FINISHED PROJECT

I spent four days retreating with five good quilting friends at Woodland Ridge Retreat facility in Downsville, Wisconsin in mid-November.  This is the new facility that opened last October and is owned and managed by Chris and Mark Daly.  All six of us were VERY impressed with the accommodations and the work rooms...adjustable tables, adjustable chairs and wonderful lighting.

Back in 1993, I had made my daughter a patchwork jacket.  She had asked me about three months ago if I would make her another one as she had lost weight and the old jacket was pretty well worn and too big.  I started this jacket that weekend.

AND, I FINISHED it a week ago.  The picture below is of our daughter in this new jacket. She will not really be able to wear it until the weather warms in the spring but I wanted to complete it and give it to her before I started my next big project.

EXCITING NEW RETREAT FACILITY

 

Chris Daly of Dye Candy Fabrics is opening the Woodland Ridge Retreat Center in Downsville, Wisconsin, effective October 15, 2013

 

She has some exciting plans for this gorgeous facility. I am posting some pictures so you can see what it looks like.

 

You may also visit their temporary website at www.woodlandridgeretreat.blogspot.com to find out about prices and registration.  Please tell all your quilting friends about this great new opportunity.

 



SOMETHING SIMPLER AND SMALLER

After working on the quilt for the Walworth County Childrens' Alliance, I thought it was time to do something a little more simple and smaller.  

We are bringing a new generation into the world.  My great-nephew and his wife are expecting a baby in early September so I just finished this baby quilt a few days ago.

What you see in the background is a whole cloth quilt that hasn't quite been finished yet.  I stopped working on it so I could complete the quilt for the WCACC.

I am going to visit a former co-worker whom I have not seen in years.  She is now 88 years old and lives in Dothan, Alabama. I decided to make this dresser runner from Joanie Zeier Poole's book "Elegant Machine Quilting" and will take it to her as a token of  our friendship.

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The image is difficult as it is made with white fabric and stitched with gold thread.  I took a close up image of a portion so you could see the detail of the trapunto.

It was a refreshing to do some simpler smaller things before I complete the next large project.

THE WALWORTH COUNTY ALLIANCE FOR CHILDREN

There has been a very dedicated group of citizens in Walworth County who have been working since 2008 to fulfill a dream of opening a building where sexually and physically abused and neglected children and their families could come to be counseled, receive medical exams, tell their stories without fear, and helped to heal from their tragic experiences.

That dream became a reality in April of this year when the building was completed and opened to those in the community needing these services.  They named the building the Treehouse.

A friend of mine, Evelyn Schulz, is on the board of this alliance.  I had asked what artwork they would be using in the building and if she would like me to do a quilt.  She said she would ask the board.  The board asked her to approach me about doing a tree because of the building's name.  For those of you who know me, you know that this is not the kind of quilting I normally do.  But, I told them I would try to see what I could come up with.

It has been a challenging but rewarding project.  You know the saying, "You can always get by with a little help from your friends".  Chris Daly of Dye Candy Fabrics (www.dyecandy.blogspot.com), painted the background fabric with dyes.  I have had numerous comments on how beautiful the background is.  Nora Rader graciously invited me to her studio to help me fuse the rather large trunk and also supplied the fabric with the butterflies so that I could just cut those, fuse them and then reinforce them with stitching. There are 135 leaves which were turned and invisibly appliqued.  The squirrel, flowers, petals, cardinal and bugs were thread painted and then satin stitched onto the top. 

The quilt was just finished this last weekend and hung on Monday.  There are a couple of areas that could be a little better but overall I am pretty happy with the result.  The public open house is tonight and I am hoping to see some of my local friends there.

THE TREE HOUSE QUILT
JULY 29, 2013