Madeline Island Workshop is Coming up in October- BLINK and it will be here!

This first photo was taken as I was driving a couple of short miles to Madeline Island. It is a wonderful place to teach AND take a story quilt workshop for five days. It is put on by MISA which you can google or look on the right column of this blog with the autumn bush photo.

I fly into Minnesota and drive from there to Bayfield...it is a BEAUTIFUL drive and once you get to Bayfield, you just have a quick ferry ride across beautiful Lake Superior.

I have a real creative energy in the fall and love all of the things that we think about after the harvest and enjoying the colors and smells and holidays of Halloween and Thanksgiving....this is a great time to think about visiting Madeline Island and going to Applefest in Bayview where you catch the ferry to Madeline Island for the class. There is also a cute quilt shop in Bayview that is very friendly and has good stuff.

This is an antique shop I visited in Bayfield. Bayfield is where you catch a short (like ten or less minutes )to Madeline Island. The cool thing is that THIS year Bayfield will be having it annual APPLE festival the day before we begin our workshop and it is fabulous with great crafts to buy and the best apple pie (I am not kidding) and other things to eat in a fabulous setting on Lake Superior. So you go to Bayfield, play around for awhile, take the ferry to Madeline Island and begin a GREAT Autumn story quilt (or other story quilt) in a well lit, spacious room that is open all night long and early in the morning for people that can't get enough sewing. Like me.

A copy of Matisse's painting in the Farm House... great things to see in all of the buildings as far as art and furniture...

Here I am on the ferry waiting to go over to Madeline Island from Bayfield (above)

View of Bayfield and of the ferry itself...little and cute! They probably wouldn't like that I say this but we have ferry's here in Washington state that hold 200 cars. You really get to know everyone including the captain on this ferry!

Below is Madeline Island color for inspiration! Gorgeous and to be sewing with this view!

Fun in the classroom

Last year's beautiful and fabulous class. They are on the porch of the Farm House (original with new update)

As you can see, we had a very talented group.I don't have the photos of many of the quilts that had stories cut out....I think I am too busy working at that time to get those photos and I am always in hopes that people will mail me a photo of the quilted product! This class did wonderful things...in a wonderful place

I had to end with Mary who has done a number of wonderful story quilts and she has a real touch when it comes to awesome blocks!

A Story Quilt for The Summer!

I always love it when I hear back from girls who finsihed their story quilts! I got this letter this week and I think this quilt is fabulous and imagine what a keepsake it will be for many generations to come! I especially like the guy covered in sand...so fun! Hi Mary Lou, I took your class in 2011 at Cedar Lakes in May. I finally finished designing and creating the story quilt of our family vacation. It is a combination of 2 vacations... one with one daughter, husband and 5 grandchildren and the other with our other 2 daughters, their husbands and 4 more grandchildren. (Now there are 11). My husband is buried in the sand, the little boy with the boogie board represents all the little boys except Danny who is snorkeling. The little girl making the sand castle represents 3 little girls, the man in my son-in-law's boat represents all sons-in-law and the lady on the beach towel drinking a marguarita represents me and our 3 daughters. Our last name initials are on the boat and the year while FL and OBX on the airplane streamer says where we were. Thanks for a chance to save this memory. Linda Luggen Certified Judge The National Quilting Association, Inc. "Where Tradition Begins and Legacy Continues" http://www.lindaluggen.com What story might you be working on to tell your life's stories...remember this is something you will leave so that others will know who you were and what was important to you.

Edited Post-Drawing with a Six Year Old Gives me Plenty of Story Quilt Ideas...and BUG Quilt.....

So I love it when my Grandkids come over to spend the night. They know that plenty of paper and markers will be coming out as we create and draw and have imagination fun together. My six year old Granddaughter came this weekend and we imagined different things and drew them. I started them and she added her touch too. Very fun and I keep a notebook of her drawings (only) and they are so much fun!

Isn't it amazing what some color from markers can add to a plain sheet of paper with simple childlike drawings? Think what this would be like all in printed fabrics! Imagine....Invent....let your mind wander....don't be afraid to imagine creativity.... We started out wanting to do shrinky dink necklaces but it was too hot to heat up the oven so we went back to drawing. I am hoping to get my ten year old Grandson to draw animals and machines on muslin so we can paint them and make pillows for his room later this week. It is loads of fun to see how kids (and adults) imaginations grow if they let go and don't worry about it.

