These bright blocks were made by Sue.

I love the tall, skinny Churn Dash blocks that Nan was making.

Chara made this baby quilt with lambs in the borders.

I think these snowball blocks belong to Karen J.

Stephanie made this striking quilt top.

That’s Connie, looking quite coy, behind her polka dot creation.

Pat made the quilt tote that I demonstrated.

She did some fabulous free motion quilting on it.

Sarah has some appliqué planned for this, but I made her pose with it anyway.

Marsha got this great top finished.

Lonna was working on some beautiful indigo and cheddar blocks.

Annie got this tah-dah finished just before we left on Sunday.

Jean made this incredible quilt.

And yes, I even did a little sewing.  That bin is filled with selvedges…

…and I got a lot of blocks made, but want to do more.

As at any retreat, we had lots of goodies, but I had to share photos of these two.  Cookies from Karen R…

…and cake balls from Robin.

It was all great fun. I can’t wait until September when we do it again!

I went to both!

I dressed in a period appropriate tea dress, of course.

The tea sandwiches were both beautiful and delicious.

Laurie had researched what was served on the Titanic, so we were eating authentic cuisine!

Laurie is a wonderful baker, and her currant scones were fabulous!

As we arrived for dinner, we were given our boarding cards.

Of course I had changed.  A proper lady wouldn’t wear the same outfit to tea AND dinner!

Bob and I both passed inspection.  Whew!

We had lovely printed menus.

We were joined by LaRee and Andy.  LaRee has a fabulous vintage clothing collection, and her ensemble is from the period–including the corset!

I had the spring pea soup with bacon lardons and chervil.

Bob had poached spring asparagus with champagne vinaigrette.

Our pianist, Jennifer, had researched the music and gave us a program of fifty songs that were played onboard.

Everyone at our table had the filet mignon lili with spinach and country turnip puree.

LaRee did a presentation about the clothing styles of the era.

For dessert, I chose a chocolate dipped eclair with American ice cream.

Bob chose the antique orchard apple tartlet with vanilla bean ice cream and cider syrup.

Before leaving, I just had to try on one of LaRee’s vintage hats.  This one has a 37″ brim.  I think I could pull it off!

It was a fun, fabulous and scrumptious day!

We welcomed Flat Stanley into our home.

He immediately made friends with the Dala horses.

But he’d heard a rumor there were tractors in Papa Bob’s shop.  He loved Miss Alice, because she matched his shirt.

But then he decided John Deere green is really his favorite color!

He said the pretty mint green on Grandma Karen’s old Dodge was almost as pretty as John Deere green.

He took a sewing lesson on Grandma’s Featherweight…

…but decided it was more fun to play hide-and-seek in the fabric bolts.

We took Flat Stanley on a trip into town.  He wanted to drive, but Papa said, “No.”

So he rode on the dashboard and watched for the Welcome to Long Beach sign.

He was getting hungry so we went to Doogers for lunch.  Flat Stanley ate crab!

While the grownups were visiting, he climbed on the pilings….

…and hung around in the fishing net.

But what Flat Stanley wanted to see the most was the ocean, so we drove down the beach approach.

We thought about having a picnic at the pavilion, but we were too full.  And, besides, there were too many seagulls there.

Flat Stanley found a sheltered spot out of the wind and did some sunbathing and played in the sand.

He even got to ride on a silver salmon!

There are lots of things to do in Long Beach, like fly kites and go to the Kite Museum.

But one of the most fun things is visiting Marsh’s Free Museum and seeing Jake the Alligator Man.

There were lots of seashells and coral there, too.

And a great white shark!  Flat Stanley wasn’t even afraid to have his picture taken in the shark’s mouth.

It was getting cold, so Flat Stanley slipped inside this sweatshirt pocket.

Like a good citizen, he visited city hall.

He learned that the rhododendron is the state flower of Washington.

He was even more excited to learn that Long Beach is the end of the Lewis and Clark Trail, and that William Clark carved his name in a tree here over 200 years ago!

After all this sightseeing, everyone needed some refreshments, so we had a hot chocolate at Angie’s coffee shop.

Then we went to Uncle Sidder’s grocery store.

Uncle Sidder let Flat Stanley play with his baseball bat collection.

