend and gave us a demonstration. I couldn't believe how easy it was to use. This may go on my Birthday wish list!
Sue, in green, is letting Pat take a turn. Pat is using the cutter to make 5 inch squares.
She cranked out a whole bunch in no time at all!
Nancy D. went home and brought in her Halloween fabric the next day and cut out 2.5 inch strips. We were all impressed.

Wendy, our newest quilter, finished the top of her third quilt. Aren't the colors pretty?
Nancy D. is Wendy's quilting mentor.
Nancy D. did a coffee run to keep us all caffeinated!
She was also working on a Double Wedding Ring quilt like Joannie.
Pat and Sally were working on quilts with lots of tiny pieces.
Pat is working on Bonnie Hunter's Grand Illusion
mystery quilt. You can find the pattern here.
Sally is working on her Christmas Pickle Dish.
We should see it before the next Millennium.
It is that kind of project...
I decided that my wedding fascinator added the perfect festive touch for the weekend.
I think that it is so pretty, I might wear it to all the quilt weekends!

Somehow, Debbie, Jo Ann E., Valerie, Joannie, Sally, and Joan S. managed to evade my intrepid blogger's iPhone camera. Don't worry, my pretties, I'll get you the next time!

I enjoy the different approaches that the girls bring to their quilt projects for the quilt weekend.

Thanks for visiting! Linking up on Friday to Confessions of a Fabric Addict, and Richard and Tanya Quilts. And I just found a new linky party, Fabric Frenzy Friday!

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy


4 comments:

  1. Wow so many beautiful projects and you ladies really accomplished a lot! I keep wheedling and whining to DH that I need an accuquilt cutter.

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  2. Karen thought she missed a trip to Orange Leaf for frozen yogurt. I told her it was just frozen Chobani for breakfast.

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  3. That sure looks like a lot of fun! Bring-your-own-work retreats are the BEST!

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  4. As always your group of quilters are amazing gals! Thanks for taking the time to photograph each one. It's probably a nice record for them as well to see what they work on from year to year.

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