JOE RETREAT DAY ONE

Of course, I got up early.  I took my sketching bag downstairs to the main room and sketched the fireplace while somewhat in the dark.

One of the best things about this retreat is the great food we receive here at St. Andrew's Retreat house.  The chef, Tracy, believes in eating local, organic, wholesome foods.  He makes a great effort to supply gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan and now keto for those with dietary needs.  Yum, yum.

Our first assignment was to make a 24" by 24" composition, using only three fabrics, showing a transition from one color to another.

We started by just randomly cutting the fabric into pieces and then sewing them together.

I enjoyed this immensely.  I just grabbed one of the fat quarters blindly from the bag, then added some of the fabrics I had brought along to go with it.  

Our workroom.

This is mine.  That blue is the random print - I think a bigger print would have worked better.

 Here are some pictures of what some of the others did:

OFF WE GO

I'm all packed up and headed to Union, Washington for the last Joe Retreat with Joe Cunningham and Patricia Belyea.

The easiest way for me is to take the Southworth ferry across the water, but instead I headed out early from Seattle to Bainbridge and went north to Port Gamble.  Quilted Strait is having a sale and I have a credit that's burning a hole in my pocket.

Leaving Seattle on the way to Bainbridge.

I bought a dozen fat quarters, then headed back south to Union.

Once at St. Andrews Retreat, I unpacked and made my bed, set up my machine and changed out of my heavy shirt - it is too hot inside!

We had a nice dinner and introductions.  There was some changing of rooms, it's a long story, but I was happy to change and ended up without a roommate. 

STARBUCKS SLEEVE

Everytime I grab a cardboard sleeve to put around my hot coffee when I pick it up at Starbucks I feel a little guilty.  So, I made a sleeve today.  I used up some more of those scraps from Seasons and sewed them onto a foundation of Insulbright.  

Neato.

I also got the vacuum out and dusted the studio and my Bernina.  I'm getting ready for the Joe Retreat.  I'm leaving tomorrow.

ARTEMISIA

We went to the current exhibit at Seattle Art Museum:  Flesh and Blood. 

I really wanted to see Artemisia Gentileschi's "Judith and Holofernes".

I was really pleased - it's fantastic.

There were a lot of other treasures there, too.  I particularly liked Titian's Danae and the story behind it.

QUILTING

I've started quilting the Seasons quilt on my longarm, Eduard.

I'm going to need more thread colors!

LABEL

I inked in the label for 'Seasons'.  The back is now ready.

The dogs were good dogs for a few minutes again today.

The colors this autumn are spectacular.

SEASONS BACK

I made the backing for the Seasons quilt today.

I've now used up almost all of the scraps from the quilt top.  

This color is Kona Alegria.

I still need to ink in the label though.

FIRST SUNDAY

We started the first Sunday of November with our regular grocery shopping at PCC at the new West Seattle store.

Then it was a long walk in Lincoln Park with the dogs.

Afterward, I spent the remainder of the day upstairs in my studio working on these strips.  I started with a large pile of scraps from Seasons (formerly called Helter Skelter) and ended with a much smaller pile.

They were great fun to make (they took several days).

FIRST SATURDAY

We started this first Saturday of November by having breakfast in Burien at Grand Central and left as the sun was rising.

Then, we had a great walk in the park with the dogs.

Then, lunch from the El Camion food truck - sooo gooood!

We cleaned the leaves off from and out of the pond and cleaned up the yard.

It was a great day.

FRIDAY ACRYLIC

I did another still life in Acrylics Class today.

POLLEN EVERYWHERE

I swept the pollen off the walkway this morning.  It's everywhere!

Pollen bombs

PUMPKIN PATCH

I followed the instructions by Brenda Swenson in the latest issue of PleinAir Magazine and painted this pumpkin patch.

SMALL TOP FINISHED

I finally got that last seam sewn.

I'm not really happy about the seams that don't match up because of the pattern.  How is anyone to know that they aren't supposed to match?  It just looks like I failed to line things up when sewn together.

I'm telling myself this piece is just a learning piece.

TUESDAY WATERCOLOR

ONE SEAM LEFT

I've got it almost all sewn together.

Just one more long seam to go.

I had to stop and go make dinner.

PARTS MADE

Okay, all of the parts and pieces have been made and are up on  the wall.  

I noticed that when you pull the freezer paper off of the backs of the ones that have been pieced with the 1/4" lines in them it pulls the threads of the seam allowances, making a bit of a mess.  All of the stray threads need to be trimmed so they don't shadow through to the front.  I figured it would be best to do them at the time, instead of waiting to do them when the top is all together (which I never seem to do).

Now I just have to sew them together. 

I got a few sewed together today.

Darrell and I took the dogs to Seward Park for a walk.  We haven't been there in a while - I had forgotten how special it is.