On the road again with some introductions and last looks at Mary Lou Weidman's retreat.

This is Kathy from California, she and her sister Judy took Mary Lou's Asilomar class and then hopped into her car and drove 2 days to get to Post Falls to join us at retreat. 

 This is Mari from Santa Monica who has taken several classes from Mary Lou and does a lot of pattern testing for her.

 Tina is from Yorba Linda and manages a quilt store, she was our resident chef.  If you get a chance to meet her take the time and if she cooks for you enjoy!

 Judy lives in Pacific Grove and is Kathy's sister she is working on a quilt for the Monterey Aquarium that should be spectacular.

 Debbie is from Idaho and drove up with her friend Linda.  Debbie was a newbie to Mary Lou's style, but catching on quickly.

 Laura is from San Antonio Texas and working on the Whose Birthday? quilt about her sister Charlotte and herself.

 Charlotte lives in Florida and is doing a story about Music to Paint by; about her husband and uncle.

 Sue is also from Idaho and is working from a photo of her family.

 Linda is standing beside the story of Once Upon A Time depicting her wedding day 30 years ago.

 Here is Diane beside her flower garden, love all the different greens she used.

 Here is my Road Trip story about the trips my mom and I go on.

 Our Mary Lou helping Debbie with her Our Nest is Not Empty drawing.

 

Here us a small version of one of Mary Lou's story quilts.

 Judy's I'm a Trusty Rusty quilt for the Monterey Aquarium.  She's got starfish and other goodies ready to join the octopus.

 Mari's I Love Moo quilt will also have some more mini cows to represent her husband and two sons.

 Sue has the bones of her house laid out by the end of the week.

 Here is a close up of her drawing, she is also going to do a more Mary Lou version with the same theme.

 Laura's Whose Birthday quilt with presents and a dog blowing a noise maker.  The cake and table are to be added.  Love those presents.

 Here is the picture she is working from.  Her mom made the dresses for the sisters.

 This dog is just too cute.

 Charlotte is going to enlarge her people and change some of the colours.

 That cat is great and the colours of the car just are wonderful.

 Diane decided to use different sashing for her hoochy mama blocks and will make the piano key border wider.

 Linda has started to choose fabrics for her truck.

 Here are the stars that I'm adding to my cow quilt.  I may still change some of the placements after a second look.

 Here are all my components of my Road Trip which I may rename On the Road Again. 

This was the end of the retreat with Mary Lou's retreat.  Try and take a class with her someday, you'll have fun and meet some great people to inspire you and be friends with for a lifetime!

On the road again pictures from day 2 and 3 of Mary Lou Weidman's retreat.

I started making some fabric choices.  I like to use freezer paper and then use starch to turn the seam allowance.  Then I remove the freezer paper and hand stitch the pieces onto the quilt.

 Kathy's frame is starting to come together nicely.

 Mari has her words together and when we go to Bear Paw Quilting she will decide what her background will be.

 Diane is working with her hoochy mama designs.

 The bunny sisters Laura and Charlotte are wearing the ears that Mary Lou gave them and are standing in front of Laura's story frame.  They are 13 months and a day apart in age and celebrated their birthdays on the same day.  Laura has a picture that she is going to interpret of the day.

 Charlotte's story is of her husband painting the house while her uncle played the clarinet.

 Our trip to Bear Paw Quilting is always a fun event.  They have such a great shop with wonderful displays.

 They have lovely lighting and use U shaped bays to increase their use of floor space.  This is their colour wall area. http://www.bearpawquilting.net/

 A wall of notions, quilts on display and some of their batiks.

 They have a part of the shop that has wool, stitchery, threads and patterns. They also have some civil war fabrics.

 Lovely wool colours waiting to come home with someone.

 I like that star within a star quilt.

 A Judy Niemeyer paper pieced quilt.

 After our shopping expedition we went to lunch at the Coeur d'Alene Hotel Dockside Restaurant.  This is Mari's hamburger.

 Laura ordered an American Burger, check out the flag on the burger.

 I chose the grilled chicken burger.  Aren't the fries presented nicely?

 

Back to the Jacklin Arts Center and sewing.  Judy's herd is growing bigger.  They are all going to be stripped.                                                                                                                                         

 Laura is making progress on her sister and herself.

 Diane has decided to make flowers.

 My larger pieces are starting to come together.

 Mary share her story quilt with us.  Two years ago nothing was appliqued down yet. Here is where you can see a picture of in in progress. Check out the frog in the lower right corner.  I have a close up in the other post.

 This is Mari's owl exchange quilt top.

 Here is my cow quilt, I changed the legs to make him look like he is jumping.  The  girls at the retreat suggested I add some more stars and Mary Lou suggest that I add one more border; I think I'll do both.

 Another lovely meal prepared by Tina.

 Debbie's hoochy mama blocks now have a bird and a flower to join them.

 Here is a fish on her cutting board.

 Diane's flower garden is growing and there is a butterfly joining them.

 Laura and Charlotte have their Mary Jane shoes on and are holding their gifts.

 Charlotte's husband is on the step ladder, with the dog getting ready to sing.  The car has a cat sitting on top of the hood.

 Speaking of cars, mine has hit the road but looking for a driver and passenger.

 The end of the day, a lovely sunset over the river viewed from my hotel room.