Retreats... Great for the soul... And the creative juices!

So twice a year for the past twelve years I have had the pleasure of spending a long weekend with anywhere from 45 to 55 wonderful woman.  All quilters of course!  This past weekend was no exception.  

How is it, that when you get a group of woman this large together, that the experience is always wonderful?  Our leaders of course!  Originally started by Claire Oehler of the then Country Quilters in Somers, NY, and now organized by Claire and two of her former staff, Nancy Mirman and Noreen Lippolis, these 3 ladies are a class act.  The weekend is organized, full of fun and just plain fantastic.  From the little gift bags they provide, to the activities planned for the weekend, there isn't a detail missed. But I would be remiss if I didn't mention two of their main 'weekend ingredients'.  The setting... Interlaken Inn in Lakeville, CT a wonderful boutique hotel nestled it the CT countryside and Mary Gay Leahy, who always has wonderful fabric treats for us and offers great tips and technique demos throughout the weekend.  It is no wonder we all walk around smiling and laughing, it is a wonder we actually find time to quilt. But quilt we do.  I will let these pictures speak for themselves in that department.

Enjoy the show...

First my works in progress and then some of the works by others...

Now photos from show and tell and as I wonder the three rooms we sew in...

Hope you enjoyed... Until next spring!

Renee

Quilt Shop visits in Hilton Head, SC

Hi,

I have been meaning to post some info on my latest shop hop from our trip to Hilton Head, SC and Savannah, Ga, so here it goes.

I left here with copies of the pages from my 2004/6 Quilters Companion for both areas, knowing that if I found one store open, they would let me know where other shops were within driving distance. Well, just like last years haunt to Myrtle Beach and Charleston, SC, both hubby and I found some great stores. Unfortunately, this year with the Hurricane Trifecta (Gustav, Ike and Josephine) in the area, fishing boats weren't going out, so poor Bob did more than just one day of hopping with me. Of course, I tried not to wear him out... but like the trooper he is, he was a good sport about it.

First stop was to Beaufort, SC to a shop called Creative Stitches (60 B Robert Smalls Pkwy). The shop was behind another building and not visible from the road, but they did have a sign. The owner and workers were very friendly and if you are a Brother machine person, they are the shop for you. They had every Brother quizmo under the sun. In fact, they were working on applique Christmas ornaments in silver and gold metallic thread... they were beautiful! The ad in the Quilter's Companion says 1,500 bolts of fabric, but since I am a bright and batik person, only a small portion of their fabric fit my taste. They did have some absolutely wonderful art quilts on display for classes, that were designed by one of the women who work in the shop. I asked if they sold patterns for them, but unfortunately she hasn't produced patterns yet. Definitely worth a stop if you are in the area... great shop for ideas... about an hours drive from Hilton Head.

Heading back towards Hilton Head, we stopped at a new shop called Grannie's Attic. It is off of Rte 170 (Robert Smalls Parkway) on a new road (there is a sign for new traffic light), which intersects with I-95, and has a Walmart at its end. The shop has only been open for 6 months and isn't listed in the Quilters Companion yet. But, if you are in to non-traditional fabric, it is a great little shop. They had a nice section of batiks, moda's and brights. Of course they had, Hauffman, Thimbleberries, Blank and Timeless Treasures as well as many more traditional fabric, but I went straight to the batiks :-). The hardest part will be finding the place, as of last week, they didn't have a sign at the curb or on the front of the store, just a small wall hanging in the window. If you do find the road, look for the large white colonial building on the left hand side, that has a sign for an eatery... Grannies Attic is in the same little strip mall, right before the golf cart shop.

Continuing our journey back to Hilton Head, our next stop was to Cross Stitch Junction. I know, doesn't sound like a quilt shop, but it is. It was originally located in the Belfair Town Village in Bluffton, SC, where it was 50/50 Cross Stitch/Quilting. But 3 years ago, it moved onto the Island on Office Park Road, in the Park Plaza Shopping Center and is now called Cross Stitch Junction and Quilts Too! Well, it is now 80/20, Quilting/Cross Stitch and a fabulous shop for my quilting style. Lots of batiks, and the modas are marked by number with a color chart right next to them, so you know exactly what they have. Their fat qtr section is arranged by theme and color... so you will see a section for 'sky and water/blues' vs 'sky and clouds/whites'. Really neat and easy to find exactly what you are looking for. They have lots of original patterns, with kits in clear zipper project bags, perfect for retreat or just keeping your stash/projects organized. I really liked this shop and left quite a bit of cash in Hilton Head :-)!

