A RUTH MCDOWELL WORKSHOP AND MORE

And so begins a ten hour road trip...  

three friends, Sue, Susan, and me learning to accomodate each other's needs while putting our best foot forward - one quilt shop stop at a time! (This is in front of Bear Paw Quilting in Spokane, WA.)

LOTS of beautyFULL

And even some HOPE!

 not there yet...

Ahhh...two lovely calming nights at Sue's childhood house on forty acres in the wilds of Troy, Montana. Sue's charming mom graciously hosted us while we continued to nuture our ever blooming friendship.

Day three - final destination - a Ruth McDowell workshop at the most wonderful Quilt Gallery in Kalispell, Montana http://www.quiltgallery.net/

This was Sue's (left) ninth class with Ruth. http://www.ruthbmcdowell.com/ I have been in awe of Sue's masterpieces and it was time for me to step away from my typically liberal and often katywumpus style. Susan (on the right) is helping hold up Sue's project - her two children bottle feeding two cows -from last year.

Here's my project. A photo of my middle son walking along the shore of northern Lake Michigan up by Traverse City.

Tracing and sectioning

numbering

consulting with Ruth



Sue was working on her son's beloved black lab Bear

Susan was working on her beloved cat Sammy

working hard

Then you blow up your tracing to the size you want. The writing on the sides is hopefully the correct recipe to help guide the putting back together of all the pieces.

At this point I am smiling on the outside and thinking OH MY on the inside.

Susan works with Ruth

We all work with Ruth



Now my picture is traced on to freezer paper

with LOTS of different colored tick marks to help you figure out how the pieces get back together.

Here's TJ's daughter and boyfriend in a field of grapeseed.

WELL...FINALLY...ON THE THIRD DAY OF CLASS...

FABRIC!!!  Some of my own

(For the first time ever in eleven years of quilting I have pins!)

and some new. Luckily the shop provides a cart when Ruth takes me shopping! (My husband finds this the funniest part of the whole trip. "A CART?!" he says.)

Here's a very nice Canadian gal who has lived all over and taught french and critical thinking for many many years. She was juggling four photo ideas and finally settled on a trillium...or did she?

Jordan's naughty pup

Carrie played all day in the class and ran a resturant every night! This picture was taken on the Washington coast.

So very cool. Amazing really.

What I love most is how the whole trip symbolically ties into what I am working on in my life. The two days at Sue's mom's house forced me to slow down. Slowing down enabled me to begin Ruth's class with a fresh calm quiet state of mind.

Yes, Ruth, I am ready to listen. What are you saying?  

Take it one baby step at a time.

Think it through. Listen to the fabric.

If it doesn't work the first time, NO BIG DEAL! Try again. No impending doom.

Allow what is meant to happen...happen.

I trusted.

I had faith.

 I believed that the universe wanted to fill my life with good...

my boys were absolutely fine this week with their wonderful dad...

I listened to my whispers and took care of my self for the first time in a very long time...

 I nourished an old friendship and sprinkled fertilizer on a new one...

 I practiced balancing my needs and left class one day early to see U2 at Quest Field.

And guess what? I allowed more sublime moments to sneak in!

MARY LOU CLASS PART 1

Bright happy story quilts are what Mary Lou is all about. "Every quilt should tell a story" is her motto. 

I took my first class ten years ago in Pullman, WA while my mom stayed/played with my two youngest boys at the hotel!!! (Turns out they had such a good time, they called Pullman their "special" place and returned for two more visits!)

At that time, my middle son and his dad loved to play the lego racers game on the computer. This quilt tells the story of one of their races in "Davisville" with our dog Winston holding the finishing flag as my son, The Red Racer, beats his dad for his millionth win.

The Red Racer has a punching arm and Dad has spilled some nails while we, in the stands, cheer wildly!

My husband loves to BBQ. In this portrait, inspired by Mary Lou's portrait quilts, my husband is depicted in some of his finer BBQ moments!

In Mary Lou's portrait class, I was able to depict my self - once a blender with life out of control, now a blender uniting various ingrediants into one delicious concoction!

Mary Lou did a fantastic quilt to remember her 50s and I did one to remember my 30s. That's a favorite shirt my girlfriend sewed for me when I gathered my courage and gumption to take care of one of my dreams to go to the Houston Quilt Festival.

And so begins a new story of Mary Lou's three day class.

Driving up to LaConnor is a treat in itself.

Bright sunshine on the way home!!!

   We were in a nice building across the street from the Gaches Mansion that houses the LaConnor Quilt museum. http://www.laconnerquilts.com/  The museum is fabulous!! A fellow classmate, Louise, has asked that I suggest you even enter a quilt in their upcoming festival.

Here is Mary Lou! She currently has a show of her quilts at the museum

She made the quilt on the right in a Ruth McDowell class. I'll be in a Ruth McDowell class in a few weeks!!!!!

Gorgeous!

Here's me and my dear friend Sue sewing and sewing

 (I'm the sewer in the back)

Here's my stash

                                                           Here's another quilter's stash

                                    Here's the stash of my fun and kind tablemates, Liz and Linda.

                    They ended up with two great similar flowers without realizing until they were finished!

And here's Sue and me brown-nosing Mary Lou in our matching tee shirts.  Sue made those cute signs we are holding. Notice that one says, "Mary Lou, I love you." and one says, "Mary Lou I love you best." Sue and I have a fun and friendly rivalry for Mary Lou's affection. Well, sort of friendly.

Stay tuned for more Mary Lou...