Vintage Kansas City Star Block of the Month

I joined the Vintage Kansas City Star Block of the Month program a little late.  I had some catching up to do.  They are on block five and I just finished block three, but I think I will be completely caught up by the time block six arrives.  The fabric line is Cattails & Clover by Kansas Troubles Quilters. It's very pretty fabric.  I'm getting my kits from the Fat Quarter Shop online and I must say the fabric they provide is very generous.  I think if I purchased more background fabric, I'd have enough to make a second set of blocks.  

Block One - Nosegays

Block Two - Fair and Square

Block Three - Necktie

Jackson's Mill Quilting Retreat 2012 --- March 9th-12th

Another year at the Mill has come and gone.  I had a fantastic time as usual.

First let me say that I did a horrible job taking pictures.  It was pretty much an after thought on my part.  I need to try to do better.  Secondly, we encountered several very "interesting" people this year and I'll just leave it at that.  For now .... 

My adventure started Thursday evening when I met my friends Debbie & Susan Smith at our hotel in Weston.  It was nice to be able to just relax and have dinner that evening.

Friday morning we had plenty of time to head the Mill to registrar and meet up with our friends Teresa & Kristen and then go to The Stitching House in Buckhanon. There I saw my "next" .... or one of my many "next" ... projects.  It's Moda's 30s Playtime.  I bought a few fat quarters to start it over the past few weekends.  It will be one of my ongoing projects.  That afternoon we took a mini-class. This was the first time I've taken a one and I rather enjoyed it.  Debbie, Teresa, Kristen and I all took a class called "Sweet Mint" taught by Ann Kessel.  It was fun.  Susan opted to venture out to a yarn store nearby to buy knitting supplies.  She's not a quilter but more of a handwork kind of gal.  This class was my first attempt at curved seams and I learned that I needed yet another new foot for my Featherweight to sew the seams correctly.  I got it together though and it didn't turn out half bad:

Before dinner we went to the Quilter's Mall.  The vendors were very sparse this year evidenced by the fact that I only came out with a kitty cat candle mat kit and a table runner kit. I did comment on my evaluation that they needed to do better especially if they want to do a "Vendor Hop" next year.  They will need not only more vendors but a better quality as well.

Friday night we started our main class, 45 & Life to Go which was also taught by Ann.  I love Ann!  She was a great instructor.  I would not hesitate to take a class from her again. That quilt is my cutting nemesis.  Most of my dark fabrics came up short and I ended up having to order more of each.  It was kind of frustrating so I was a little discouraged out of the gate.  I sewed centers most of the evening in between bouts of being amazed by some of the people around me.  That evening back at the hotel, Debbie showed me how to hand piece and since then I've been experimenting .... but I'll save that for another post!

Saturday was a full day of sewing.  Debbie showed me a block:

Kristen and Theresa were also busy sewing:

This was the maiden voyage for my featherweight and she did great!!

And after a few hours sewing Sunday morning,  I finally finished two of a gazillion blocks!

This quilt is getting put on hold for a bit now while the featherweight is being repainted.

I've got a lot to get caught up on here on the blog .... one post at a time.