The last day of our trip we spent in Savannah, Ga, so of course I had to find a shop there as well. I opted out of visiting Colonial Quilts in Savannah, as I had been advised that it carried mostly traditional fabrics, and choose instead to visit Lets Sew (also in Savannah proper). Lets Sew is a small shop with less fabric, but it had a decent stock of batiks in a separate room. Again, this shop had a nice selection of quilts on display for their classes... there was something there for every quilting taste. I really liked their original block of the month for Christmas 2008. It was really spectacular!

We never made Sew Much More in Garden City, which is about 15 minutes out of Savannah. Oh well, there is always next time!

Two Great Quilting Reads

Hi everyone. I have been on the road alot over the last month or so, and as usual, I like to find a good quilting book to take with me. Well, I must say I found TWO!

The first is Karen K. Stone's book entitled... "Quilts", 2004. It is not the typical quilting book focused on how to make a particular pattern, instead it is a journey through her quilting process, in an interview format. As she helps the interviewer and her readers understand how she approaches quilting, including color and fabric selection, she uses 13 of her quilts as examples. Patterns for all 13 are included in the book as well, including my favorite "Cinco de Mayo". Karen uses wonderful colors and sometimes as many as 100 fabrics in her quilts. Take a look, you won't be disappointed!

The second book was another one that has been around for awhile. Gail Garber's, "Stellar Journey", published in 2001. I thought it was a new book, since I had a hard time finding it in quilt stores. But I finally found it on the APQS website. Later I realized, I could have just purchased it off of Gail's website, but oh well. I was introduced to the book via Gail's site, while googling how to draft circular flying geese. As you look at the site, you will see why I just had to have the book. Oh yeah, I brought the compass as well. Anyway, the book! I loved the way Gail made learning the basics of drafting soooo easy. She didn't tackle it, as if she was writing a book for engineering students (notice how many great quilt designers are either trained in art or engineering???). Well I am just a lonely software salesperson, and I don't understand all the mumble jumble many sites went into while I was poking around on the web. Gail's book also uses some of her students quilts to help make the process easier to understand. I am going to use some of her techniques to draft a center medallion for a round robin quilt project my guild just started.

OK... hope you enjoy the books, they are definitely worth the investment and are books I am sure you will pull out over and over again in your quilt designing.

BTW.. notice how both of these books use paper piecing to create great points... oh yeah, exactly the technique I use to create crisp points!

Cheers!

My attempts at free spirit quilting

Every six months, six dear quilting friends and I join about 45 other women for a quilting retreat hosted by The Country Quilter in Somers. It is always an enjoyable weekend of quilting, eating, laughing and sleeping (and in that order... we quilt and eat more than anyone could imagine) in a Connecticut country inn. Many nights we don't leave our machines until 2am in the morning, only to be up, dressed, fed and back sewing by 8am.

I have been enjoying these retreats for about 5 years and during the last 2 years have decided to make Friday night a freeform, create something, quick, easy and fun type of evening. My only two requirements are no pattern, and it must be able to be made and quilted before 10am Saturday morning.... Think about it, create an idea, choose fabrics, design, piece/applique, baste and quilt a nice wall hanging between 5pm Friday and 10am Saturday, leaving time to eat, laugh and sleep. Well, here are a few of the results... Let me know what you think....

I call this one Shimmering Circles... it is inspired by a Ricky Timms piece and to be honest it was the first one made on these Friday night freeforms..... and when I finished, I realized it wasn't really original... sorry Ricky! I used Superior Thread metallics and love the way the quilting shimmers in the light...





















The next is called Curly Cues and for me has no rhyme or reason. It is based on an image I remember seeing somewhere at some point, but I think in my dreams. It is quilted with a variegated brown and orange thread and all the applique is raw edge. It hangs in my basement in my quilting studio.









The one I made at the last retreat was inspired from seeing photos on one of those HGTV design shows. It was a picture carried over across four picture frames. I liked the idea of a collage that was really one piece. Making this piece I received a lot of interesting comments from the other quilters at the retreat. First they mentioned the circle theme I had going..... (a theme I hadn't even realized, except as you look at these three quilts, you can see the circles... oh well). Next, once I had the piece quilted, they were all amazed I was actually going to cut it up. Many called me 'brave'! Saturday night at Show 'n Tell, I told everyone that I didn't think it was quite brave to be able to cut up something I had made in 6 hours... they just chuckled :-)

The only problem with this piece that my husband named "LP's and 45's", because it reminds him of old records, is that I am going to have it hang them separately. Otherwise, as you see in this picture, they just slide back together on the rod, no longer showing the clear delineation of the three pieces. Oh well, quess I will have to find a new home for it.



Ok, that's it for today... hope you enjoyed seeing my lighter side .... these 3 pieces did teach me a bit in composition and now I am working on a much more complicated piece, but totally originally and oh yes, still circles. I will share that one as I make more progress...

Enjoy your day... Cheers!

Renee