Quilting Retreat, Its In The Bag, April 13-16, 2023

QUILTING RETREAT, OXFORD MD

IT’S IN THE BAG        April 13-16, 2023

Bags we will be making at the retreat.

Oxford is a special small town on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.  The town sits on a peninsula

where two rivers join before entering the Chesapeake Bay.  What a better place to be creative for 3 days!  When you are not sewing or quilting, get out to stretch your legs and see the water views.  If you like fresh crab cakes, this is the place!

JKThreads will be hosting a quilting retreat in the Community Center in Oxford.  The subject will be “It’s In The Bag”!  Instructions will be given in the mornings on how to make 3 different sized bags.  Afternoons are for you to work on any other projects you bring along.  Or maybe you prefer to just stitch away on your own projects and skip the bags.  All optional.

Feel free to come network with fellow quilters and stitch on your own, all levels welcome.

DATES

Arrive:  Thursday, April 13, 2023, between noon – 2 pm

Depart:  Sunday, April 16, 2023 at 1 pm

SCHEDULE

Sew from 9 am until 10 pm daily

 lunches provided each day, Saturday night dinner will be catered in.

Thursday & Friday dinners will be reserved locally but you cover your cost.

JOIN US

Reserve your spot today.

Total price - $350 for the weekend.  Deposit of $100 is due to reserve your spot

$250 balance will be billed in early Feb, 2023.

SIGN UP NOW- - See application below

·         Minimum capacity is 6, Maximum capacity is 12.  Waitlist spots will be available

·         Deposit is nonrefundable.  If retreat is cancelled, deposit will be refunded.

ADDITIONAL DETAILS

What will be provided:

-          3 full days of quilting / sewing

-          small group instruction on three sized bags

-          all the fleece, interfacing, magnetic snaps, and zippers, you just provide the fabric

-          personal instruction on any project you are working on and may need advice

-          Two lunches provided on Friday and Saturday (soup, salad and/or sandwiches)

-          One group dinner brought in on Saturday evening

-          One 6’ table per person, cutting tables, ironing stations, design walls

What you will learn:

-          How to make a variety of great bags for yourself or gifts.

-          How to design your bag to make it unique.

-          How to quilt the fabric to the fleece you have made for your bag.

-          How to install no hassle zippers

-          Boxed corners

-          How to make professional looking pockets

-          Installation of magnetic snaps

Other things to look forward to:

-          A fun fat quarter exchange game

-          An ugly scrap fabric challenge

-          New friends

-          You will be assigned a secret buddy to leave little gifts for.  In turn, you will be receiving secret gifts from a new friend.

About your instructor:

Jean Konopacz will be your host and instructor.  Jean is the owner and Chief Designer at JKThreadsLLC.  Jean has a lifetime of sewing experience, 12 years of quilting experience and 10 years of long arm experience with her specialty being in custom free hand long arming.  Check out her site at www.JKThreads.com.  Jean and her husband are enjoying living fulltime in Oxford MD.   Jean spends most of her time in the studio, reserving time for boating and biking.

Let Jean instruct you on all she knows.

Grab a friend and reserve a spot.  You will not want to miss out on this opportunity.

SIGN UP - - NEXT PAGE

For those of you needing a hotel to spend the weekend in Oxford.  See below.

SIGN ME UP FOR THE OXFORD QUILT RETREAT!

April 13-16, 2023

Email this form to Jean at:  jkonopacz@gmail.com

To pay the $100 nonrefundable deposit

Go to:  www.JKThreads.com/store    

OR Venmo:  JKThreads

OR Snail Mail a personal check to:  JKThreads, PO Box 153, Oxford, MD, 21654

I will respond with an email to confirm receipt of your sign up and deposit.

Thank you.  Can’t wait to work with you.

Hotels in Oxford, MD

Oxford Inn: The closest hotel to the Community Center venue at a mere two block walk away.  The hotel offers a variety of rooms with either queen or king sized beds on the second or third floors.  The first floor has a cozy library cocktail lounge and an Italian restaurant.  Breakfast is included with your reservation.  Located at 504 S. Morris St. in Oxford.

Call Jeanne or Scott at (410) 226-5220 and mention the quilting retreat to get 15% off your stay.  The discount is good until Jan 15, 2023

www.oxfordinn.net

The Robert Morris Inn:  Another historic hotel located approx. ½ mile from the Community Center venue.  The hotel is located at the top of the town’s peninsula and can offer water views.  You may even be able to stay in the room George Washington once slept in.  Located at 314 North Morris St. in Oxford.  Check out availability on their site:  www.robertmorrisinn.com

Or call (855) 516-1093

Sandaway Suites & Beach Hotel:  A boutique hotel designed around a classic renovated mansion.  The grounds have its own beachfront located about ¾ mile away from the Community Center venue.  Breakfast delivered to your room each morning.  Located at 103 W. Strand Rd.  Book online at www.sandaway.com or call (888) 726-3292

There are also a variety of Airbnb’s in town.  If you are coming with a friend, this may be another option.

