It’s retreat time! Yay! I was actually able to go away on a quilting retreat this past weekend, which I don’t get to do often. I was invited to join this group when I did a lecture in Vermont last year. I stayed in a beautiful cabin right on Lake Champlain. It was a weekend of good food, gorgeous scenery, and new friends.
It was also a power-piecing weekend. I needed to make a Carolina Lily quilt for a teaching sample, and this was the perfect opportunity to sit and sew and sew and sew. I chose my fabric and cut it all before I left on the trip. Aren’t these pretty?
The first step is to make a lot of Flying Geese. In this Studio 180 Design pattern, the lilies are made not with diamonds, squares, and triangles, but with Flying Geese. I make my Flying Geese with the Fast Flying Geese method, using 1 large square and 4 small squares to make 4 Flying Geese at a time. Here’s the funky heart-shaped pieces from the first step.
When I complete the second step and trim them down with my Tucker Trimmer, I have perfect Flying Geese every time.
That was Thursday. On Friday, I started with the flower centers, then using the centers and the Flying Geese, I completed the lilies.
Whew! After a good night’s sleep, I started Saturday morning by constructing the lily blocks and putting the blocks together to make the central medallion.
This medallion will be set on point, so now I’m making setting triangles for the corners made with Migrating Geese. Migrating Geese are made with a different technique than Flying Geese, with the geese flying right and left across the quilt. First I make the Migrating Geese.
Then I build the setting triangles. Not a bad sewing day!
On Sunday, it’s time to put everything together to complete the top – medallion, setting triangles, and borders.
I was determined to get this top finished during the retreat, and I did! Yay! The finished top is 60″ x 60.” It took me 31 hours over 4 days, but I got it done. Now it’s off to one of my favorite longarm quilters to make it gorgeous.
Back to boring computer work this week. Argh!
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