Hawks Aloft Raffle Quilt Retreat 2011

It took a team of 13 makers and three dogs 1 and 1/2 days to make the top for this year's raffle quilt. The design is by yours truly and inspired by my new fascination with Navajo rugs. The 13 humans are Donna Barnitz, Ruth Burstrom, Debbie Caffrey, Ed & Mary Chappelle, Steve Elkins, Mike & Michele Hymel, Anita McSorley, Chellye Porter, Lizzie Roberts, and Sam Sanborn and me.
Each year we retreat to the cabin in the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico for a weekend of, not relaxation, but . . .

Sweat Shop Central!

In short order, we got down to business working on the center design.

Mike and Ed are the official cutters.

Ed does double duty as a paper remover. The entire quilt is paper foundation pieced (except for the bird's heads that were appliqued by Anita).

Steve and Lizzie make great sewing partners!

All that paper has to go somewhere!

Laney helps hold down the paper while she guards her favorite toy, a pumpkin, that she never leaves out of sight.

Debbie displays the center diamond.

We started on Friday afternoon and by late Saturday the top was stitched. So, we switched from serious sewing mode to New Mexico relaxation mode with a traditional dinner with the traditional pre-dinner drink -margaritas! It was quite the festive evening.

Sunday morning is a time for sharing stories as we sit in front of the windows, drinking coffee and watching the birds outside.
Pogo, who was attending his first quilt retreat, wasn't so sure about all the people and all the activity, so he took to hiding in the closet.

Shoes and jackets in the mud room, outdoor wear abandoned for inside activity.

Sunday morning after coffee was set aside for a hike to the overlook where the snow was only ankle deep.
Here, Chellye and I pose with the two unwilling dogs, Gabby and Laney. There was so much to do and so little time. Why waste it holding still for a photo!
The view from the overlook of Jemez Springs. We look forward to returning for our 2012 retreat. The quilt has now gone home with Michele Hymel, who has a longarm quilting machine and a very talented quilter! We hope to finish all of it in time for the Monte Vista, CO Festival of the Cranes in mid-March. We'll have raffle tickets very soon.

To Market, To Market to buy a . . . lot of great stuff.

One of the great things about going to Quilt Market and Festival is seeing all my quilting buddies. I found Paula Nadelstern showing off some of her newest work.
And, I met Ginny Eckley, who is a master stencil maker and makes the exact right sort of stencils for the resist-type dyeing that I prefer. Check out her website!

One of the really great things about attending Market (the wholesale part of the show) is that you can really spend time looking at all the amazing quilts without having to jostle with all the Festival attendees. They are superb and the competition is stiff. The prize winners won't be announced until Wednesday. I wonder if some of my favorites will be among the winners.

Quadrille - 2010

Here's the newest quilt with flying geese galore, intertwined with a colorful star. The geese were made from a rainbow pack of hand-dyed gradations by Starr Design Fabrics, and the backgrounds were hand-painted by Mickey Lawler of Skydyes. This was a fun quilt to make. Donna B and I worked on it together.

Top Row Retreat

I'll be teaching on a quilting cruise hosted by Stitchin Heaven, with fellow teachers Carol Doak and Eileen Sullivan, in March 2012, with stops in the Carribean. It's a paper foundation piecing cruise! So, instead oh having everyone make three different projects, each of us made a row for "our" cruise project. Mine is the top row! I finished it at our quilt retreat at the cabin.
Our quilting group, Designing Women, had a blast, sewing, eating, and . . . . .
hiking! Three of us brought our fur-kids. This is Mary C and Pogo.
And, Mr. Gab, the most excellent hiker. Hard to photograph though, since he's a dark charcoal gray, hence his full name, Gabbro. It means igneous rock.
This is Donna, who owns Cathy C. She was the newest dog to the group, only having been rescued within the last twelve months.
Miss Elaenia, formerly a puppy mill breeder, came to live with me about 18 months ago. She hikes well, but would prefer to be a couch potato.
At the overlook, looking down into the Jemez Valley, lies this intricately woven piece of wood that suspends a rock above the earth.
Debbie Caffrey is the newest member of our group. She joined in January 2010. She is an outstanding chef! We ate way too much! Good thing we went hiking.
In our group, we do have a few rules. Here, Michele was awared the No Whining button. Guess what she did to earn it! She has to keep it until someone else in the group whines in her presence, AND she has the button in her possession at the time. She might have it a long time. Harriet owned the button for two years before passing it on. I love our retreats!

