On a Quilting Retreat with Nina
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Since we got back from the US & Mexico, DH has been travelling non stop… he has been to three different countries for training and on business… and I have hardly seen him… so when he told me he had to go to Abu Dhabi for a week, I decided it was the perfect opportunity for Nina and I to go along and have ourselves a little quilt retreat 🙂
What makes Abu Dhabi a great place for Nina and I to go to? Well, to start off with, we didn’t have to fly – we drove… which meant Nina could happily and safely sit in the back of the car in her trolley bag….
Secondly, there is no jetlag! Yay! Which means Nina and I could get set up right away and start sewing…..
So while DH is at work, Nina and I are spending our days in this hotel room:
Yes, we brought our quilts.. We usually bring our quilts travelling! The bedding in hotel rooms here seem to be so thick that you need to have the a/c turned onto sub zero temperatures.. so it is better to have our own quilts…
Nina gets the desk when DH is at work:
What have we been working on this week? Well, UFOs of course……….. or at least that was the plan 🙂 I decided to tackle these bags again:
I thought I was so organized. I had the threads (they were missing last time I attempted to work on them, remember?) I had the fabric for the lining and handles of the bags. I thought I was all set…. until I realized that I didn’t have the batting for the handles……!!!! Ugh!
However, I am determined to finish at least one of them, so I am improvising. This bag hadn’t been quilted yet:
So I unpinned it and have cut handles from its batting….
Considering home and the nearest quilt shop is two hours away, it is a pretty good solution I think.
Now, other than messing around with ufos, I have started a few new projects… ahem… one is Di’s fault – she joined in on a “heart” challenge hosted by Happy to be Scrappy...
Now I have been eagerly watching Fiona’s progress on her Dutch treat blocks, all done with needle turn applique, and I have wanted to “learn” how to do needle turn for a while now, but just haven’t found the right beginner’s project. So when I saw the heart challenge I thought – now that could work!
So here is my first heart:
It didn’t turn out as bad as I thought it would!!!!
Working on the second one…
I’m thinking this could become quite addictive!!!!
To get some help I watched two youtube videos:
One by Sue Daley, specifically on how to do hearts
and
I am happy with my points at the bottom of the hearts, but not so happy with the bit in the middle at the top. Sue showed how to do that part on her video.. but I am still afraid mine will come undone one day…. oh well….
So far our quilting retreat has been good 🙂 I’ll be back with more retreat news soon!
Have a great time on retreat……
Enjoy your retreat no distractions by yourself!?
Your hearts look great. Try fraystop on the clipped bit in the middle of the top. I’ve not had any issues with fraying on any needleturn where i’ve clipped the fabric & used fraystop. Hugs,xx
My goodness what adventures you have. It’s lovely that you can go with hubbie. Love your travelling quilt, it sure brightens the room and more homely. Enjoy your retreat. Xx
Another adventure–but with lots of sewing this time!!
I did do a post a bit ago and show a photo of my finished mermaid–
remember I am the one doing the coloring on the mermaids!!
have fun stitching–
enjoy, di
My goodness, so much travelling. Wouldn’t be any good for my back & ribs. Loving that you are getting acquainted with needleturn applique, which I am absolutely rubbish at. Take care.
I love how you take your own quilts – what a great idea!
Hi Joy ,how nice to go on retreat with your hubby,love your heart,cant wait to see you my friend i told the girls, everyone was excited xx
What a great idea to go with and sew….. I love that the quilts come too…. Hearts is a perfect starter for needleturn ( I learnt with hearts too!) as there are points, curves and valleys to learn…. yours look great so it looks like you have conquered it!!! yay for a new convert. (PS Dutch Treat is a form of needleturn but it is actually reverse applique – so you cut the top fabric and turn under to expose the bottom fabric) – semantics maybe but I thought I would clarify…
Hugz
Glad that you and Nina could go on a quilting retreat with your husband and spend some time with him. You do sound like me with all the things you want to do! Did you put a backing between your heart and quilt? It looks good to me! I have not done anything like that except zigzag around them on the machine on a quilt I made a long time ago. Good job improvising for the handles on the purse! Nancy
So happy you joined in on the heart challenge. I have to say – your hearts look beautiful….. better than mine at the top middle part. I think I might need to view those video’s.
How lovely to be shut in a room with quilting equipment! Happy for you.
The applique hearts look great-you are doing a nice job on the tricky parts, too.
What a fun way to have a retreat! When I did my Baltimore classes – when we had dips like in a heart – we cut close to the stitching line and cut into it – probably the same as Sue Daley – but we also dipped the needle in Fray Check (think it Fray Check – but I am sure any of the liquid glues would work the same – it was a long time ago I did those classes) and sort of slid the needle under the applique shape – near the “hardly any fabric here” bit to help tuck it under – it also meant there was a tiny bit of glue to stop the fabric fraying. Might be worth a try..but practice on some scrap!
Such lovely quilts and yummy fabrics! Your hearts look fantastic! It doesn’t seem possible that you are a novice.
Catch up reading again!! How fun that you could go along and spend your time retreating, and nice for DH to have your company at the end of his day’s work! I’m guessing you’ve previously done all the sight seeing there is to do there? Your first attempts at needleturn are awesome – well done!