Quilt Retreat Inspiration

      So this last weekend Mom, RaeAnn, some friends from Wisconsin, and I spent Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday morning at the Ankeny Legion at a quilt retreat put on by our local quilt shop, Quilter's Cupboard. We got so much done! Here's what I finished (minus those pieces that are Christmas presents for followers of this blog, which is unfortunate, because they were some of my favorites!):

My large twister quilt, made with the "It's a Hoot" fabric line from Moda, which I LOVE! 

This is a plastic bag dispenser, the pattern for which I found on marthastewart.com. It was super easy, so if you're on my Christmas list and you want one, let me know! (The fabric I used for this is also the backing fabric for my pillow).

I'm totally obsessed with this pillow! I found it on Pinterest ages ago, and the quilt retreat gave me the time to get it finished! 

Ok, it's not done yet, but this will be the "awesome bag" I started making for myself. I made a totally awesome (I know, an awesome awesome bag?) one that's a Christmas gift, too. You can find this super easy pattern on Pinterest as well.

      Now that the show-and-tell portion of this post is over, let me explain what this has to do with our wedding! Our plan from the beginning has been to make a quilt people will sign instead of a guestbook. Mom insists that I make it ahead of time instead of having people sign fabric squares I would put together later. She's totally right; I'd never get it done. Plus, it would be cooler if the guests get to see the finished product. This is along the lines of what we were hoping to make (found on Pinterest), but we were having trouble deciding on the pattern:

During the quilt retreat, they had a "jelly roll race." For the non-quilters, this may beg a little explanation. A "Jelly Roll" is a roll of different coordinating fabrics cut into 40, 2.5"  strips. You sew all the ends together so you have one long strip, then double it, sew it lengthwise, cut the ends, then repeat. My apologies if this doesn't make sense (I'll put up a picture of the one Mom made when I get a chance. It's freaking adorable!) The point is, the winner of the race sewed this quilt together in approximately 45 minutes, and the longest it took anyone was about an hour and 20 minutes. If you've ever made a quilt, you know that you're cutting out hours of labor here! Our new thought: Jelly Roll Quilt (in whites and creams) as the background, with bright-colored pennant bunting appliqued on top! We've ordered Jelly Roll strips on Etsy, and the guestbook quilt will soon be underway! Here's a Jelly Roll quilt (from Pinterest) that gives you an idea of what the background will look like:

      Lots of pictures today. Hope you liked them!