Flat Stanley knew all about cranberries because Papa Bob used to be a cranberry farmer.

He looked in the vines for some cranberries, but it was the wrong time of the year to find any.

But it was still fun to be at the bogs.

Flat Stanley asked if he can come back in October for harvest.

Then we went to the port dock in Ilwaco, where the fishing fleet is moored.

Flat Stanley got to go onboard a boat!

But just as we were leaving, Flat Stanley was snatched up by a giant condor!  Luckily Papa Bob was quick and grabbed Flat Stanley out of the condor’s mouth.

Grandma and Papa were worried that Flat Stanley had been hurt by the condor, so they called an ambulance.

The paramedics put Flat Stanley on the gurney and took him to the hospital.

The doctors in the emergency room checked Flat Stanley out.  Luckily, he was okay.

And he was very glad get back to Grandma and Papa’s house after his big day!

The end.

Well, except for this one…..I don’t know who needed it more, Flat Stanley or Grandma and Papa!

Isn’t this a great pattern to showcase a bold print!

Several ladies made thread-catcher/pincushions for their work spaces.

Joy is “pretty in pink.”  And lime!

Julie and Carol (daughter and mother) made these for Julie’s two granddaughters.  The girls had seen them in a magazine and wanted them.  There was no pattern, but Grandma and Great-grandma couldn’t say, “no!”

Several people were working on Hunter’s Star quilts.

And while they may not have gotten finished….

…I thought you might like to see them.

Sharon’s Off Center Bow Ties are striking.

I asked Marsha to pose by her 6100 Quilt, and pose she did!  She’s done this before, me thinks!

Sarah was making striking quilt with the Lil’ Twister tool.

I think this bright beauty was Sherrie’s.

Chara brought back a quilt that she made at the last retreat–all quilted now and just waiting for binding.

Connie sewed up this Double Delight quilt top for me.  There are kits on my website!

I love the shadow effect on this quilt by Sherrie.

Chara was making a stack of circles for a Rob Peter to Pay Paul quilt.

Stacey took this mystery class from me, hmm, a “few” years ago.  I was so glad to see it getting put together.

Julie stitched up this sweet quilt.

Mary, Penny and Denise also made 6100 Quilts!

We did a Block Swap with the Crossroad to Jericho blocks, and Pat put hers together during the retreat!  Way to go, Pat.

Barbara was ready to put the borders on her polka-dot quilt.

This is Anina’s own design, Geese in the Forest.  She sells the pattern on her website.  I think it’s stunning!

Karen J. was nearly finished with this charming bird pincushion.

Sarah made this baby blanket with “opportunity cloth!”

Kathy spent many hours on this fabulous beauty.  This is 1/4 of it.  She’s getting there!

I have one more batch of photos from retreat to post, so check back!

They’re there to lend a hand. like whenever someone finishes a project.  We make sure they hold up their quilt and get a big, “Tah-dah!”  I thought I’d share the recent Tah-Dahs with you.

This is Kathy’s Friendship Star.  I love the Twisted Ribbon border.

Denise’s quilt is Pretty in Pink.

Sue is obviously in love with her 6100 quilt.

Penny finished her Garden Twist.

This is Barbara’s Watermelon quilt.  I think it would make a great table topper.

It was April Showers for Judy.

Marsha started this quilt at the last retreat, and now it’s finished!

Isn’t this the most adorable bib you’ve ever seen?

Here’s Kathy’s pretty Star Sampler.

Nan finished her Plaid quilt.

Jean was piecing and appliquéing these whimsical barn blocks.

Mary got this Alphabet quilt finished.

Suzie got the borders on this great Star quilt.

This Log Cabin/Star quilt by Sue really pops!

Judy made this Princess Lunch Bag for a co-worker!

If I remember correctly, Pat P1 made this bag that holds a hot iron.

Anina was working on these tiny Log Cabin blocks with yummy Provence fabrics.

I think that’s Tracey behind this pretty quilt.

Pat T. made her Quilt Tote start-to-finish during the retreat!

Karen J. made this cool tote.

Denise got her black and white quilt finished.

…and this was the first of Stephanie’s Tah-dahs!

I just love seeing all the happy, proud faces!

She had also finished this wall hanging.  She did the center a couple of decades ago!  Don’t you love the paper pieced geese in the corners?

