Meet Kathleen Awalt from Baltimore

Kathleen quietly worked away down at the opposite end of the room from me, but after seeing her opening show and tell pieces and knew I wanted to share them with you.  Kathleen graciously
took out all her beautiful quilting work and let me photography them for my blog along with all the work she got done while we were at the retreat.  Get a cup of tea you are in for a treat.  Thanks Kathleen :0) and Happy Sewing, Kim

Kathleen with her Indian silk turquoise fabric with elephants

Beautiful silks being pieced

One of Kathleen's studies in the "37 Sketches" style  of studying "liberated quiltmaking"

Another study with a grid hand quilted through the abstract piecing.

A study in pinks with linear quilting .

Isn't this one fun?

 A study in blue

Kathleen also like windows and all their variety, she pieced many of these before deciding to piece them together. The colors and movement made this such a fun quilt to look at.

screen window

double window with shutters and blinds

This lovely square red silk piece will be covered by the silk "doors" on either side of the work and will have to be opened to enjoy the little masterpiece inside.  How divine!  Thanks Kathleen.

Room with a view

Gwen's retreat was in a great  space with lots of room for everyone to spread out and really work.
The energy in the room with all the creativity going on was nearly palpable!

I had a table up against a window and had a great view  of the lake and also of all the other quilters.  It all was very relaxing while being stimulating for trying new techniques.
I highly recommend this location, and the retreat that Gwen assures us will go on even when
she is not the teacher.  Here are just a few shots in around the room and my view from my sewing machine.   Happy Sewing,  Kim

that is Hale!!!

Hanging planters outside the windows

after the rain

all set up and ready to go

View from my sewing table

Great natural light

view from my sewing space

Meet Mickey

Mickey came with lots of parts and pieces already made for this lovely creation but adjusted, added to, rearranged, rethought, and remade it throughout the week.
Always a quick smile and a few minutes to chat.  I enjoyed meeting you Mickey :0).  Happy Sewing, Kim

Vase and grandmothers hexie flowers

More blocks and auditioning red for a border

More borders added and notice a few pedals have fallen from the flowers vase and are now on the first border.

Gwen's Beaver Island Retreat: Meet Susan

Susan is from Michigan not far from our retreat. I enjoyed her quick wit and ready smile.
She was working on a piece with  a printed peacock as the center and going in some really
fun directions with it.  I think it was one of the few asymmetrical pieces being made at the retreat.
I'd love to see how she finished this quilt!

 It was a real pleasure to meet you Susan Panak :0)!

Happy sewing,
Kim

Susan by her worktable and design wall.

Susan's peacock taking shape.

 so nice to meet you :0)

Six inch blocks

Do you ever sew into the night and look at the work the next day and say......somethings not quit right here!  This happens to me all the time :0).  Luckily it is not hard to fix.  I'm linking up with Judy over at design wall Monday, drop by and see what everyone is up too.  Happy sewing, Kim

I like this one so I'll make another in  blues

All done :0), but the next day it doesn't look quite right.

Okay that is it....now it looks better.

Meet Andi Reynolds from AQS

What a pleasure to meet the vivacious Andi Reynolds, executive book editor, from AQS.  Andi brought fabulous hand dyed  fabrics from "Stipples etc." ready for inspiration to strike.    Andi made a willow tree to be appliqued with leaves later but some of the girls teased her that is was a  Menorah........see below. We had plenty of good laughs together about every subject under the sun :0), great to meet you Andi :0).

Happy Sewing,
Kim

Yes, it really is a willow tree

Okay girls if you see a Menorah I'll just add these star flames and run with it!

Andi learned to make these tiny stars

Beaver Island Retreat : meet Sharon

Oh Sharon is a big marshmallow, like me she cries at really sweet things, like talking about her new granddaughter " Scout".  She download a little video of the baby so we could see her cooing and smiling.......oh my goodness all that sweetness and tears from us both.  She was having a ball but really could not wait to get home to Scout.  Sharon made this feathered star at home and tried all kinds of new borders on it.  It is definitely still a work in progress :0).  Sharon came with a friend from Indiana and they both had the best time.  Nice to meet you Sharon.....hugs to "Scout".

Happy Sewing, Kim

Sharon getting into modeling

What do you think of this idea?

Sharon during show and tell

Meet Sandi

Sandi drove from Georgia with her husband in their camper to Gwen's retreat.
She came with a completed star which she used for the middle of her medallion
and then made all these gorgeous little stars with Kaffe  Fassett fabrics to surround the larger one.
Sandi sat near me so I got to see her try different fabrics and shapes as the project grew, she was extremely creative in her use of color and blocks.

Isn't it fun!  I wonder how it will look when it's done?

Happy Sewing, Kim

In the bottom corners are tiny little stars less than one inch finished!

Sandi working away with her design ( and mine on the left) in the back ground. Here she is deciding on the color strip pinned to the design wall.

Sandi during show and tell with her center now set on point ( more of Barb's on the left)

 

Meet Jolene

Jolene is from Michigan not far from our retreat.  I just love her smile, we had lots of laughs together.
She came to the retreat with a little piece of art from her granddaughter which she decided
to use as the center of her medallion quilt.  Here is the start of Jolene's quilt, isn't  it
so cute and colorful ?  That is just Jolene in a nutshell :cute and so fun, sadly she had to
leave early because of her back pain.   I hope you are feeling better Jolene.
 Happy Sewing, Kim

Love the look of these solids

Jolene is not much taller than 5 feet :0)

Jolene and me in the book signing line......how fun!

Gwen's retreat : Meet Barbara

Barbara and I met in Alabama at a quilting retreat lead by two ladies from Gee Bend's where we sewed away  at beautiful Camp McDowell.
When we discovered we both wanted to go to Gwen's Beaver Island retreat we matched up our dates so we could quilt together again, it was wonderful to arrive and have Barb's smiling face ready to greet me.  Barb is an enthusiastic new quilter with a  great color sense, this medallion just got better and better.  Happy Sewing, Kim

Oh just for fun I'm gonna show off Barb's quilt over at WIP Wednesday :0)

The beginning of Barb's medallion quilt

Gwen and Barb makes some design decisions

"How does it look from there Barb?"

Here is Barb in Alabama making a medallion quilt.

Gwen's Beaver island Quilt Retreat

Jackie in the retreat room

swapping ideas with Gwen

Jackie's basket taking shape

 

 

I'm just home from 4 days of quilting with Gwen Marston in  Michigan at her world famous
quilting retreat.  It was a great group of ladies and I thought I would show you their work and
introduce you to them one by one.  This is Jackie, doesn't she have a great smile?  Her work is so creative, you can find one of her many quilts on page 99 of Gwen's " Liberated Medallion Quilts" book.

Jackie's basket quilt was taking shape everyday of the retreat with the center basket composed
of tiny hst blocks in all shades of yellow.  Jackie is a repeat retreater with Gwen and lives in the area,
she had us all over to her beautiful home on the lake where she quilts to her hearts content in a lovely sewing space.

You can see how we all shared design wall space so stay tuned to see those quilts and the lovely lady behind the work.

Happy Sewing, Kim

Guess who I've been quilting with???  Yes!  Gwen.  More to follow in the coming days :0)