The Hawks Aloft 2008 Raffle Quilt

'Twas a dedicated crew of eleven that met at Ed and Mary's for our 15th annual Hawks Aloft quilt retreat. This is probably the most traditional of all the quilts we have made to date. The quilt design was inspired by the center motif. I made it during the Japanese Katazome stencil dyeing class that I took from Karen Miller in October. It is a traditional Japanese crest with three cranes. The center was pre-stitched before the big day, so we would have a better chance of finishing, and finish we did - - in record time. Anita stitched the last border on just before dinner.

Thanks to Ed and Mary Chappelle for letting us use their lovely home with the wonderful view of Sandia Peak. Thanks too, to all the quilters who stitched throughout the day (from L to R):
Allison Schacht, Joan Hellquist, Sam Sanborn, Patty Phillips, Ed Chappelle, Steve Elkins, Mary Chappelle, Ruth Burstrom, Yours Truly, and Anita McSorley. Not shown is Pat Folsom, who had to leave early.

I am always amazed at how well these quilts come together. All are stitched on paper foundations that are prepared ahead of time. Now, the interesting part comes. This coming weekend, Patty and I will layer the quilt and she will take it home to do the anchor quilting, the outer border, and the binding. After that, Anita, Mary and I will take turns with the free-motion quilting. My good friend, and partner in quilting, Donna, has some strong views on how the quilting should be done, so I hope that she will volunteer to stitch her idea into place.

Raffle tickets should be available in March 2008. The quilt will debut at Festival of the Cranes in Monte Vista, Colorado, March 7-9, 2008. Join us there for a wonderful weekend. Hawks Aloft will have a large booth with many of our non-releasable educational raptors, and I, along with our biologists, will be leading raptor tours! Besides, there is the fabulous restaurant that simply is too good to pass up, Hunan Chinese Restaurant.