Okay, so
Jessie's title for our quilt camp weekend (French) is decidedly more provocative than mine. As in French Kiss, both the quilt pattern and the movie, how to sew French seams. Oh, and the actual art of (gasp) French kissing. The best I could come up with for Part 1 was, well, Part 1.
Will it help if I post pictures? This year Sue was in the hospital continuing her battle with multiple myeloma, so Jessie took her place. There is something about being surrounded by not only your friends, but by other women sharing a similar interest, who during the weekend become your friends as well. Sewing, laughing, sometimes shedding a few tears, being inspired by what someone else is creating, eating...it's all a part of a quilt camp weekend.
And the quilts. Some people finish one project after another. Some people (like me) spent nearly the whole time on one project. Remember when I wore aqua and red socks, unplanned, while I sewed my aqua and red blocks last fall?
Well, I looked at Maggie's sewing area on Friday and noticed that her snack bar was color coordinated with her sewing project. No kidding. I didn't even "stage" anything in this picture. I just snapped what was right there on the table.
Jessie worked nearly the whole weekend on her French Kiss quilt. And every once in a while when she felt she had really accomplished something, she would do this little happy dance. I know. Don't hate her because of that flat midriff:
Dotty and Nancy finished a T-shirt quilt as a graduation present for a nephew.
And someone at the table next to us finished this uber cute quilt with lots of fun details:
Jennifer has been working on this quilt for at least two quilting weekends, and she finally finished it. I don't think she wants to sew another red, white and black quilt for while. I was kind of in that rut myself for a while, so I completely get that. Time to move on to other colors. But this is really a striking quilt.
Every year we get 1/2 yard of "challenge" fabric and if you feel like it, you make a quilt incorporating that fabric somewhere. This year it was a large Heather Bailey print. The entries are numbered and therefore anonymous, and everyone votes on their favorite. This was one of them:
We took time out to take our annual group picture:
Nancy, Dotty, Jullie, Jessie, Jennifer, Maggie, me
It's always fun to see everyone trying to figure out what our connection is with each other. They seem to know we have connections beyond just close friendship. Nancy and Dotty are sisters. Dotty is Jennifer's mother, so Nancy is Jennifer's aunt. Maggie is Jessica's aunt (although a few people thought Jennifer was Jessica's mother--which didn't make her super happy as her daughters are only 6 and 8). Sue was always with us in spirit, because if not for her disease, she would have been sewing right along with us. And that would be another connection, as Sue and Maggie are sisters-in-law. And me and Jullie? We decided we needed to be related so we just tell everyone we are sisters. Which we are, by choice--because who says you can't be sisters just because you want to?
I know you probably aren't dying to know about the weather for the weekend. But we had an interesting Saturday morning. I guess you'll just have to come back tomorrow.
