an adventure in Switzerland

Hola! I think I mentioned awhile ago that I would be attending my first Patchwork in the Peaks Retreat this Fall. Despite the challenges of missing my flight and arriving (by train) nearly 12 hours later than scheduled, I had a really amazing time!

A view of the Swiss Alps from the deck 

I took lots of pics that are lost, but it was a magical time. Imagine 14 or so quilters, a beautiful ski chalet in a breathtaking location, a sweetheart host, a chef, a masseuse, a hot tub and on site quilting supplies shop and limitless wine ~ I can't wait to visit again! Having lived in Germany for the past 10 months, I've become accustomed to not understanding most of what is said around me. How wonderful to discover that several attendees were American and the rest were British - yay English! I met such an amazing group of women. I can't wait to see them again, but in the meantime, I can visit a few of my new friends including our fab host Elita,  Lynne and the super-speedy Ms. Juliette ( seriously, every time I finished stitching a row, she'd finished a new quilt behind me.)

The highlight class for me was taught by the prolific Katy. She taught us The Aeroplane Bag - which sort of stretched over a couple of days until all of us were finished - what patience! She was chock full o'stories all weekend and provided a 3 part recap of the event! Here are parts 1 and 2. Incidentally, reading her blog is how I learned about the retreat and knew to hustle for the last spot! Here's my bag - I wanted to use Kokka penguins, but hadn't brought enough fabric darnit, so I went with my second choice- Lucy's Crab Shack bicycles & Reunion canvas.

at the front door of Chalet St. Marie

Sunday night dinner - fish pie

I'm so bummed to have lost the pictures of the village of St. Marie and the neighboring horse who snuck up on me, but I'll get them next time -

the next Peaks is in April - signing up immediately!!

A couple of doll quilts

As promised, albeit a little late (due to a vicious back injury) I wanted to share my last couple of doll quilt swaps. Incidentally, this group is open all the time and you can drop in and out as needed - pretty convenient!

In August, I made this mini for Terry. It was inspired by this quilt pattern called Round & Round by Camille Roskelley.

This doll quilt was made with my very small pack of vintage charms & a bit of Kona khaki. It also gave me a chance to practice my hand quilting. I used a maroon perle for outlining the red stars and a gold perle for the center and corner stars. I know I need more practice!

the back

 In September, I was partnered with Annette and the theme was "Quilt within a quilt." I came up with something, but I guess I can't show it yet, cause it's been in the postal netherworld for at least a month! The package I received from Annette was just breathtaking!! It is called Flight Path and I am in love!! The colors, the butterflies and the quilting are all amazing! She used a raw-edge applique technique on most of the butterflies and the 2 in the upper left corner are bonded and sort of sit up 3-D style! Isn't it adorable???

Flight Path

and finally (for now) I participated in a swap through the FB group Modern Quilting. We were to make a Christmas or holiday themed mini quilt. I had in my head that I wanted to experiment with Oakshott. I chose the Ruby Red Bundle and I really loved it! I was thinking of a Christmas tree lot at night. I used a grey Aurifil for the straight line quilting and then to mimic the strings of lights at the tree lot, I used a sparkly variegated thread for a few lines "crossing" the lot.

the whole package

see ya soon!

Hallo!! (check me out speaking German)

Why, hello there! I've sure missed you! I tried not to even look at the date of my last post ~ good grief!!

I've been sewing up a storm this Fall and I took plenty of pictures - and  then  lost them.  I'm so ticked off! I've gone through my phone and managed to come up with a couple and there were a few on an a random SD card.

I never showed ya what I sent out for the FRIENDS Swap, right?  I really had a fantastic partner and I'm still enjoying the gifts I received. Sabine is a great artist and is interested in mixed media and loves butterflies and turquoise. I didn't have a good idea of what mixed media meant in relation to quilting until I received my incredible package from her. That being said, I did attempt to seem like I was mixed-media-ing by using a variety of low volume and assorted neutral background squares along with some triangle "butterflies" in her mini quilt.

It's quilted in wavy lines to imitate a butterfly's flight - get it?

 oh wait - I can show you the pics from my swap partner's blog - duh.

'F'rench washi tape & some other cool stuff

'R'ound quilted coasters

'I'nk

'E'iffel Tower clip (from Paris!!) &chocolate

Grid Paper 'N'otebook & Frixion pen

'D'arjeeling tea

'S'chmetterling (butterfly) leather purse & scrapbook paper

Ok, this is long enough! Tomorrow I'll show you a couple of Doll Quilter's Monthly Swap quilts!