Nan recently finished a quilt top from my Bears Outside My Window kit. I hadn’t made it in the green variation, so was really pleased she let me photograph it for the catalog!  It’s really a fun quilt–I split the pre-printed panel and put it back together with an attic windows setting, then put bear paws around the outside, hence Bears Outside My Window!

Here’s my original red version.

Gloria, a member of my guild, designed this fabulous bag.  She shared the pattern with the guild members, and I asked permission to share it with my retreaters.

I wanted to demo it, so whipped up this version.  It’s amazing how much it holds.  I have six quilts in here!

After my demo, Pat T made one from this fun animal print!

She also shared this quilt she made with leftovers from years of quilting.  I love the pillow tuck!

I’m always saying that the Twelve Step Program quilt from my first book, Bundles of Fun, has been made more than any other quilt I’ve designed, and Pat helped prove my point!  She made this one with an interesting border…

…and this one with the traditional border.

Sue made several of these adorable pincushions, and I got to take this one home with me.  Thank you, Sue!

Lonna brought this early Sunbonnet Sue.

This quilt she made for her son when he was a baby.  It’s just opportunity cloth, but she embroidered around all if the characters!

She also made this Christmas wreath wall hanging…

…and this Christmas quilt.

This Nine-Patch is also one of Lonna’s.  I like the random squares in the borders.

My favorites are always the vintage quilts.  This is one that’s been in Lonna’s family since the Thirties.

Of course, I loved looking at all the prints and had to examine each one up close!

Denise brought the first quilt she ever made, this adorable ducky quilt.

This is Denise’s most recent quilt.  I know because she finished it just before show-and-tell!

Tracey made this OSU quilt, showcasing a lot of different sports.

At the last retreat, Robin challenged the ladies to make quilts from 1-1/2″ squares–squares that would finish at 1″!  Well, several of the ladies took her up on it and surprised her with a cute skit during show-and-tell.  This is Anna’s finished quilt.

And this is Penny’s.  Nana Pat and Mary K. have started making them, too, and I’m pretty sure Denise got the bug before the weekend was over!

Our other Pat P. made this quilt, which she said reminds her of her childhood on the farm.

Laraine brought the finished product to show us.  This is another quilt that had it’s start at an earlier retreat.  It’s so great to see them finished!

She also made this sweet row quilt.

At the last retreat, Judy was working on the blocks for this quilt.  The detail in it is incredible!

Several of the ladies had participated in a row challenge.  This Halloween one belongs to Joy.  Don’t you love how someone added their row up the right side?

Karen J (there were FOUR Karen’s at the retreat!) showed us her warm row quilt.

Judy’s row quilt had a Christmas theme.  There were some talented quilters participating in this challenge!

Suzie was a first timer at our retreat.  I love this medallion quilt that she made.

And look what she did with the back.  It’s as pretty as the front!

Stephanie showed off some pot holders…

…and table runners…

…and this precious bunny quilt.

I shared the Bavarian Rose quilt, which is made with my fabric collection, Bavaria.

And this is one of four placemats made with my newest collection, Red, White and True Blue.  I guest posted on the Sew Timeless blog with a tutorial on making the placemats.

This isn’t the end.  I have more!  I told you this was a prolific group!

You can achieve many different looks with 60 degree triangles.  One of my favorites is using scraps and a solid, like I did here.  I’ll give you lots of ideas as we go along, but here’s a tutorial to get you started making your own Pyramid Quilt!

I highly recommend a 60 Degree Ruler for this project.  I like this one by EZ.  It will make your life sooooo much easier!  If you’re like me, you probably have a lot of rulers.  Check them out.  Maybe one of the is a 60 degree ruler.  The important thing is the flat spot at the top of this ruler.

Yes, I know that there is a 60 degree angle mark on most 24″ rulers and I even know how to use it to cut 60 degree triangles!  You could certainly use one for this project.  BUT, there’s a huge advantage with a 60 degree ruler like this one that will let you nip off the ends  It will help you align everything perfectly–no guessing needed.

You can make finished blocks from 1″ to 5″ with this ruler.  I did 4″ finished blocks.  If you want to do 4″ finished blocks, too, you’ll need to cut 4-1/2″ strips from your fabric or scraps.  You’ll notice that the top of this ruler doesn’t quite come to a point.  Place this little flat end along the top of your strip.  The bottom of the strip should be under the 4-1/4″ line on the ruler.

