Archive for March, 2010

Quilt Retreat 2010!

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

In between the first snow of February and the big snow storm at the end of the month, I escaped with nearly 40 other quilters for the Endless Mountains Quilt Guild Retreat at Watson Homestead in Campbell, NY. The retreat center we go to is a great location for the retreat. We had large rooms to set up our machines and more to sew and hang out with each other, all our meals were prepared for us, and our dorm rooms were in the same building. Four days and 3 nights of fun, and I actually felt like the creative juices were beginning to flow again!

Mud on the Wall

Here, I just stuck photos and chunks of fabrics on the design wall to give me an idea of what I wanted to do for my new Water Road inspired piece. This was before I took it off the wall to pack for the retreat.

Retreat Main Room

This is the room we we spent most of our time in during the retreat. Lots of different projects were being worked on. The following photos show the progress of the piece I began at home.

Mud on the Wall 2

Mud on the Wall 3

Mud on the Wall Not so Muddy

The last photo shows the piece after I got home and have it almost ready for fusing to batting for stitching. Finally some progress on a piece inspired by mud and rocks.

Wisteria Vines being Stitched

What I worked on when taking a break from the Water Road piece. This is one of the stone walls I began while at my grandmother’s last fall. The vines are made of various yarns and torn strips of fabrics. They are then stitched on with a free motion zig-zag and variegated threads.

Wisteria Vine Stitching 2

A closeup showing the vines in more detail.

Wisteria Almost Done

Flowers and leaves fused on then stitched.
By the time the retreat was over, I had the binding done on this as well as another tiny one done, too. Finally some progress!!

March is Half Over

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

I have done a lot in the past month, but have not done any blogging about it. I think what I will do is to break things up into “bite sized” pieces into several posts.

Not too long after my last post, we actually got SNOW….. there has not been much of that this winter. Some too early in October, a little more in December, and lots of brown landscapes.

Water Road Mountain Laurel 2

This was taken the day after I took the barn photos… The moss is green and the Mountain Laurel leaves are somewhat green with browned edges.

Water Road Winter 1

Another view along Water Road…. The rocks piled behind the dead tree are pretty big. There are some ferns with a little green to them clinging to the base of a bush that is holding some soil in place.  These photos and more are the inspiration for my latest Mountain Laurel piece that is in progress.

Snow 2-10-2010 Front Garden

The day after taking photos of Water Road, the snow began….. We finally got some pretty white snow to cover up the ugly winter browns. We had snow for a few days in a row, but it didn’t get too much deeper than shown  here….. Until the Real Storm.

Storm 2-25 and 26,2010

Storm 2-25 and 26,2010

We started out with nearly no snow, then during 2 days we got buried in white. It was hard to tell just how much snow we actually got because of all the blowing and drifting, but definitely over a foot. No where near what other areas of the East had been getting, but our biggest snowfall in a couple years.

Snow 2-26-10 Deck Table 10AM

You know you had a real Nor’easter when the East facing deck with a roof over it ends up with this much snow cover.

This snowy winter wonderland was the “perfect” time for #3 son Nick to visit from Georgia. His girlfriend is a born Southerner, and Nick has been in warmer climates for nearly 3 years, and doesn’t miss the cold.

Fun in the Snow

Everyone spending some time in the snow. The dogs from GA really loved the snow… Roxie lived with us last winter, but Vladie seemed to be at home in the white stuff. Aaron and his family came to visit for the day, and the kids love sledding. Megan, Nick’s girlfriend, didn’t like the cold and froze… Her first time sledding…. she didn’t really like it.

Snowy Sunday Afternoon

The livingroom was literally wall to wall people… The “I Spy” books have been popular since we got them for the guys when they were younger. Still fun after all these years, and now Andrue spends hours with them. Ken is “hiding” behind the comics, and Jonelle and Jenna were on the other end of the couch. Notice the lack of cats in the photo…. with dogs in the house, the cats stayed in the greenhouse.

Kenai on the Couch

The dog that pestered the cats the most…. Little Kenai thinks he owns the place when he visits and the cats scatter. He likes to “tree” them on the high spots in the greenhouse, and bark at them.

This sums up most of February…. The non quilt related part…. Some quilts next…