A New Studio / Barn

I am SO excited to have a new work space in an old converted barn. Last spring we bought a new home, well an older home that needed lots of tender loving care, but it is a new beginning for us. It had a falling apart barn on the property that I had restored into my new studio. Finally to have a work space dedicated just for my artist work and not to double as the second bedroom or the dining room! Other great features to this house were a double wide lot and a western facing water view. The sunsets are spectacular!!!!!

Restoring the house and barn have taken the past eight months. It was difficult to live in the space as the construction went on around us, but it truly made us fully invested. We always seemed to have a paint brush or a hammer in our hands or a mop or broom in the evenings to clean up the mess. There were so many decisions to make everyday as we went along. Starting with the help of our architect, Tim B. Kearns Designs who designed the space, to our contractor, Chris Fogarty Carpentry, who made the dream a reality. Many things that I had no clue about but needed to learn. From how deep the foundation trenches needed to be, how much rebar was required by code, how thick the walls needed to be, the many types of insulation, plumbing, wiring, the roof pitch, the windows, and lastly the interior paint color.

Here are a few before and after comparisons.

Over the holidays, I took a break from my long arming jobs to make the move from the dining room into the studio. I just love having the space to spread out and to store all my fabric collection. Here are the finished photos. Notice that view! The lofted ceiling is a real plus! I’ll have to get up on a ladder and display a few quilts up there. Lots of storage in back. I am SO happy here. My husband will never see my in the house again!

Western facing views at the mouth of the Tred Avon River, with the Chesapeake Bay off in the distance to the left.

Long arm on the right and domestic sewing on the left. A large work table in the middle and lots of storage cubbies for my jobs. What you can’t see is the large design wall hiding to the right of the domestic machine and before the cubbies start.

The view of the middle and rear. Lots of storage cubbies for my batting rolls and line up of long arming jobs. A potty on the right and a big closet on the left. Plus a loft to climb up into when I really need to get away. What more could a girl ask for?

OCC Pop Up Art Show

We are in the summer of Covid 19. Just starting to get outside a bit but keeping our safe distance.

The quaint little town of Oxford, MD that I moved to a year ago usually has a open studio tour on Labor Day weekend. However, with Covid-19 lurking around, the town decided we could display our works of art outside the Community Center, six feet apart. Thankfully it was a beautiful sunny day out. There were several great painters represented, some etchings, jewelry, ceramics, and I was the lone quilter represented. The hard part was we were only allowed 3 items. How do you choose just three??? So I picked a small table runner, a medium sized wall hanging and a large bed sized quilt.

The set up volunteers were very excited to help me display my quilts. They wanted them in the trees so as to entice passerbys to stop in.

Here are my two helpers helping me hang my large Aboriginal quilt called Blowin Down Under

We couldn’t find another set of great branches to hang the next quilt so we decided to just use the ladder. Here we have added the Whale Tail wall hanging.

I decided just to leave the Sunflower table runner on the table alongside my business cards. Here I am holding the table runner amongst my display of 3 items.

I had so much fun meeting so many great people. Some were locals but there were also many visitors in town as well. I sold the Whale Tail wall hanging and the Sunflower table runner and chatted with many people about custom orders they had ideas for.

Acceptance into the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival 2020.

Local Quilter Accepted into National Quilt Competition

Quilt Artist Jean Konopacz of Oxford, MD has been accepted in the 2020 Stitch Your Art Out Quilt Competition at the thirty-first annual Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival. Produced by Mancuso Show Management, the Festival will take place at the Hampton Roads Convention Center in Hampton, VA from February 27 – March 1, 2020.

Konopacz’s quilt, Blowin Down Under, will be on display at the show along with many other quilts, all competing for prizemoney. Winners will be selected at the show and announced on the M-AQF website, www.quiltfest.com, on Thursday, February 27, 2020. Quilt and textile art enthusiasts will have an opportunity to view Konopacz's quilt among all the other stunning displays of quilts and textile art at the event, February 27 – March 1, 2020.

