Laura Ramseier hosted another lovely Quilting Friends Quilt Retreat at Camp Lake Lucerne in Neshkoro, WI. There were about 20 quilters attending this year. The camp is on the edge of a beautiful glacial spring-fed lake (very similar to the one I grew up near).
We have a gorgeous view of the Lake from the main hall of the
lodge. The fall color is moving into full swing -- lovely yellows, oranges and a few reds among the trees on the drive out. In the mornings, there would be mist over the lake -- Neat!
At Quilt Camp, as usual, I was back in the corner with Laura and Sheila again. [See the photo above.]
I was working 2 pumpkins -- patterns and kits from my mom's stash, along with some scraps of my own. I finished both pumpkins, complete with proper satin edges along the appliques--just to prove I can still do it! I put an extra layer of batting underneath the pumpkins so they would pop up for more of a 3-D effect. I think that's called trapunto.
This one could use a little more quilting in the borders. Still need hanging pockets or some other way to hang them.
The 3rd project I brought along was an autumn and turquoise jelly roll already cut into prescribed 1-in - 1-1/2-inch and 2-inch strips to make carousel blocks, according to Donna Jordan in this video:
I used the 45-degree Kaliedescope Ruler to cut these out. My set yielded 7 carousel blocks. I thought it might be putsy to sew together with all those intersecting seams -- esp. in the middle, but DJ advises making sure the seams of the wedges are opposing (1 up and the next one down) so that they nest. She also advises a slightly wider than 1/4-inch seam, and that allowed things to meet in the middle without a lot of bulk. It worked!
I am still contemplating how to set them in order to use all 7 octagons. I also took some of the scraps and cut 2-inch strips and chained them together to make 1 more element in the final quilt. I still need to pick a background fabric, and possibly a border.
This year again, we had to bring our own bedding -- It's a great opportunity to USE some of the quilts we've made over the years, though some ladies just bring sleeping bags. This time, I brought one of my woven coverlets. It got down to freezing on Friday night, and I was grateful for the extra layer of warmth!
The food this year was better than I remember it. Laura spoke with them about the food this time. In other years, the menu has been more appropriate for much younger people, very heavy on the carbs. This year, they served us soups and salads, oatmeal and egg bake for breakfast, chicken pot pie with biscuits, and a ham dinner with riced cauliflower -- I've never had that before but with this preparation, I think I could finally become a fan of cauliflower.
Some great things about attending Quilt Camp:
* If you are stuck on a project or a technique, there is always someone there who knows how to get you through it, or can show you an easier way. There was prob. more than 1000 years of quilting experience in that room this weekend!
* Laura always makes something for all the ladies who attend the retreat. This year, she used her scraps to make a shopping bag lined with her chicken feed bags. She likes to re-use things and keep them out of the land fills. So now I have this nifty and sturdy bag with patchwork on the outside.
The inside is an empty / recycled chicken feed bag. It's a durable plastic material that is perfect for a shopping bag. She laid out 25 of these bags on a table with the chicken feed side out, and we all got to peer inside at the quilting to find the bag we wanted to claim.
* Bev's Apples. Bev has an apple tree that bears apples that are always ripe and ready by the time Quilt Camp happens. She always brings bags of apples for the snack table. I love that she brings a healthy alternative to the sweets on the table. She said it was a bumper crop this year, and several u=of us will be meeting her later in the week to get more apples. Yum! She always brings them in these pin striped and bandana bags -- She used to work at Oshkosh B'Gosh, I think and those apple bags are emblematic of that.
* A few people were still doing kits from my mom's stash that I was giving away last year. Marilyn did a Kansas Troubles Christmas kit with lots of holly. It came out beautifully!
And then there are the tried and true gadgets and innovations that other quilters are using.
* LED lights for the throat of your sewing machine. I think I need one of these for each of my machines! The desk lamps and Ott lamps help, but still don't quite put the light where you need it. This does the trick!
* Sheila at the table next to me had a cutting matt on a turntable from Martelli Notions. It was sturdy and large and worked very well for her tasks. I have smaller square ones, but it's hard to turn them sometimes. I might play around with a lazy susan and see if I can make a DIY model. ;-)
* You see new (to me) patterns and color combinations.
* Pat Saft brought a project using 10-inch squares (layer cake) with a pattern called Angela's Arrows. I found a similar pattern here, called Anita's Arrowhead. I want to give this one a try.
Inspiring Conversations:
* Sheila was working on a Dream Weaver Quilt that was reminiscent of a Japanese garden with paths that turn at 90 degrees. She said that's a design element in Japanese Gardens so that the ghosts or bad spirits don't (or can't) follow you when you make the 90 degree turns. She was using a beautiful line of garden and floral inspired fabrics by Tula (?) I am looking forward to seeing all the blocks assembled next year. The pattern came from a book, but I didn't catch the name of it ...
* Sheila also shared one of her favorite quilt artists: Loraine Roy in Canada, who does some amazing free motion embroidery and textile work inspired. Some of it is inspired by landscapes, some of it is abstract. It's all pretty neat stuff. This is an artist I had not heard of before.
In the same vein, I told Sheila about another Canadian artist, Monica Kinner Whalen at My Sweet Prairie, who does some amazing free motion embroidery. I have one of her postcards that she did of The Northern Lights. I remember years ago, these little fabric postcards were a wonderful way to explore new techniques and practice free-motion stitching, thread painting, and surface design. It sounds like Sheila may want to go in this direction, too with her brand new sewing machine. ;-)
We are both fond of Noriko Endo's impressionist quilts.
* Janice's daughter made this gorgeous quilt top for Sleep-in-Heavenly-Peace (a local charity), using a layer cake (again). The pattern is called Have a Slice by Timeless Treasures. All those bold batiks pop with the black accents. It kind of reminds me of the color boards they put up on the tv after the broadcast day.
Another lovely weekend with Quilting Friends at Lake Lucerne in Neshkoro, WI.
Laura is planning another retreat for all of us in April. Then we'll have 2 Quilt Camps to look forward to every year. This will be a welcome addition! Since my mother's demise, I have not been attending the one in White Lake, so I'm down a few quilt retreats every year these days!
Carrie Z. posted a memory on Facebook last week: Way back in 2010, my mom, Aunt Rosita, and Carrie Z. attended this same retreat. I can tell by the stonework in the background. And now Ma and Rosita are gone. I'm glad they were able to attend that year, but they realized it was a little too far for them to come again, and they found retreats closer to home after that.
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