Monday, October 27, 2008

Weekend Workshop

My good friend Sherry hosted our retreat this past weekend, and she was an excellent hostess and instructor for our workshop project. The pattern, called Theresa's Stars, was from an old issue of Quiltmaker magazine; and Sherry made up her version before the retreat so we could get some ideas for fabrics.

Sherry made lunch and supper for us on Saturday plus lunch on Sunday, so we were able to sew all day both days with no distractions and no interruptions. Some of the other quilters also brought treats to share. What could be better than sewing and eating all day? It was fabulous, and I am already looking forward to next year's retreat.

Sherry and I were the only two who made scrappy versions, and we both chose to make 30-block quilts. I managed to get 26 of my 30 blocks finished over the course of the weekend, which is surely some kind of record for me. I used 15 different fat quarters for the paddles and probably an equal number of fabrics for the stars. Some of these fabrics worked better than others, and some of the red stars got lost a little; but I wasn't about to rip anything out. As Sherry would say, it's all good. The small pieces pinned off to the side will be the borders.

It's always fun to see what a pattern looks like made up in a different set of fabrics, and we certainly had a great variety. Helen chose a very pretty print with deer in it for an elegant look. She'll be adding borders in gold and green.




















Margo used a soft plaid and gold stars for a warm look for a quilt for her brother.


















Kay experimented with some different colors for her stars and finally hit on this combination, which we all liked a lot.















Janice ultimately moved the four corner blocks with the yellow stars to the center of the quilt, which seemed to pull it all together. Since she'll be hanging this on a red wall, we thought her quilt would look great with a thin yellow border and green for the outer border.





















Chris's quilt was really very different from the rest and looked so nice. She precut a big stack of pieces and was making these little 12-block lap quilts for donations. This turned out to be a great stashbuster for her.





















Credit where credit is due:
Theresa's Stars quilt design by Theresa Eisinger, Quiltmaker magazine Nov/Dec 05

8 comments:

Margo in Maine said...

Congratulations friend...nice report on each quilt....it was a fun weekend....will be fun to see each one done....

Gina said...

Beautiful quilts. I can't decide which is my favourite

Love and hugs Gina xx

Beth French said...

Love the Christmasy look, very warm and just charming!

Pat at Bell Creek Quilts said...

Thanks for sharing all the different variations! I love how changing the fabric will change the look of the block!

What a wonderful quilt-y weekend you had!

Stephanie D said...

I really like seeing all the different takes on the same pattern.

Evelyn aka Starfishy said...

How fun!!! I love looking at everyone's different fabric choices and how differently they all look even though the same pattern was used!
Cheers!
Evelyn

Barb D said...

What fun you all had at Sherry's! I was so sorry to miss it but if I start one more project before Christmas (other than those I have to make for gifts) I will go stark raving mad!!!! See you tomorrow at Koleen's? I will bring my rendition of "Cardinals in the Courtyard" for you all to see before I post it to my blog.

Zannah said...

How lovely to see all the different variations - it really inspires you!