The retreat was awesome!

We had approximately 36 quilters spend the weekend with us at the Drury Inn for our first overnight retreat.  I can safely say that "a good time was had by all." Several participated in the 911 Mystery by Debbie Caffrey and they are all strikingly beautiful. Participants arrived as early as 8:00 Friday morning and started sewing right away.  People brought their own projects to work on and/or made projects designed for the retreat. There was lots of fun, fellowship, and food. Pictures should be uploaded soon. We are already planning our next one, so be watching for details in a few months.

Some more new books just came in, too.

My Whimsical Quilt Garden

20 Bird & Flower Blocks to Appliqué from Piece O' Cake Designs
by Becky Goldsmith, Linda Jenkins

Brighten Your Day with Playful New Designs from Piece O' Cake

• Use just one block or all twenty to make pretty garden quilts
• Have fun with these light-hearted designs
• Includes ideas for using these blocks in other ways, such as a smaller twelve-block quilt, a purse, or a table topper
• Patterns are great for solids and small prints in any color way
• Blocks also look beautiful in bigger sizes and are easy to enlarge

Instruction booklet & full-size patterns. Bring cheery flowers and cute, chirping birds indoors with Piece O' Cake's newest appliqué blocks. Mix and match up to twenty blocks to create unlimited quilt variations.

Quilted Symphony—A Fusion of Fabric, Texture & Design

by Gloria Loughman

Liberate Your Creative Side With Abstract Art

• Construct quilts in segments that are easy to work with
• Embellish with appliqué, paint, beads, and more
• 4 projects with full-size pullout patterns
• Create your own designs from doodles, photographs, and shapes
• Learn how to use color effectively
• Perfect your satin stitch, free-motion stitch, and triple stitch

The bestselling author of Luminous Landscapes guides you through an amazing journey into the world of designing abstract art quilts. Take your imagination to new heights as you learn how to create an abstract design and then break it down into easy segments to sew and embellish.

One-Block Wonders Cubed!

Dramatic Designs, New Techniques, 10 Quilt Projects
by Maxine Rosenthal, Joy Pelzmann

Add New Dimension to Your Favorite Hexagon Quilts

• Your favorite One-Block Wonders authors are back with new graphic techniques using triangles, cubes, and appliqué
• Learn how to create optical illusions with your fabrics
• Bonus projects include totes, coasters and placemats for using up left-over hexagons
• Create interesting shadow effects with clever fabric placement
• Try new kinds of borders with uneven edges, creative shapes, and hexagon strips

From the best-selling authors of the One-Block Wonders books. New techniques and design strategies using simple geometric shapes give you dramatic quilt imagery that seems to defy logic! Take the ordinary and turn it into something extraordinary with this book.

 A Baker's Dozen

13 Quilts from Jelly Rolls, Layer Cakes, and More From the Staff at That Patchwork Place®

 

As the publisher of America’s Best-Loved Quilt Books®, we just had to get in on the fun of quilting with precut fabrics! For this book, the stitching experts on our own staff designed and made 13 fabulous quilts—plus a bonus project. Now you can indulge your craving for fat quarters, Jelly Rolls, 5" charm squares, and 10" Layer Cakes!

• Find just what you’re looking for in our bakery case—from sweet and pink like frosting to savory like herb bread 
• Create lap quilts, wall hangings, and bed quilts in a wide range of styles for all skill levels
• Check out the color-splashed quilts—we’re eager to share our quilting enthusiasm with you

Geometric Gems

Quilts from Diamonds, Circles, and Squares by Cathy Wierzbicki

Rich with color and design, every quilt in this book is a treasure! By making clever use of angles, popular author Cathy Wierzbicki presents intriguing projects that look far more complex than they really are. Choose from seven dazzling designs using easy cutting and strip-piecing techniques. Some quilts--such as the beautiful "Pajama Prayer"--feature a free-motion embroidery technique for adding words and sayings.

Follow-the-Line Quilting Designs Volume Four

Full-Size Patterns for Blocks and Borders by Mary M. Covey

Mary M. Covey adds to her best-selling series with this collection of all-new continuous-line motifs! Twenty pattern sets include a coordinating border, block, and setting-triangle design in each grouping. Quilting options include long-arm machines, traditional sewing machines, and quilting by hand. An instruction booklet is included.

Quick Diamond Quilts & Beyond

12 Sparkling Projects • Beginner-Friendly Techniques
by Jan Krentz

Classroom-Tested Techniques Make Diamond Quilting Easy

• Twelve new diamond quilt patterns-without inset seams!
• Enhance your fabric selection with Jan's tips on color value, texture, and contrast
• Discover how to use geometric fabrics to make your quilt shimmer and shine
• A perfect companion to Diamond Quilts & Beyond
• More than 30 inspirational gallery quilts
• Add machine appliqué for whimsical wall quilts

Have you ever stared at a beautiful diamond quilt and thought, "I wish I could make that"? Well now you can! Thanks to Jan's clever techniques and new designs, you can create these gems with ease. Using the fast2cut® rulers makes it even easier!

Secrets of Digital Quilting—From Camera to Quilt

• 8 Projects • 25 Techniques • Embellish with Paints, Inks & More
by Lura Schwarz Smith, Kerby C. Smith

Create Quilts Using Your Own, One-of-a-Kind Printed Fabric

• Expand the creative possibilities of your quilting with richly colored fabric made from your own photos-it's easy!
• Learn the secrets of getting the best results from your digital camera, inkjet printer, scanner, photo editing software, and printable fabric sheets
• Use a simple organizing system to make your images easy to work with
• Enhance your printed fabrics with paints, inks, dye sticks, and crayons (specific product recommendations included)
• Create riveting quilts by using positive and negative space, balance, line, focal points, and other design principles
• Inexpensive Photoshop Elements is the only computer program you need
• Try out all 25 techniques with 8 artistic projects, then use the techniques in your own quilts

Kim Schaefer's Calendar Quilts

12 Months of Fun, Fusible Projects
by Kim Schaefer

Charming Wall Quilts All Year 'Round!

• 12 seasonal wall quilt projects
• Quick and easy-make one for yourself and more for gifts
• Transferring appliqué designs is a snap with this handy package of full-size patterns
• Signature colors and motifs from best-selling author, Kim Schaefer
• Darling images combine piecing and fusible appliqué

Start a family tradition that you'll enjoy all year 'round by making these adorable wall quilts. Hang a new one in your home each month! Smile with your cheery snowman in the winter, laugh at the mischievous ants crawling through your summer picnic, and get your apple ready for the teacher in the fall.

Have a great sunny week and weekend!

Mary