My fabric is doubled.  You could stack four to six layers if you’re confident about your cutting.  Make a cut on each side of the ruler.

Now turn the ruler and cut again.  This time, that little flat edge is at the bottom of the strip.  Continue cutting along your strip.

You’re not quite finished with the cutting of your triangles, but this next step is what makes these pieces go together perfectly.  The triangle pieces that you just cut will have two pointy ends and one flat one.  You need to make them all flat.  If you do this, it will make it so easy to line up your blocks and find your proper seam allowance.  Place the blunt and of the ruler on your fabric so you can nip off the points.

A quick swipe with your rotary cutter and it’s done!  Do this to the remaining point.  Do ALL your triangles this way.

When you’re ready to stitch, just place two triangles, right sides together…

…and stitch along one edge, using a 1/4″ seam allowance.

Press.  This quilt is assembled in rows.  I press all the seams in one row to the right, the next row to the left, and so on.

Keep adding triangles…

…pressing after each addition.  Finger pressing is okay.

Since we don’t really have a pieced block, if you do eight triangles a day each day this spring, you’ll have enough for a quilt that’s 56″ wide and 62″ long!

Here are a couple of other Pyramid Quilts for inspiration.

I’m in love with the bright colors and the quilting in this quilt.  It’s from the Armchair Quilter.

I love the clean, crisp look of this scrappy quilt set with white.  I found it on Ebay.

This one is delightfully scrappy.  I found it on Quilting Adventures.

Whatever you decide to do, I hope you’ll share your photos with us on the A Quilt Block A Day page on Facebook.

As it turns out, Twelve Step Program has been the most popular quilt in the book.  I did two versions for the book, this one out of batiks…

…this one…

…made with William Morris fabrics.  It’s much more bended looking because there isn’t as much contrast in the fabrics.

You can sure see the difference in this one, which has lots of contrast.  I just stumbled across this top I started from a class demo.  I wonder if I have the borders somewhere???

As you can see, this pattern lends itself to any fabrics!  Teri at Boardwalk Quilts made this one, and instead of steps, did a chevron!

Last Saturday, she offered a class on this quilt.  I stopped in just after lunch to see how everyone was doing.  It’s so much fun to see what fabrics everyone picked!

After sewing strips together…

…you sew one more seam to make a tube!

Then you do some more cutting and end up with lots of loops.

See what I mean about this working with lots of different fabrics!

I’m partial to the brights.

But the florals are strikingly pretty.

It’s hard to beat black and white with a touch of red!

One you cut have the loops, you start staggering the design.

Magically, you have stair steps!

Then it’s just a matter of sewing it all together.

This quilt goes together very quickly.  I took this picture at the class on Saturday…

…and when I saw Dianne on Monday, she had it all together!  I hope the ladies in the class will all send photos of their finished quilts.  When they do, I’ll be sure to post photos of them.

The following photo is from one of my retreats.  Here, the loops are pinned to a design wall.

Once the loops are cut in the proper places, it’s ready to sew.

Here are a couple more that friends brought to retreats for show-and-tell.  Another beautiful batik version.

Yummy colors here, and look at the fabulous border treatment.

Good, strong contrast in these blocks.

And I love the vintage-y feel to this one.  Notice the little ad I’m doing in the corner!  Shameless!

If you have photos of quilts you’ve made from any of my books, I’d love it if you’d share them with me.

And here they are……..On Friday, Margaret stopped by.  This is the quilt she did in class.  It turned out to be amazing!

She added a tiny flange between the quilt center and the first border.  If you don’t know what a flange is, it’s a 1/2″ strip of fabric, folded and sewn in, so it’s three dimensional.

And after Kathi saw this post, she stopped by on Saturday, during my open house, to show me three quilts that she had made with this pattern!

You can really see what I mean when I say this pattern looks good with any fabric combination!

When I was sorting through my scraps recently, I discovered I had some segments of the piano key border left, and some 1-1/2″ strips.  So, yesterday I sliced them up and put them back together.  Voila!  A doll quilt!

I think a red binding will finish it off perfectly!  And, as you can imagine, my scrap pile is now much smaller.