As a longtime attendee of Gwen Marston's Beaver Island retreat, I was excited to attend the first annual Holly Girls Quilt Retreat last week. Pat Holly and Sue Nickels continued the retreat on the heels of Gwen's retirement. They planned a theme of "machine quilting" and I was glad to practice free motion skills in a small scale on the old Bernina 1230. Pat and Sue brought a large collection of antique quilts along with quilts they had made and we all learned a lot about quilting design from them and each other. Next year the retreat will focus on applique border design. I've already reserved my spot for next year- sign up and I'll see you there!
Between free motion practice sessions I worked on piecing this postage stamp quilt.
A few weeks ago miss P and I cut some mini charm packs and a lot of scraps into 2 inch squares. It was nice to have a "quilt kit" ready to piece at reatreat.
The piecing process for this quilt was easy. First I made four patches from all of the scraps. Then, I pieced those into sixteen patches. I sewed the sixteen patch blocks together in rows to finish the quilt. I was able to rotate the fourpatches so that all of the seams nest throughout the quilt.
I am smitten by the finished quilt. It is so cheery and reminds me of this favorite quilt made by B's grandmother.
I am eager to use my new quilting skills and ideas but I think this quilt needs some straight line quilting.
Finished size 48" by 60"