Quilting is truly art. Every quilt that is displayed at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival takes great skill and talent to make it come to life. This quilt competition incorporates pieces from the best quilters in the U.S. that will be judged, and on display to be enjoyed by quilt enthusiasts and other quilt artists.

Besides the competition quilts on display, the Quilt Festival will feature workshops and lectures taught by a world-renowned faculty, a Merchant's Mall and magnificent special exhibitions including many presented by local quilt guilds.

Mancuso Show Management has several long running shows annually, each with its own quilt competition. Besides the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival, MSM hosts, Quiltfest Greenville, SC; World Quilt New England, Springfield, MA; the Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza, Oaks (Philadelphia area), PA; the Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara (Bay area), CA and The Quilt & Sewing Fest of New Jersey, Edison (Greater New York area), NJ.    

For more information, visit www.quiltfest.com.

Entering MQX 2019

MQX stands for Machine Quilter’s Expo. It is a large quilt show that takes place in early April in Manchester NH. I have attended several times now because it is literally less than an hour drive away from my home. I have always been in awe of the amazing quilts shown there. So last year I took a “winner’s tour”. A guide walked us through the quilts with ribbons on them and told us why they won and explained the point criteria. Unlike other shows where most of the points are awarded on piecing and color, at this show the majority of points are awarded on the machine quilting and less on the piecing, color choice and binding.

Since I machine quilt for hire, I thought this year I would see if I could even qualify to get into this juried show. So I entered two of my quilts hoping at least one would get in. Well both of them qualified. These quilts were not made intentionally for a show. One was made for my bed at home, while the other was made as a sample for a class I was teaching. Needless to say, I was honored to be accepted into this elite group at MQX.

Liberty Owls

Liberty Owls was made for a class sample. The class was on curved piecing. I used the Sew Kind of Wonderful rulers and a selection of my cherished Liberty of London prints. It was made quickly and quilted in a very unplanned, ad lib style. It was entered in the “Large Wallhanging” category.

Twisted Tornado

Twisted Tornado also uses the Sew Kind of Wonderful curved rulers. I am a bit obsessed with their patterns. This quilt took me a couple of years to make, is large, and was entered in the “Bed Quilt” category.

I prepared the quilts, made new labels, and shipped them off to NH. When the big day came, I went to the awards ceremony and preview show. It was a great way to see and compare the competition without the crowds of people around. Well, again, I was blown away by the competition. It made my quilts look like the elementary version in comparison to the winners. But I had to remind myself that this was a juried show and I had to pass certain criteria before being allowed in.

The next day I got the judges scores. This was the basis:

10 is perfect

9 is near perfect

8 is national level high quality

7 is national level quality is some inconsistencies

6 average work, room for improvement

5 really needs improvement

4 below average

3 you really should not even think to enter into this show.

I scored all 7’s and 8’s. I guess I could use improvement. Again I had to remind myself that I did not make either of these quilts with the intention of a top notch show. But I did spend time custom quilting them. The larger quilt that I spent way more time on got a slightly lower score than the owl quilt that I threw together quickly. All in all, this was quite the learning experience.

I did get two of these nifty participation ribbons:

Now I await the appraisals to see how much these quilts are worth. And if I really put my mind to it, maybe next year I can achieve some 9’s (nearly perfect)

Two of the Same but Different

I decided I needed a last minute gift for a special someone. But why make one when you can make two!

Two of the same table runners using a charm pack of 5” squares, a bit of black essex linen and my quick curve ruler mini by Sew Kind of Wonderful

So I pieced these runners up. I used one charm pack of black and golds and my mini quick curve ruler by Sew Kind of Wonderful.

Differences so far are the reds. I wanted one to be a bit more toned down so used a dark blackish red. The other used a brighter red with gold swirls. Believe it or not, the backgrounds are the same until the outside border. With the brighter red one on the left, I continued the bright red into the inner border, then finished it off with the same neutral gold swirl fabric from inside.

The one on the right focused on the gold, using a darker gold inner border and finishing off with a tonal gold border. The final border is has a tone between the darker inner border and the neutral background fabric.

Now onto the quilting. The advantage of making two at the same time is the fact that I only have to load once. I loaded one backing fabric, a white with gold dot, and was able to lay the table runners side by side. Making the quilting quick and easy.

I free motion quilted both runners in gold Cleopatra Glide thread. It is a nice shiny gold really adding to the elegance of these runners. This is the fun part for me. I can just doodle draw to get this quilting. This is the artistry I love to do.

Feathered Wreaths

Poinsettia Quilting

Here are final photos. One will be a gift. The other will be sold to a lucky someone. Either way, both are elegant gifts. Even the backs are elegant. They can almost be reversible.

