Cutie Pinwheel

Here are the last of the pictures of the quilts we worked on up at Rae Ann's cabin.

This was a sampler quilt in progress up on Rae Ann's design board.
Eventually there will be sashings with stars in between each block.
Rae Ann spent so much time running around spoiling us, that she didn't get very far on this quilt.
We kept telling her to sit down and sew, but she just laughed at us.
Jackie and Susann even threatened to tie her to her chair.
She laughed at them too.

Rae Ann is a perfect hostess.
Not only did she invite us up to her beautiful cabin, but she cooked, cleaned, and even offered to do our laundry.
(we said no)
She tells the most wonderful stories in her cute little Texas accent, and kept us laughing with for hours on end.
Thank you Rae Ann!
I crocheted her this little scarf as part of my thank you gift for providing a week of bliss.

This cute baby quilt was another work in progress that Rae Ann never got to.
If you want any of these pattern names, you can contact Rae Ann over on her blog Cutie Pinwheel.

She has such an eye for color.

It may be a perfect 80-degrees here in Arizona right now, with bright blue sunny skies, but I would run back in a heartbeat to Rae Ann's idyllic cabin in Star Valley, Wyoming, even if it's currently 18-degrees and buried in snow.

Icicles and all.

American Jane's All Stars

When we first arrived at Rae Ann's cabin, we all had stacks of of our own quilt projects that we were anxious to work on.
Having an entire week, we felt the excitement of no interruptions, and could feel the possibilities of making great progress on quilts we were longing to get to.
Within a day that all changed.

Jackie sat quietly at her table, working away, cutting strips of Civil War fabrics.
Within a few hours she had made her first star.
Call it Quilters ADD.
Call it whatever you want.
By day 2 none of us could concentrate on our own quilts, and we began hovering over Jackie's work station, coveting her quilt in progress.
Judi represented us all when she said "I'm in such big trouble. Now I have to make what Jackie is making."

What caused all the stir?
All Stars from American Jane's book Quilts for All Seasons.

This is Sandy Klop's version
We all fell in love!

As we came down the stairs each morning, we could see new stars being added to Jackie's design wall.
She will make a total of 18 whole and 4 half stars.

I have always thought of Civil War fabrics as dull and subdued.
Jackie's collection was quite colorful, where the fabrics played beautifully together.

I especially liked the orange star.

Jackie was so patient with all of our questions, and began giving us tutorials on how to make the stars.
She even began sharing her fabrics with the rest of us.
Our other projects were set aside.

Even though it was snowing, with the thermometer registering 17-degrees, we made a trip to the local quilt store in Afton where the ladies purchased more fabrics so they could continue to sew more stars.
These 3 are Rae Ann's.

But, Quilters ADD can work both ways.
Jackie saw me working on my Scrappy Trips Around The World blocks from Bonnie Hunter.
With left over scraps from her Civil War fabrics, I showed Jackie how easy it is to follow Bonnie's tutorial.
Towards the end of the week, the Stars were left behind and Scrappy Trips became the new focus.
We had a great laugh at our flip flop attention spans.

Even though most of us did not finish what we came to do, we all commented on how much fun we had, and how much we learned from each other.
Retreats are like that.

The End To A Perfect Week

I'm sitting in the Salt Lake City airport, contemplating the end to a perfect week.
We left Rae Ann's cabin in Star Valley yesterday morning, all wishing we could continue on for at least another week.
But, reality calls.
We drove back through Salt Lake, where I was dropped off to spend some time with my two youngest children, which was like icing on top of the cake for this wonderful week :)

While we were at the cabin some of us actually finished a quilt.
(*no, I'm not on the list)
Susann completed Survivors designed by Geoff's Mom Pattern Company

Beautifully done in Civil War fabrics.

Rae Ann had placed flannel backed table cloths around the room for us to use as design walls.
It was so fun to look up and see our progress through out the week.
Judi had already folded up and tucked away her Bunny Quilt, but I asked if she would pull it out so I could photograph her work.

Not sure of the pattern name, but you can always contact her over on her blog Live Well With Judi.

She decided to applique the bunny out of wool, and used a beautiful hand dyed variegated thread for the blanket stitch.

When I think of Judi, I think of pink cabbage roses and Shabby Chic.

Judi also worked on a Halloween quilt.
Pattern: 1904 by Blackbird Designs

Judi commented that with all of this practice, she is finally starting to like applique.
Up until now, it had been whispered "the A word" as if someone was swearing.

I'll show you a few more of our projects tomorrow.

