Cedar Lakes Stories and Crafts for a Fabulous Time in the Middle of Fab Beauty and Old and NEW Friends

Here are some of the women who took the workshop at Cedar Lakes. We had five wonderful, warm, creative, happy days to create memories in cottons and other textiles... If you have not been to West Virginia, this retreat is cheaper than  any other story quilt retreats I do and everything about it is lovely. We draw women from all over the UCS and these women become great friends while sharing stories and sentiments that last. The stories this year were wonderful and women hugged and shared details of their lives and creative ideas, fabrics and fairy gifts. It was wonderful and we plan to come back next year for mor (in May).

Above is June's wonderful story quilt about going to Thailand...the ear of the elephant is loose so you can lift it up to see a message-wish you could see these in person!

A story quilt about six  sisters to love to go to the beach (one is in the foreground) -this quilt is a gift Mary made for a friend...darling!

This quilt is a story about when you are so busy and everything needs doing at once and you say "Hair on Fire!" This quilt is by Tiffany...it is so cool and the hair in person is just great! Very fun quilt!

This wonderful story quilt is about Betty's parents when they came to the US from China and it will have photos and passport pictures...this was taken on a hot day in full sun and I am hoping one of the other students has better photos than I do so I can share...The details in this are really wonderful and will be a diary piece for future generations to see as will any story quilt....priceless!

This quilt is a gift for Terry's sister and her partner and has images that are for their children and things they love...like chickens in the window...it will have lots of other details and story parts in it as she works along....Terry has come to my workshops for years and she is responsible for bringing me to West Virginia

This quilt is by Carol who rode her bike 100 miles-the bucket on the bottom is her bucket list and she got to check this one off....very fun quilt! What is on your bucket list?

This is Sharon who is making a story quilt about three generations....this was taken in the bright sun and isn't the greatest photo...it is a fab quilt-she realized after getting some of the figures appliqued on that one of her sides of her quilt is upside down...that will be set right later on....wish you could see this in person...the fabrics and faces are wonderful!

Quilt in the working stage...it is so great

Quilt above is by June who did this cat and is surrounding it with hoochy flowers and things....so great in person...why can't photos show the details and fun like seeing them in person? Oh well, they are still cool here too

This is Mary's story quilt about her husband who passed away...he will be leaning on a shovel and there will be a cow and a chicken in the barn...across the top it will say "Goodnight Wife" because that is always what he said to her before they went to sleep....Mary did the coffee cake quilt last year that is wonderful and this one will be too.

The above quilt is by Carol who did Halloween and has all kinds of cool embellishments to put on it...I am hoping someone can share a photo of the coolest hoochy pumpkin and owl I have ever seen that she did-she is incredibly talented and creative! Such fun to be with someone who is this way and shares with everyone in such a nice way...I bet she was a fab math teacher and could have taught me what I could not get....you know?

This quilt is by Rosemary about her husband's garden in West Virginia. Rosemary has some every year but could not make it this year so she stopped to show us how far she got on her quilt. Pretty wonderul! She will be back with us next year. ;0)
     I will be sharing more as I get better photos and I have great show and tell things to show too...stay tuned.

This is on the walk to the dining hall every day...such beauty!

This is a wonderful historical home on the property and I think Terry with her cute sun hat fit in well here...the inside is all decorated with furniture and things from the past...it is fabulous there....

Above is Carrol, Kim and Moni making bracelets....we had so much fun and in the front is a Christmas tree quilt I am doing for a class and on top is a necklace of memory wire made my Kim. Notice in the photo below of Kim that Junes Cat is in the background before the cool border she did! It is so cool in person...she also added a mouse hanging from his mouth....

Below Moni shows Kim how she made the bracelets....

Above is the crocheted necklace parts and Betty working on them so everyone has a necklace...I get an F when it comes to crochet and that has been for years...I just can't get it....But I do have a pretty necklace thanks to Betty! See the cool colors?!

Below is June who brought memory wire and tons of beads and cool things to add to make great bracelets! She made me one and tucked it in a qult I am going to show you about a Quilt Fairy. I made three of these cool bracelets and most people made more than one....they are so cool! We have a craft night every year and this year we did that and then Terry also taught everyone how to do a mosaic quilt which was awesome. We had a wine and cheese night and I mailed a box of many kinds of crackers, chocolate, fig jam and two salsas...other people brought all kind of things to eat and cheeses, and wine, punch fancy beer and strawberry margueritas...no one drank that much and we all noshed and shared and had fun making our bracelets and necklaces and things.....

Above is Carol and Tiffany and Carrol looking at Carrol's creative scrapbooks that she taught us last year...she is as talented in scrapbooking as quilting and I think she is one of those girls who can do everything...she was a math teacher and really when any subject came up, she knew something about it in a nice and valuable way....they are all people who share how they do things...so fun!

Below is Debbie who has the nicest smile and a kind and fun personality to go along with it. People were teasing her and I said "don't make her feel bad" and she said "if they didn't like me, they wouldn't tease me"-I think she is a great person! And last year she was a beginner quilter and this year she brought LOTS of samples of things she made and she is sure no beginner now...she is hooked! :0)

Above is Margo who is from Australia (has a lovely accent) and now lives in Maryland  (as does her best friend Carolyn who together with her are kind of like Lucy and Ethel) and she is making a bracelet. Below is Cindy who is using this class as studio time and making a dragonfly piece...she sewed everything by hand and she uses paints, couching, threads, dyes, embellishments, photos, transfers and interesting things in her work....very cool/

Below is Terry and Rosemary walking to lunch ....they are good friends thanks to this retreat three years ago...

This is one of Kim's many birds-I gave out a pattern for this and it was fun to place it on the front porch...I wanted to hang it on the building but didn't want to get in trouble.
There were so many beautiful flowers and red buds in bloom! LOVE this time of year, it just fills the soul!

The quilt above is a quilt that is from show and tell from last year...great fun. This is June's (I think). Stay tuned for more from everyone and the ideas, and sentiments. If you are interested in coming next May to West Virginia retreat, google "Cedar Lakes" and you can get their catalogue. They are probably the cheapest way to take a story quilt from me for five days.
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Marylynn wrote and asks if I am teaching in Kansas or Missouri...not yet. I don't know how much longer I will teach and there are some places I really hope to visit.
Like Kansas and Missouri and Mississippi and South Carolina and DENVER and Cape Cod (which I do not think will happen) and Rhode Island (a SMALL state)...and well other places...the next two years will be interesting to see who contacts me...I pray more girls will do stories they remember about school, growing up, their children, their Grandchildren, their first home, college, collections of things like antiques, garages sales, Grandmother stories, neighbors, history things etc.....
We all have so many interesting things about ourselves and it is a shame that not every quilter will leave a true story about themselves...not a quilt with blocks for a story but people and things and happenings for a diary piece...
THINK about it!