Mod Retreat and White Backgrounds

Sleeping was not high on the priority list of things to do while on a fabulous quilt retreat with members of my own Central Florida MQG, and the Gainesville MQG. At least four of us stayed up into the wee hours, each of the three nights we were at Luther Springs, a delightful Lutheran Bible camp in the middle of nowhere Florida. To see lots of retreat pictures, go to this CFMQG blog post. 

In the big scheme of things, my accomplishments aren't so grand. Though I went on retreat intent to put together piles of finished string-pieced diamonds to finally assemble my long-standing UFO "Picket Fence" quilt top, there just wasn't enough room to lay out that quilt. So, it's a good thing that I also took along my homemade kits to sew blocks for two quilts. Those two are the ones I nearly completed.  

My first quilt top finish was "Triangle Tango," a pattern I saw at Missouri Star Quilt Company, when I was there with friends on April 17. Jenny Doan's (Missouri Star) version uses a layer cake collection and jelly rolls, neither of which I ever buy. Precuts aren't my thing.

So I sewed mine scrappy using prints from my stash along with 2-1/2"-wide strips cut from my bolt of Kaufman Kona white. It's fun to point out the variety of designer prints and collections.

My Triangle Tango quilt top measures 65" X 73", and is ready for basting and quilting.

The second quilt top I nearly finished is "Prism" by Zen Chic. I'm a pushover for any bright and rainbow-looking quilt, so this one makes me very happy. Right now, this design measures 55" X 72". Yet to add to this quilt design are top and bottom solid white borders that will make lots of negative space for quilting.

Prism is sewn from unfinished foundation paper-pieced blocks that are 9-1/2" square, using prints and Kaufman Kona white as background fabric. The FPPed blocks were a stinker to join together so the angles meet-up. It took some unsewing and resewing to get them all right.  

However, the bigger angles were much easier to meet-up. I made sure to add one solid piece of each bright color.

Love these prints! Left: Sphere by Brigitte Heitland of Zen Chic. Right: The Linen Cupboard by Emma Jean Jansen of Ella Blue.

So that makes two more quilt tops to add to the three quilt tops I already have that need quilting! That's five fairly large quilts to quilt! Guess you can figure out what I should be doing whenever I find myself at home for a few hours. And it is good to be home for a while. Linda