Sunday 18 June 2017

Happy Father's Day, Continuation of Days 2 and 3 of Mary Lou Retreat.

I shared this montage of my dad last year and here it is again.  Dad passed in 1988 but is still in my heart and memories.
 After leaving Spokane we drove to Coeur d'Alene Idaho to check out Bear Paw Quilting.  After making my purchases I took some pictures of this great shop.  Mari had checked out and was looking at some of their books.
 They have a huge section of fabrics.
 Is this not a cute row for On The Go?
 They also have a love double gauze selection.
 Beautiful quilts on display.
 Part of their double row of Kaffe Fasset fabrics.
 The other half and there is more across the front of those rows.
 Then we had lunch at the Coeur d'Alene hotel.  From the left working back and around are Jan from the east coast close to Washington D.C. Mari from California, Mary Lou Weidman, Kim from Virginia, Janet from Battle Ground Wa. Carole from California moving to Phoenix, Dywta from Spokane and Candy from N.Y.  and I'm taking the picture.
 Back to the work room.  I decided on making five bees and played with the placement of them.
 Beauty shots of the bees.
 This one is a bit bigger.
 Long skinny guy.
 Mari made a second raccoon looking in the other direction.
 She did a few adjustments to the original pattern.
 Here is the first one.
 Kim was working on strata for her frame.
 Janet's turkey is coming together, and the figure of herself playing with placements.
 Almost all these are Kaffe Fabrics!
 Dywta is working on her border.
 Jan has taken the whimsical cat pattern that is on it's back and flipped it to be a tiger.
 Candy came with a completed background and was choosing fabrics for her story about Halloween.
 Day 3 Mary shared a stencil technique for working with fabric paints.
 She also shared two painted quilts that she has made.
 This one was done in a Susan Shie workshop.  Check out Susan's website to learn more about her works and workshops here.
 This lovely lady was on her way to a workout class earlier and asked if we were quilters and interested in some free fabric!  A friend of hers had sent her 500 lbs. when she decided to stop quilting.  She went home after the class and brought us 5 bags to enjoy and pass on.  She had washed it all and she and her daughter has picked what they wanted and gave us the rest!  Some was yardage great for backings!
 Just a small selection from the first bag.
 This is where we held the retreat. This was the day the temperatures went up to over 90F.  Thank goodness we had air conditioning.
 Kim was coming along with her frame and had started her letters for Grand Canyon.
 Jan's Turkey Farm story is coming along nicely.
 Mary's raccoons had a baby.
 Love the fabric Mary Lou gave Mari for the eyes.
 I played with the bees and had started sewing some of the blocks together.  I added some leaves to the hex flower and planning a stem for the pink nine patch flower.
 I also sewed the bottom four flowers and changed the bee placement and moved that pinwheel flower with the yo yo to another spot.
 And then baby 1 had a brother!
 Candy used fused fabrics for her Halloween story and then did some straight line stitching to hold them in place before getting ready to quilt it.
 Dywta's story for her daughter's 40th birthday with some of the special things in her life.
 Kim has Grand and C  O letters coming along.
 Carole's story is expanding in a couple different directions.  She is working on a cactus, not sure what the lower right block is going to be.
 Jan's story about her trip to India has some minarets, no they are not asparagus stems.
Next up day 4 along with fairy gifts and stash report.

5 comments:

The little book of Nessie said...

Looks like you are having lots of fun on the retreat. Lovely photos to remember your father. Father's Day is in September here in Australia. Regards, Nessie

Anna said...

loved the old family photos! Retreat looks like a successful time for all.

KaHolly said...

I think you have too much fun at these retreats! Everyone's work is extraordinary! Can't imagine being surrounded by so many like minded people!

Susan said...

Such a lovely group - not too big and not too small. Everyone is making such great progress, and I'm happy they allowed you to share all their projects on your blog. Your collage with your dad is wonderful.

Kyle said...

What a great group fo creative quilters. Your bees are perfect for your whimsy flower garden. Love those raccoons, especially the eyes.