Retreat Ideas and Things We Want to Share in Idaho in June- Come and Join the Fun and the Invention!

I just love this fun little quilt. Diane from Nebraska who came to my retreat last year put these together AND a larger flower garden quilt that is awesome and she is still working on. I love her fabric choices here and am realizing what works with black and white and what doesn't. Here you can see this clearly and rest your eye....on some designers quilts, the whites in the fabric only confuse your eye so you can't focus. We will be discussing all of this in my reatreat workshop in Post Falls Idaho at the JACC art center. You fly into Spokane, stay at hotel in Liberty Lake, take classes at Art center...before the retreat begins, we all attend (optional) Farm Chicks in Spokane Fairgrounds...a HUGE antique and collcetible sale and they have adorable booths from many of the major designers out there for etsy and many magazines for home ideas...you can score so many good buys and even more inspirations to take home for your house! I buy old tablecloths. ribbons, lace trims, fabric and tons of house things both huge and small. We all just LOVE what we can find and we do show and tell the next day. At the same time, Spokane has Art in the Park and last year, Tina (our chef) and I bought loads of awesome earrings and we both bought really funky clocks made out of metal tins and parts...hers was a fabulous chicken. Mine was more of a box with stuff and wings.....There were dozens of booths and the food was good as well as the buys. Since we are meeting in Post Falls, that weekend you come in before is Post Falls Days and there is even more there. We like to meet up at a Mexican restaurant to meet each other the night before...so fun!
The next day we begin and stretch our imaginations which is easy with such a nice group and others who come yearly bring their awesome samples to show off. It is a wonderful week that makes wonderful memories....hope you can make it.
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It is so nice to see smiles from students when they do fun things....

Block play with wild and wonderful borders....they will be a surprise...I will show some of them now and then....so much fun!

What is better than flowers in great color and dots on black? Not much....

These blocks were made in a workshop by Mari Linfesty-she is coming back again for more Retreat in Idaho....she will br bringing lots of show and tell you will LOVE

If you look close at this Great French lady you will see the vines on her flower bouquet are old old pearls from a broken necklace-these are Timeless Treasure fabrics....the sign reads "please do not pick the Flowers." What will your story quilt say to make us smile?

An adorable story quilt with alot of details for fun by Linda Luggen

This quilt has a neat story. One of my students (Brenda) was diagnosed with cancer and then another girl in class was also (five day workshop). I made a basket and we mailed and passed this around for almost a year and we got two lovely cancer quilts made, quilted and sent. This was before it was complete but gives you a good idea of what we do in my workshops including caring for others. Brenda has this quilt on her wall and the memory of us caring for her. So fun for all of us.

One of the sayings in bringing out your artist from inside...has your artist been outside lately?

Selvelges and  light givers make for different and cool quilt blocks!

Sample blocks I put up for ideas....I have many more of many more things....

Ideas in my Flower Power book give many ideas for cool quilts...I am working on a new book now and it will be fun to see the block in other people's quilts. Plus stay tuned for drawings for stories in the same book....stay tuned this year.

Blocks to make whimsical and HAPPY Spring quilts...or you should see the Fall patterns for doing this! Plus I have some people patterns this time that are fun and pretty terrific

Birds and Bees anyone???

 Flowers and butterflies make for happy students and wonderful quilts!

I love piecing pumpkins and gourds and then adding characters...will bring this quilt and a couple other Fall ones to the retreat

Color Temperature is important for any artwork~

A student's cat from the Out of the Box with Easy Blocks book

This house is from a pattern I gave out in class...so fun!

Charlotte always does fun things and this was he face quilt of people she knew...

My Hippie quilt that I don't take on the road often...it is covered with buttons and beads and crystals....love to share the ideas here

 

My friends the cupcakes made a face for each of them...so fun

Hard and soft mixed together...maybe a kid with a watering can would be good in here too to make it more of a story....a little embellishment made this quilt even more fun....

This was the beginning of the embellishment. Now it has more milagros, tons more sequins and beads, loads of crystals and lots of cool buttons...it is loaded and so much more fun. I highly recommend coming and learning how to embellish your quilts and story quilts. I can take you to some excellent places to find things you hadn't thought of using too.

We are ready to get "Out of the Box" and hope you will join us. Imagine half the class is driving from California and Southern Idaho so they can bring things back they find here in the FULL week of discovery! I promise you will LOVE it- that is why people return. Come and join the fun and excitement and see quilts that are too heavy for me to bring on the road and pictures and ideas I can drive over and share too!