Traverse Quilt Retreat 2011

I spent another great relaxing weekend in Big Traverse and was even able to get a little stitching done. 

I brought along my September UFO Challenge project and managed to make some good progress.  This month's challenge was to assemble a quilt top from some pink and brown fabrics I had collected some years back when pink and brown peaked in popularity and it seemed like every fabric manufacturer had a line of pink and brown.   Popularity faded fast for that combo and my enthusiasm died completely.  I pulled out the bin and just couldn't get motivated to do anything with it. 

Fortunately, the rules of this challenge allow lots of leeway, so I decided to pitch the pink and do someting with the browns.  I figured I could kill two birds with one stone since I also need to make a quilt for Dan -- my window washer and blueberry picker.   He would have preferred Honolulu blue and silver, but I didn't have anything like that it my stash, so I decided brown would make a nice manly quilt.

Judy had the perfect free pattern - "Brown Quilt".  I dug through my stash to add to what I had in my bin and came up with a good variety of browns for a scrappy quilt.  The pattern was simple and well written and the quilt went together quickly.

It's still needing borders added to make it large enough for Dan, but I'm off to a good start.

Wanting a little change from all the brown, I pulled out my Kaffee Fassett fabrics and made a few more blocks for the 36 patch challenge quiltalong.   It was hard to capture the beautiful colors of these fabrics.

Barb  stole the weekend show with some beautiful projects which I'm sure she'll be sharing soon. 

As it's been for close to twenty years, it was another wonderfully refreshing weekend.  Our hostess is, as well as a quilter, an awesome knitter and gifted us with THE MOST COMFORTABLE hand knit wool socks.  I feel like I have the happiest feet it the world!



Weekend in Traverse

I look forward to every September with the hope that I'll be able to spend another weekend at Big Traverse, enjoying some quiet time to quilt with my sister and sister-in-law. A big part of the joy is wallowing in the memories of my childhood when my Aunt Mary and Uncle Ed lived at this spot and we spent many days here every summer.

Whenever I see the seagulls on the beach, I also see my Aunt Mary walking down to the beach in her housedress holding a treat in her apron for the gulls.

On Sunday morning I was lucky enough to open the door and look out just as the sun was coming over the horizon -- a beautiful morning and a beautiful day.

I love the peacefulness of the river, especially at this time of the year when the pace seems a lot slower than normal.

We did spend some time sewing -- Barb really went to town and assembled this quilt top -

Ann also managed to get a lot done -- I'll let her share when she's ready.

I spent a good part of the weekend assembling 4-patch units and flying geese that will eventually get sewn together into blocks and into a quilt.

I started putting the four patches and flying geese together, but decided it was time to quit when I totally messed up that block in the middle. Someday I'll rip it apart and do it right. The pattern calls for twenty of these blocks, so I have a ways to go before I have something complete to share.



Every now and then we had to leave the machines and talk a walk to the water, sometimes the river, sometimes the lake.

Then it was back to the cozy comfort of our September weekend home. Thank you again, Jim and Ann!