Super Square Quilt!

And now a look at something I was working on at quilt camp...

I finished up my newest creation of my own design, which I'm calling my Super Square Quilt!

Lots and lots of hours of free-motion quilting to make all of these wiggly lines.  I'm getting better at this!

I might like the back even better than the front!

I used all the scraps from the quilt front to make an improvised and uneven row across the back.

I like looking at it from a distance!

I also started a new and really exciting project while I was there - I'll post a preview of that next week...

Quilt Camp | My Teacher

Susan demonstrating quilt basting

Here's a peek at some work by my teacher, Susan Damone Balch, whose quilts are "inspired by a life-long passion for fly fishing, a meditative sport that provides a powerful connection to the natural world and an abundance of wonderful imagery."

Though she said that she's come to be known as the "fish lady," she has truly found a way to combine her two seemingly disparate passions - fishing and quilting.  (Her website is even called www.fishnquilt.com!)  I admire her work so much - both the fact that she connects her interests through her pieces (as you know, I'm all about making connections), and her incredible skills and technique.

She guided me though a lot of learning last week, and I'm excited to now have a quilting mentor.  

Here is just a sampling of some of her pieces:

Fantasy Fish

Japanese Sunset

Home from the Sea

Check out Susan's website to see more of her work.

Quilt Camp | My Classmates

The most wonderful part of my week at quilt camp was meeting the other talented and devoted quilters.  I may be the youngin' by about twenty years, but we had a great time, and I learned so much from these women.

Unfortunately, the only photo I have of the whole class is a little blurry, but here we all are!  

From L to R: Donna, me, Susan (teacher), Viola, Beverly, Lori, and Janet.

Beverly's bajillion squares and half square triangles were coming together to be a baby quilt.

Lori finished up the quilt top for a really large and impressive queen-sized wedding quilt.

Janet created a couple of really beautiful quilted landscapes.

Viola worked on these incredibly pristine log cabin blocks.  She put together a dozen, and has many more to go to make a queen-sized quilt!

Donna designed this very personal quilt for her sister, who is a potter.  She took photos of pieces created by her sister, and printed them out on fabric.  Down on the bottom are some photos of her sister's hands as she is throwing pots.  I love this quilt!

More tomorrow on my teacher's work - amazing quilts!  And later on this week: a finished quilt by me!

Back from Quilt Camp!

I'm back from my intensive week-long quilting class at the Fletcher Farm School for the Arts and Crafts in Ludlow, Vermont.

It was wonderful and transformative.  It was exhausting and intense!  

There were six of us in the class, with a wonderful teacher.  Everyone worked on their own projects, so there were many different types of quilting going on at the same time, and so many things to learn.

Above all, my eyes were opened to what an extensive medium quilting is.  There are art quilts, traditional quilts, modern quilts, portraits, landscapes...so many colors to consider and techniques to choose from, and so many different cultural traditions to draw inspiration from.

It was incredible to have the space and time to explore my own interests and to be inspired by the instructor and the other students!

Stay tuned this week for some photos, and a look at what I was working on!

This is Awesome | Off to Summer Camp

Fletcher Farm School of Craft - Ludlow, Vermont

My friends, I am so excited: On Friday I am headed to Vermont for 10 days to attend the Fletcher Farm School of Craft.  It's sort of a summer camp for grown-ups (though they do offer kids' classes, too), where artists of all different craft mediums converge for a week of creating.  I'll be focusing on quilting for the week (surprise, surprise)!

I plan to take next week away from blogging, but I will have so much to show and tell when I come back!