Shark Quilt!

Glenda is making the most amazing shark quilt.  The sharks are a silver blue. I am not certain that my photo has done them justice. She is a meticulous piecer, as you can see by her perfect sashing.  Her sashing has a wavy flying geese pattern on it, but when cut the width that Glenda has done, they look like shark's teeth!  She has a few more columns to go before she finishes, but it is going to be one fine shark quilt!

Janell's lovely evergreen tree quilt top

Janell's evergreen quilt top

I met some most talented and persevering quilters at the retreat.  Janell is a quilting maniac of the highest quality.  I love these color combinations and those sharp triangles. But then I am a tree lover at heart, so no wonder I love this one.  I have a hang-up about using white as a background color.  I almost never do.  Yet quilters everywhere use white and it is stunning.  What's my problem?  I only use white on snowmen!
Actually, I do not know the actual name of this quilt top. If anyone does, please, e-mail me and let me know.

What is on the design walls today?

Ruth's beautiful bird quilt

I did not get photos of everybody's but here are a few:  
Ruth had a large print fabric that this pattern really worked well with (above). She used the dark green to make it pop out, with a dash of purple for interest.   I apologize for not remembering the name of the designer of this pattern.


Janelle's thread spool quilt

Janell is a piecing maniac.  I do declare she must have completed a dozen quilt tops in three days!  I think she had most of these thread spool blocks started before she came to the retreat, so I will cut her some slack for not being a slacker.  What a cute thread spool pattern, done with striped fabrics.  I love it, but I must resist making one and not swerve from my already-lined-up projects! 

Carol's Twisting Turning 20 quilt

Carol's takes up the entire design wall and part of the floor. Meanwhile, after she got the top row sewed together there was an avalanche, so they were mostly on the floor.  She got her starter fabrics on her road trip from Tucson, AZ to Waynesville, MO in August 2012.  There are fabrics in here from the Calico Cow, Roswell, NM, Bittersweet Quilts, Joplin, MO, and The Thread Peddler in Buckthorn, MO.  She also used some of her stash. Imagine that!

Road Trip to Quilting at the Monastery

Ruth and I packed our sewing things, quilting things, bags of stuff, and our mad money, into my 1997 Chevy Blazer, and headed out at 10:30 a.m.  I drove and she knitted slipper socks. We chatted all the way to Twin Falls, where we stopped for lunch at Five Guys and had burgers and fries. Burgers wrapped in lettuce to be exact; a perfect gluten free lunch.  We proceeded eastward toward Rupert, where we hoped to indulge ourselves with a visit to an exceptional quilting establishment.  About 30 miles from Twin Falls great big snowflakes began to squash up on the windshield. This is April 22nd! What is with the snowflakes?  We got off at the Rupert exit and headed north about 4 miles and turned right onto 6th Street and found ourselves in a mobile home park.  Ruth reread the address, "524 6th St. (on the square) Rupert, ID".  We kept going and found our way to the old downtown part of Rupert and found "the square".  Eureka! We found The Gathering Place.

As it turns out, Ruth and I both, appreciate old buildings.  What a delightful setting!  I know why they call it The Gathering Place.  I gathered a nice stack of fabric and had to make myself not look anymore. Yet, there were more places to look!  They have a ton of fabulous fabric.  As it turns out, we were not the only ones heading to the retreat, that were visiting Rupert on the way.  We saw two other quilters there, that were getting their fabric fix prior to the event.  While Ruth was having her fabric cut, I put mine in the Blazer, then got my camera and took some photos of the wonderful old buildings.  I drove us around the block to head out, and discovered we had come in on a one-way street!  I had briefly wondered why the angled parking was angled in the wrong direction!  Well, we drove back to the Twin Falls exit, where the sun was shining and on to the monastery.  We got the vehicle unpacked, our machines hooked up, and said some hello's to people we had not seen since last year.  Julia, our fearless leader, helped me to square-up a quilt top, that night, after the main room thinned out a bit.  I went to bed feeling as thought I had accomplished something. Smile.

Thank-you, LuAnn, the wonderful chef at the Monastery.  I have Celiac Disease. Because consuming gluten really kicks my a-- and takes me out of the game (any game), I worry about what I can eat when I travel or go to events with friends. Going to the retreat at the Monastery was no different.  BUT GUESS WHAT??!!!  All the meals were gluten free!!
One morning they had gluten free hotcakes! For dinner on the second night we had meatloaf with baked potatoes and gravy.  I had not had meatloaf with gravy in eight years.  I was in heaven!  The meatloaf was made with cornflake crumbs and the gravy was made with cornstarch.  I had taken my breakfast bars because I figured they would have nothing I could eat for breakfast.  Wrong!  I did not have to eat any of my breakfast bars.  The food was so delicious and comforting, but I made sure not to have seconds because I would have gained weight for sure!   

It was awfully nice of Julia at Room To Learn to co-ordinate this wonderful quilting retreat in Jerome, Idaho, at the Monastary. http://www.roomtolearn.biz/

Her 'room to learn' is located inside the Knit One Quilt Too knitting and quilting shop in downtown Kuna, Idaho. http://www.knitonequilttoo.typepad.com/

On April 16, day 1, I completed the handstitching part of the binding on the arms of my kimono jacket. It is named "Elephants of Style".  If you are interested in learning to make kimono jackets, visit Sharon Baker's web site: http://www.kapamaker.com/   She has been very busy with life lately, so her website is not current, however, it is still valid and inspirational.  You can get her patterns and books at the Cotton Club, an on-line quilt shop: http://www.cottonclub.com/ 

I love making these kimono jackets. This is my third, and I made this one for me.





Here are some photos of quilting retreat:     

design boards are showing off beautiful blocks and smiles are all around.