I brought several projects to work on this year, and managed to work on all of them! I know this post is a month late. I didn't take a lot of pictures ... so it's taken me a while to piece it all together to make a post.
Half-square triangles for the Magic Square Quilt. I made 336 half-square triangles out of this Midnight Nectar layer cake. Turns out, the Magic 8 Method worked great to turn 10-inch squares into 8 HSTs. Now I have to trim all of them down to 4-1/2 squares -- one at a time. That will take a while. I guess I'll have some handwork for Charmers and Friday Girls for the foreseeable future!
This is what the basic block looks like.
And this is how they fit together.
I also got a good start making these Manx Log Cabin blocks. I may try to continue with this project, making 1 block a day like I did with the Raspberry one earlier this year. I'm calling this one The Grape Soda Log Cabin Quilt. This photo shows the kit I prepared for Quilt Camp, along with leftover Raspberry Manx blocks from last spring to act as samples.
One of the Grape Manx Log Cabin Blocks.
With 30 Grape Manx blocks done, here they are laid out on the design wall for a possible layout.
Rainbow Bargello - For some mindless sewing, I strip-pieced these rainbow strips together. They still need to be cut and stratified along with the white sashing strips for the bargello. This should go quick enough. I did not want to do the cutting at Quilt Camp -- It's too easy to make a mistake that you cannot recover from if you are not paying attention, while someone is talking to you there. Better to do the next part at home!
Here is the hand-made gift Laura made for each of us this year. It's a quilted photo frame, complete with magnets on the back, so you can hang it on your fridge. Nice! Laura doesn't have to do this every year, but she does, and we are grateful and delighted for her efforts, though it is certainly not expected. [Laura: You are off the hook for next year, if you don't want to do it again!]
I gave Laura's 1950s iron a workout this year, and it worked beautifully--as always! It has a nice flat bottom that presses better than my own steam iron at home.
When I went to Scotland in April, I brought back the cutest little wooden chicken for Laura. She brought it to Quilt Camp and perched it on her sewing machine so she could look out over the great room at all the activity of the quilters present. [The photo above is similar, but not the same chicken I gave her.]
Me and Laura at Quilt Camp, Lake Lucerne 2026.
We only had 14 people there this time, down from 21 last year. We are considering other venues next year, as this place seems to be on it's last legs. It's been a good place for us for 18 years -- with a fantastic lodge with a view of the Lake. The cabins are not so great, and the food varies from year to year. I think we might try a new facility next year ...
Stay tuned!