Sticky Fingers Sears

When we come to these retreats at Rae Ann's cabin in Star Valley, Wyoming, we like to bring each other a small gift.

Rae Ann usually out does herself, and brings us the most wonderful prizes.
This week we received a table runner kit, complete with pre-cut fabrics.

Rae Ann started working on hers right away, and placed the beginnings of the runner up on her design wall so we would be inspired to work on ours.

The minute Rae Ann left the room, our co-conspirator Judi Sears loved the runner so much, she traded Rae Ann's sewn work for Judi's unmade kit.

And wondered if Rae Ann would notice when she came back into the room.

Sticky Fingers Sears is at it again.
Shhhh... don't tell.

Snow Flying Sideways

This morning when we awoke the sun was shining gloriously, reflecting bits of sparkling crystals on top of pure white snow banks.
But, most of our days prior we have experienced one storm after another, with window views of snow flying sideways.
We've huddled in the warmth of Rae Ann's cabin, as content as 5 bugs in a rug, quilting away.

Yesterday we ventured out, and headed into Afton to have lunch at our favorite restaurant Rocky Mountain Seafood and Fish, where they fly in the freshest fish in Wyoming.
We then walked across the street to visit the local quilt shop The Cottage, where everyone knows Rae Ann by name.

When I saw these cute children's aprons, I knew I needed the pattern to make a few of these for my 2 year old grand daughter.

Pattern by Cotton Ginny's.
You need to run over there and see all the fun animal and jungle designs they have created for children's aprons.

The views across the valley from Rae Ann's cabin look like something out of a Norman Rockwell painting.
The snow is now up to the top of the fence posts.

Neighbors who share homes up on the mountain, see lights coming from the cabin windows, and know Rae Ann is in town.
Without being asked, they plow the drive each morning.
Small towns offer the truest of Christian hospitality.

The drifts on the porch roof continue to grow and slide downward.
Our week is almost at an end, and we all wish we could freeze time (pun intended) and continue in our little utopia.
The ladies have been making progress on some amazing quilts.
I will be showing parts of their work in upcoming posts.

Pajama Day

We took a vote.
When you are with your bestest girlfriends spending a week in a cabin quilting away, we crave the luxury of taking a day off from getting dressed, washing our hair, or putting on makeup.
After all, we love and accept each other as is.
So, we voted that Tuesday was Pajama Day.

The real Rae Ann

The real Judi

Susann was quite comfy in her fleece ice skating dogs, that double served as a flannel board.
Missing a quilt square?
We knew to check Susanne's PJ's first.

The real me.
My slippers became a magnet for every thread that dropped on the floor.

And then there is Jackie who must have missed the memo.
Cute apron.
Cooking delicious meals.
She even had lipstick on.
We still love her anyway.

Can you see why?

Quilt Camp/ Part 2

I have a few more pictures to show you from Quilt Camp.
The group sponsors a Small Quilt Auction, with proceeds going back into next years Quilt Camp.
Each person who attended was asked (always optional) to donate a small quilt to be auctioned off.
The handiwork is beautiful and the bidding became quite competitive, accompanied by a lot of laughter among friends.

Kim made an original Christmas wall hanging.

Decorated with bling.

The walls were lined with quilts, wall hangings, pillows, aprons and home decor.

Lee Anna's small quilt had 168 pieces.

Cynthia donated an original art piece, a self portrait sketch of her hand quilting.
The ladies were very generous in their bidding and the auction brought over $500, with everyone feeling like they went home the winner.

My Quilt Camp Project

Amidst all of the beautiful quilts and wonderful activities going on at Quilt Camp, I worked on my own project too.
I didn't get a finish, but I got close.
I needed my design wall at home to place the rows together to make sure the darks and light sections balanced out.

Remember all of those reds and pinks I cut out before leaving?
These sections will soon be sewn together to complete Cross Terrain.
Modern quilts have been calling to me this last year.

Cross Terrain designed by Lee Heinrich of Freshly Pieced
Lee offers a free pattern and tutorial over on Moda Bake Shop.
She made her version using a jelly roll of Terrain by Kate Spain, which has a lot of color variation.
I wanted to use up more of my red and pink scraps.
Free pattern + left over scraps= Free Quilt!

There are two mirror image blocks to Cross Terrain, which are simple to make.
Many people walked by my table and thought at first I was making a Bow Tie.

If you decide to make this pattern, I would suggest following Lee's tip of pressing ALL of the seams OPEN. At first I was a little resistant, wanting to speedily press as we usually do "to the dark side". Pressing open takes a lot more time. Trust me, Lee's reasoning all makes sense when you start sewing the blocks together at the end.