Mollie Feathers, a Pincushion, and the CQI Retreat

Mollie Feathers, tribute to my dear little kitty, is finished!  It will hang in my dining room.  So pleased with how it turned out! 

Before adding the borders, I stitched my signature on the bottom of the feather-stitched center.  To see photos of the seams as I blogged about them, see the "Mollie Feathers" tag. 

On the back I added Mollie's photo that I took the same day I had the inspiration for the name.  

I snuck in a bit of stitching on a pincushion as well!  This bright piece was for the Crazy Gift Exchange at the CQI retreat!  

The winding herringbone seam was a huge favorite on my CQJP 2015 quilt, so I thought I'd repeat it here. 

 

I had some fun floral trim from M&J Trims in NYC.  It was perfect to go around the base! 

It's just a happy piece!  

Another favorite seam from the CQJP 2015 quilt.

My standard signature on the bottom. 

Betty was the winner!  Hope it brightens her days!  

I "won" (sorry Cathy!) this lovely piece stitched by Diana Williams!  It's a lovely fabric box!  I'm using it on my studio table to hold extra balls of pearl cotton!  

 

As always, there was lots of lovely stitching to see from all the participants!  I really loved the contemporary piece of crazy quilting on the wall, 2nd from right, by Colleen Anderson!  Though I did get a couple of photos of it, none of them were grand, so I'm hoping she will get to share it through other means!  

See the quilt on the right side of the table?  Oh my!!!  To see Gerry Kreuger's Suffragette quilt in person was a treat!  Just exquisite.  Reading about it as Gerry blogged about it was wonderful and I was really taken with the black and coppery gold colors.  But to see it in person... you really must because none of the photos I've ever seen of it do it justice.  There is so much put into the entire piece.  It's beautiful as a whole, but once you start looking closely, with Gerry to tell you about all the little bits, buttons, lace and the exquisite and detailed tiny seams... well, words fail me.  If you get the opportunity, do not pass up a chance to see it in person!  

 

Better than seeing her lovely quilt was getting to meet Gerry in person at long last!  She was in one of the first round robins that ever participated in and we've been online friends ever since.  Kindred spirits of the best sort!  Love, love, loved being able to sit and stitch next to her for the better part of 4 days and to share a room together so we could chat until we fell asleep!  

Gerry ~ So glad we were able to spend this time together!  You are a treasure!  So wonderful to have had this time together! 

On the way home from the retreat, I drove some rural roads for a bit.  Loved all the golden wildflowers in bloom!  I believe these are Jerusalem Artichoke.  The roadside were filled with them in eastern Kansas!  

Now I'm home once again and have started orientation at my new job!  How I love being able to walk to work within 15 minutes!  I'm working madly in preparation for some up-coming lecture/workshops taking place in October!  Hope to have more to post soon!