Mini Quilt Retreat May 2013

We complained when there was snow on May Day never dreaming we would get snow Memorial Day Weekend! This is what greeted 12 of us when we arrived in Deer Lodge, Montana, May 23. It was very wet heavy snow that fortunately, melted fast. Deer Lodge is about 80 miles east of Missoula and sits at a bit higher altitude. It could have been worse -- the next town east had 12"of snow!

 

 Rest of retreat was fairly balmy outside and we could walk along the river every day. There were some power walkers in our group determined to get their 10,000 steps every day. It was nice to join them and get a break from sitting stitching.

 

 

 

Here is what I accomplished at retreat. Put the binding on this quilt. I call it my Doctor Seuss quilt because of the lovely Sr. Seuss minke on the back. Front was supposed to coordinate but in reality it is much more teal than turquoise but it works. Haven't decided where to put it. I slept under it the other night but I think it might become my car quilt.

 

 

 This is my simple "go to" pattern when I need something quick and easy. It is just sashed squared. By using 2 colors for sashing it forms pinwheels. Here the red pinwheel kind of gets lost.

 

T A friend talked me into buying the Dr. Seuss panel at our quilt show. It is only 22 inches wide so I need to find a coordinating minke fabric. Fortunatley another quilt shop had the polka dots to flesh out the back. Minke makes such a lovely cozy back. Both Oliver and Grandpa have Pokey puppy quilts with minkee backs. I decided Grandma need one too!

 

The following quilt will be a rag quilt for a special friend. It is based on a similar quilt I made for a friend in Mexico (That's you, Hilda). Hers is bright scrappy batiks and fossil fern fabric. This one is all black and while and red with a nice red flannel on the back to make it cozy. I still have the top border to piece together, a bunch of hand clipping and then I need to sew all the sections together and it will be done. I'm getting to be a real fan of rag quilts. I like the idea of having them done when the "top"is done. A new Christmas rag quilt may be my next one for me.