Flying Colors - Coming Soon!

It's almost here, my third book, Flying Colors, published b y C&T Publications. The first copy has arrived on my doorstep and I am so impressed with the graphics and design. Working with C&T has been an inspiration. In fact, the experience has been so rewarding that thoughts of the next books are already swirling in my mind. Flying Colors takes the traditional goose beyond tradition into a heady world of free-form design. No longer just for geese, the curvy filler strips can hold many different designs and 14 different fillers are included among the pages. Thank you to all of my students who generously allowed the use of their quilts in the book too.

After VQF: Burlington Composting Center

Personal tour leader, Pat, suggested that my final stop in Vermont before boarding the plane should be to the Intervale Composting Center in Burlington. There were, indeed, a hundred or more gulls and some crows, but most interesting were the large group of students and teachers picnicking on the lawn. Apparently, the center is popular not just for birders. Across the street are expansive community gardens where many people were busy cultivating the gardens.
Yup, compost! In various stages of decomposition, being moved around.
When a potential predator was sighted, all the gulls took flight. We observed three different species, Ring-billed Gull, Herring Gull, and Great Black-backed Gull. Way cool!!
The gull's most favored spot, though, was the smelly area where freshly dumped vegetation was first turned.
Burlington has a history of being one of the greenest communities in the U.S. All the large hospitals and other industries deliver their vegetable waste to the center. What a concept and what a great last stop in Vermont!

After VQF: Quest for a Life Bird

Once the festivities wrapped up at the Vermont Quilt Festival, it was time to explore. My friend Pat, herself a crazy birder type like yours truly, suggested we drive up Mt. Washington, in New Hampshire, as soon as they opened the road in the morning. The sign threatened a very scary drive. But . . .
It was stunning. Living all of my life in the West, I had not considered the size of the mountains in New England, which are just as high above ground level as most of our western peaks. We were on a quest for a particular bird, Bicknell's Thrush, that is found in a narrow range between 3,000-5,000 feet above sea level. We opted to climb Mt. Washington as it was the most accessible site to search for the elusive bird, listening to bird song tapes so as to ensure that we would know its song.
Friend, Pat, is a dedicated birder, even promoting birds on her license plate. We did indeed find the little fellow, singing his heart out at the exact location he was supposed to be. How often does that happen? We also got to see and hear a Swainson's Thrush, another lifer! What a day! But, there was more! Pat is an outstanding birding guide!
Back at Pat's place, we checked out her neighbor's property, heavily forested. It yielded, not only ancient equipment, but also a Black-throated Blue Warbler - yet another lifer. We were on a roll.
The view from Pat's front yard was spectacular and the birds in a back yard numerous, attracted by an over-sized pond filled with koi. Our evening entertainment was to sit on the porch and watch the kingfisher snagging baby goldfish over and over.
We even got close-up views of a few cooperative birds, like this Eastern Kingbird. I think Vermont is about as close to heaven as possible -- at least during the summer.

VQF - Sensational Stars

This star in progress, was designed by Donna Hastings. Donna had taken this class from me before, and brought this beautiful creation with her to class.

Donna Hastings

Sensational Stars is a one-day class where students design and make their own stars. Here are a couple in progress. This one is the design of Barbara Roberts.

Barbara Roberts

Here's a nifty design in progress, belonging to Nicole Laurencelle.

Nicole Laurencelle

Vermont Quilt Festival 2010

One of the most fun parts of class is seeing the designs take personality. Here are two wedges of Mary Nelson's Star - an original design.

Mary Nelson

On Friday night, we explored downtown Burlington, Church Street in particular where they have many street artists such as this fellow who was playing the digeridoo, an Australian aboriginal instrument.
Cows are big here in Vermont, the land of cheese, chocolate and ice cream. The street was filled with cows painted by various artists. Fellow teacher Jan Krentz and I pose by a plaid cow. Our photographer was Carol Doak. They were my roomies on this trip - way too much fun. I hope to spend more time with them in the future.