You know that old saying about eating the frog first thing in the morning? Basically, it means you tackle the hardest thing first, and everything after that seems easy.

So, what did I do when I showed up on the first day of quilting retreat, only partway through sashing my last triangle border row? I started with the frog first, naturally.

And conveniently, the triangle block in the middle of that row looks kind of like a frog to me.

In addition to looking like a frog, it also seemed to be a little smaller than it was supposed to be. I guess at least I didn’t have to eat an oversized frog first.

Once I got started, though, the triangle size wasn’t as far off as I thought – the seams were just not pressed as open as they should have been. Turns out the frog wasn’t so awful to eat after all.

It took me until the third day of retreat to finish up that triangle border row, but it sure was a relief to be done with all the borders. As usual, I took a photo for the blog while the row was still in three parts, so that it fit in the frame better, and then went back afterward and stitched the last two seams.

I may or may not also have a photo of me pretending to run through this triangle row like I was at the finish line of a race. We get a little silly after a long day of quilting.

Once the jigsaw puzzle was introduced on the first night of retreat, I got moved to another workspace. That decision involved the kind of logic that only makes sense when a group of quilters are tired and giggly after a long, fun day of retreating.

My new tablemates were a quilter who does art quilts (often with important political/social messages), and a quilter who works almost exclusively in circles. Both of their quilts are amazing, and so different from mine.

I think people find an area of quilting that fits with their personality. I’m super analytical, and I love the geometric challenge of a complicated traditional block. But I could not make an art quilt to save my life, and you all know my feelings about curved piecing.

I’m just glad there are so many different kinds of quilting out there, that everyone can find something they love to do. It just goes to show: one person’s dreaded frog to eat first is another person’s favorite technique.