Both runners the same but different inside squares, borders and quilting.

The backs.

I think this is a great way to make something and have an extra on hand. You never know when you need a gift.

The Feathered Wreath Runner

The Poinsettia Runner

Happy Holidays 2018!

Vermont Quilt Festival 2018

I had the pleasure of attending the Vermont Quilt Festival held on June 22-24 this year.  It was an honor to see two customer quilts hung with pride.

The first quilt is a variation of the rail fence pieced by Cathy Harless.  I really like the red and tan color theme Cathy chose.  On this quilt I used a panto of a Narcissus, very compactly stitched with a neutral Onmi thread.  Sorry I did not get a close up shot but here is the full photo:

Next is an amazing appliqué quilt by Anne Messier.  I love the gold tones and the scrappy appliqués is so perfect.  Anne even appliquéd that brick red V-type outside border on instead of piecing it.   This quilt was custom quilted in simple leafy vines in a gold Omni thread to blend.  It is not overdone so Anne's appliqué shines.  Anne certainly deserves that red ribbon attached to the quilt.  

The Making of a Raffle Quilt

It all started exactly a year ago.  I was coming home from a long arm quilt conference and got stuck in a snowstorm.  During that time I get an email from a board member of the Wayside Quilt Guild, of which I am a member.  She asks me if I would coordinate the raffle quilt for the guild’s next quilt show, a year and a half away.  In previous years, this quilt has earned the guild a large sum of money so this is important.  So I sit in my hotel room with a sketchbook, fresh from 4 days of long arm training and inspiration, and come up with a sketch.  Sample blocks were made up once I got home.

I realized everyone in the guild is not at the same skill level and I wanted everyone to participate.  I made up three paper pieced patterns all at 6 ½” square.  The easiest pattern was the piano key border, made up of 3 x (2 ½” x 6 ½”) pieces.  The next level of difficulty was the flying geese.  Everyone loves flying geese.  It’s a quilt staple.  A square of geese consisted of 3 geese at 2 ½” x 6 ½”.  Lastly the most difficult was the star unit I took from a Carol Doak book.  A 6 ½” quarter star was paper pieced in 2 pieces then sewn together.  Only the more advanced ladies in our guild took this pattern.  After drafting all three patterns, I figured out what size pieces needed to be cut for each and wrote basic instructions on each pattern.  I photocopied each pattern and Susan offered to cut up the Kona.  Each of the Kona pieces would make 2 blocks.  The ladies of the guild were to donate bright batiks from their stash for the insides of the star, geese and piano keys.

Its almost summer break.  I’ve been handing out patterns and silver Kona for 2 months now.  I keep reminding the ladies of the guild that I need their squares by the September meeting.  I had no clue as to what I would get in return.

The September meeting arrives and I get all sorts of blocks tossed at me.  I received 60 quarter star blocks, 55 flying geese blocks and 100 piano key blocks.  I only needed 52 piano key blocks to make the outer border so ended up putting the remainder on the back side.

My committee got together one morning.  I put up a design wall and we played with stars, geese paths.  When we had the quilt designed where we all seemed to agree, we switched a few blocks around for better color distribution.  I went shopping with another committee member to find that skinny ½” inner border.  Many batiks later and climbing up and down a ladder for a better visual, we decided the black with small orange spots popped the most.  I found an orange batik backing that coordinated.  We met up again to stitch the inner border and all those piano keys.

By January the quilt was on my long arm.  Again, I doodled on photocopies of the quilt for best design choices.  I selected an orange variegated thread.  I wanted the stars to swirl so free handed a helix design I learned from Sue at Kismet Quilting.  On the few negative gray spaces, I quilted the quarter star in.  I wanted the flying geese to pop out so quilted dense lines outside of them.  I spent the better part of the week, or a good 24 hours, quilting this quilt.

Lastly I bound the quilt in the black to repeat that inner border.  Here you can see the star design I shadowed into the outside piano key border.

This is the back side, using every one of those leftover piano keys.

The quilt show will be at the end of September but in the meantime, we need to promote the quilt.  I will get members of the guild to display the quilt at shops around town to sell raffle tickets to the public.  One lucky person will win this quilt on September 30.

Overall this was a fun experience.  I had a vision.  I shared it with the guild.  The ladies of the guild sewed all those blocks and my committee helped with the layout and sewing together.  I was afraid a committee would not agree but this was not the case at all.  A few minor disagreements of opinion but nothing we couldn’t work out.  It was fun, I made new friends in the process, and have an awesome quilt we are all proud to raffle off for the benefit of the guild.