Harrison Hot Springs 2017 Retreat

The rainbow says it all, I left home and drove about two hours east leaving sunny skies and arriving with a bit of rain and clouds but as I checked in I looked back at the lake to see the rainbow.

 I got there just before noon and a few people were already starting to set up.  This was a huge double ballroom.  The people in the back half and large tables were one that can be separated by folding doors.  In fact it is where we had our meals last year.  From the round tables and behind is the second ballroom.

                           
I turned around to show the other side where the warming tables were set up for breakfast and dinner.  You don't really need lunch due to the extensive selection of food available.

                            
  You can see the bellman with a trolley where the dividing wall comes out.         

My first project was to work on an improv piece.  I cut some blues and green before leaving home and started putting them up on my design wall.
                                        
I set up in the back corner and soon my room mate Rita showed up and we were busy sewing.
                
Not everyone brings design walls.  Irene laid her blocks out on the floor on a table cloth.
                
Still playing with ideas and sewing some of the bits together.
                                        
By the end of the day I had it finished.  Ready to become a backing for a project I hoped to machine quilt while away.
                                         
The next morning I cut batting for two small and two larger quilts trying Hobbs 80/20 fusible batt.  I'm on the fence right now about how they appear to be working.  I should have started with one of the smaller rather than large quilts but think it will work.  I decided not to try and quilt them at the retreat but another day.  So I went outside to enjoy the sun and fresh air for a bit.
                                        
I decided to take some pictures of the water dropping from one part of the fountain to the other and see what it would look like for a black and white challenge.
                                        
Some looked good some not so good.
                           
I liked how this image turned out.  The droplets look translucent and the aqua just looks like part of the building.       

I liked the moss on this branch and the curving branches.

                            
Some gorgeous colours are starting to come out in the leaves.
                                             
Lovely colour on this hydrangea.
                             
Red/orange maple leaves.
                              
When I went inside Beckie was sharing some of the blocks she has made for a Canada 150 celebration.  A gal has assigned a notable Canadian woman to each design.  They were free for a limited time along with the history of the woman.  I think I collected a few but forgot partway thru the year.  Beckie said eventually there will be 169 blocks but I don't think she is making hers that big.
                              
 Cathy was working with various layouts for her triangle quilt. I think she changed her design three or four times!

 Some other works on the cutting table.

 Another floor layout of hexagons.

 When this went up on the wall I saw OFF, Celeste was surprised when I showed it to her on my camera.  She didn't really see the depth to the design as she was working on it.  The pattern name is Labyrinth Walk.

 Finished top ready for the next step.

 Donna Mae made this mini Halloween quilt that my friend Ethel designed.  She loves machine embroidery and embellished several of the pumpkins with embroidery.

 Cathy is having fun with her triangles.

 The big hole is the part of the quilt that is currently being sewn together.

 After fusing my four quilt batts I decided to continue working on my Flower and Watering Can block swap that I started sewing together at Mary Lou's June retreat.  I was going to make another watering can for that hole on the left.  Rita suggested a frog.  Had I brought my flower power book I would have tried using the greens I brought along to make one and then I decided that the bees..

 ,,,needed a bees skep to live in so I pulled out some scraps and decided these would work together.

Here is the layout before I sewed the bees skep.

                           
This was a Fraser Valley Quilters' Guild retreat and as the president retires blocks are made for her after her often two year tenure.  Beckie stayed on a third year as we couldn't get a replacement for her until this September.  We each were given a small piece of a batik that we could add other fabrics and white to make a block.  She ended up with more than twice this amount.  Half the people forgot to add white so she decided to make a two sided quilt with a light and a dark side!

 Here are some of the dark blocks.

 My bee skep finished.

Left side now finished.  I ended up sewing this like a log cabin to accommodate the partially sewn seam where the flowers and watering cans joined.  The blue and red, bees skep and checker board watering cans were sewn together.  Then the rainbow watering can was sewn to the flower then the seam running above the small bee, and pink flower across to the watering can was sewn like a T/Y style of seam.

 Next was the bottom row, I switched up the two watering cans on the left and I think I'll leave them that way as I didn't notice it until I had the top done.

 Now the right side was sewn together adding some narrow stripes to the sides of the potted flower and small turquoise watering can.

Wait a minute, weren't those blocks in the centre looking like a Z?

 Finished for the day a rainbow and black checker board quilt in progress on the left.  Not sure what Sandi B was making.

 Fun snowman quilt that has fused and hand embroidered pieces...I have that somewhere.

 Cute bunny quilt block.

 Please don't eat the daisies!

 Cute baby bottle print.

 Working on blocks with the print.

 Rita's next jelly roll quilt cut and ready to sew tomorrow.

 Time for bed on Sunday night, the top row was the last to be sewn.  I think I'm going to sew random lengths of the cheddar yellows in two rows for a border but will think on it for awhile.

Canada Day Weekend on the Quay.

Happy Canada 150  Day plus 1.  I put a string of pennants with maple leaves across my deck.

 Some of my neighbours had full flags but they often flipped into the patios.

 Walking along the quay you can see many red and white flags.

 Even on the river.

 3 out of 4 condos in this building had flags on display.

 My friend Rita's display.

 Just after 10 p.m. the fireworks started.  I sat along the boardwalk as it was too crowded to progress any further.

 Love the tree outline being highlighted by the fireworks.

 The display went on for almost 20 minutes.

 This was a cool one.

 It's fun to see what you captured after the fact..

 At least you don't have to wait for film to be developed and printed.

 Love the red, green, and blue dots at the end of this showing.

 A group of smaller ones.

 Adding some red...

 Some of the crowd lined up along the railing.

 I think this is my favourite picture of the night.

 Along with this one.

 I headed back towards home and could see them over the trees.

 Love the multiple explosions.

 Red for our maple leaf flag.

 and white for the background.

 Getting ready for the finale.

 Layer on layer of explosions and smoke.

 Interesting shapes emerge.

 Almost done.

 Nope they keep on coming.

 Wow!

 So much red.

 This is getting noisy.

 I think this is almost it.

 A few smaller ones.

 A couple of bigger bangs.

 Yes this is the end.

 The roses have benefited from all the Spring rain we had.

 They are blooming like made in the courtyard.

 They are replacing the St. John's wort with grass in front of the condos.

 The roses are climbing all over the gazebo.

 I meant to share this, I got my mermaid stitched down onto the fish quilt just before the first day of summer.

Here is a picture of the whole fish quilt, still have a couple more ideas of things to add to it.

 The turtle got cut out of the picture when I added the First Day of Summer.

 I had lots of fun keeping that hair organized.

 Now she needs to have features added to complete her.

 This sketch started out about five or six inches high.  I managed to keep her details quite nicely.

 On June 30th I finished hand quilting and binding my Cinnia quilt.

 A few closer looks, you can see I extended the cut off petals and leaves with quilt lines.

 Love the cone flowers.

 This was all done with batiks.

 I did a diagonal grid in one direction behind everything.

 This was meant to be fused raw edge but I did freezer paper applique.

 I think it was this group of cone flowers that I saw Maria working on at The Cloth Shop in Vancouver that sold me on the BOM.

 I started this in 2011 and had all the blocks done and the top made by 2012 and then it sat and I'd quilt it now and then.

 Here is Maria's shop sample, I changed the layout as I miss cut some blocks.  I also framed it in the cream rather than the coloured triangles.

Have a safe and enjoyable long weekend and to my American friends and family have a Happy 4th of July on Tuesday.