Two Finishes

I had a very productive Memorial Day weekend! I completed two quilts that I pieced at the retreat last weekend.

The first finish was the Granny Squares quilt. I somewhat followed this tutorial, but shortened the strips so that I would only have two blocks that are the same. I also used 3" wide (2 1/2" finished) blocks and added one more fabric to the mix. It is straight stitch machine quilted. I started with my walking foot, but it isn't working correctly so I switched to my regular zig-zag foot, which worked just fine. It's bound in a dark grey stripe.

The second finish of the weekend was the long-awaited Summer Sampler Series/Solstice Stars that I pieced this winter. It was free-motion quilted in a meandering pattern. I'm still not thrilled with my free-motion work, but this was slightly better than my last effort. It is bound in this really cute green and blue plaid from DS Quilts.

May Retreat

 I went to the retreat without any plan at all, just a few boxes of fabric and some partially finished projects. I knew what I didn't want to work on: the @%#^ Pickle Dish! I started Friday by finishing up the back for the SS^2 quilt.

On Saturday I cranked out another Swoon block and then I started making Granny Squares for a quilt for my father in law. (He's up next in my plan to make quilts for family members from oldest to youngest. The SS^2 will go to my great aunt who is by far the oldest person in the family. I think she's 96.) We stayed up way too late Saturday night while I struggled with a couple of new Modern BOM blocks (the two in the center of the pic.