Monday, September 25, 2006

Quilt Camp!


Twice a year I run away to quilt camp in Ft. Bragg, CA. It really energizes me, and is a hugely needed break from my frantic life. No one needs anything from me, no demands are made. and no complaints. It's so refreshing! This time, I made not a single block -- well, OK I did start to. I volunteered to make a quilt for the widow of a favorite patient from his shirts. I did cut pieces, and sewed a pile, but decided I have to do this at home. The fabric is so thin, and so difficult to handle that I need to really soak it in starch to be able to handle it without deforming the blocks. I ended up making 8 purses! Here's some of them:


5 of them were gifts, 3 for me! The red bag in the center has a lining of tiny red frogs, my favorite little collectible. Mascot? Not sure what to call it, but when any of my friends see cute frogs they think of me --

The bag pattern is my own, and I spent the days perfecting it - a tweak here and a "try this" there. I'm amazed that I can do this. Simple things for simple minds, eh?

This is the view from our hotel rooms:

Noyo Harbor in Ft. Bragg -- Hard to wake up to, huh? I just love going to camp - sharing with all the other quilters, running around saying - "What are you working on?" and making new friends. I met a lady named Cathy, from Sacramento. She and I shared the same outrageous sense of humor and clicked immediately - I hope she comes to the next one!
Now that I'm home, I have to buckle down and get these quilts done for the show - I promised to enter, but the quilts weren't done! Now I have less than 2 weeks, so I better get busy.
Ciao!

4 comments:

Fabricfaire said...

Ooooh, so cute purses!!! I am so jealous and can't wait till my "quilt camp time" comes in the spring/winter "retreet"!!

Hedgehog said...

Beautiful bags!!

Leslie said...

Thanks for sharing the photos especially, helped me remember the time I went. What a hoot! Laughter, songs, chocolate... all good things!
(hugs)
L.

Sarah said...

I found your blog from a comment you left over on "Prairie Quilts". I have enjoyed reading through your past posts and seeing your quilts. What really caught my eye was the fact that your grand-daughter's name is Madeline. My 7 year old daughter's name is Madeleine. We were visiting Europe right before I got pregnant with Maddie and my DH fell in love with the french spelling. How ild is your Madeline?