I have a pile of water color paper and am doing some designs that hopefully will one day be fabric for sale for more fun quilts! I am out of friskit and need to buy some before I do my next designs. Oh well, for today, I am just working with my Grandkids for fun.

We laid out the bug quilt minus some of the flowers and decided to put big plain polka dot squares here and there to help break up the business of the whole thing. This is going to be a delightful quilt as I have some bugs that were kid designed too.... Hopefully when I am long gone this bug quilt will be like a story quilt left with my Granddaughters name, my name and something about BUGS (which she promises she will always love-and I believe her, she always has) Here she gives me a sheet of paper with a few more bug suggestions- this made me smile BIG....

Hope your summer is full and fun too! SANDRA HERE IS THE WONDERFUL SITE OF THE CHILDREN SINGING THE NATIONAL ANTHEM LIKE YOU ASKED FOR. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEGlsHS6tSQ

DELICIOUS COWBOY CAVIAR RECIPE!

So this past week I spent with the cupcakes was wonderful and everyone made great recipes. This cowboy caviar recipe is different and it is delicious! Molly's Summertime Cowboy Caviar 1 can shoepeg corn-DRAIN 1 can blackeyed peas -DRAIN 2 avacados -cube 2/3 cup of chopped cilantro- note-my husband hates cilantro so I make his without 2 bunch of green onions- cut up small 1 cup of tomatoes- Molly used heirloom tomatoes but any tomatoes would be good Dressing for this is 1/2 cup virgin olive oil 1/3 cup red wine vinegar 2 cloves garlic- mince fine 1/2 t. salt pepper to taste 1 tsp cumin Combine ingredients- add dressing. We ate crackers (rice), tortilla chips and Mary's (more) crackers from Costco....it is hard not to eat the whole batch by yourself! --------------------------------------------------

It was wonderful to have such a beautiful view out the window as we sewed along...

Speaking of delicious things- Molly made these broiled tomatoes with herbs for dinner one night and they too were wonderful...this time of year it is fun to eat the produce that is fresh....

This whole evening was slider night and you can see how cute the table was dressed...along with a new dress (clothespin dress) for each girl made by Molly....so cute and dinner was so nice too

Mel finished her entire scrappy alphabet for the trunk show for Out of the Box with Easy Blocks book....fun and cool with complementary colors!

Here is a photo of my Granddaughter's bug quilt as it was coming along...I now have about double this amount of blocks and I used all dumb dots by Michael Miller...great fun and it is going to be pretty...imagine, a pretty bug quilt!

Susan brought each of us a chunk of New York fabric which is wonderful since I am starting a BIG APPLE quilt with me as the star.... :0)

Whidbey Island is the perfect place for Cupcakes Reunion....#13

This past week was my group that I have met with for 13 years called the cupcakes...what fun we had together this week!

Here Molly and Susan toast the beginning of a great week!

Here is Laurie's selvage bin all full and ready to be sewn...Molly is also working on selvage projects and the two girls swapped back and forth...we all decided that selvages are better with an inch and a half or two inches of the fabric (color) on them...Below is the ened of the weeks project that Laurie did-she was a whirling durbish of sewing this week!

Laurie made the most delicious salmon for dinner...and a salad of greens and good things from her garden on Lopez Island.

Here Mel quilts a small rendition of the cake in the book "Out of the Box with Easy Blocks"-very fun!

The quilt here is a beautiful star quilt for Eilene's son and daughter in law....and on the right is a bug quilt for my Granddaughter out of the dumb dots from Michael Miller...very fun stuff and my Granddaughter has loved anything that has to do with bugs for four years....

Each girl made a dinner one night and along with their dinner was fairy gifts at each place setting...here are darling scissors and a pincushion made of socks that looks like a cupcake...darling!

Laurie makes guacamole with class!

Susan's place setting for her dinner of steak salad...each girl got a different colored hat-so cool!

View from our deck each day!

A quilt for Laurie's future Grandchild (she hopes and so do we)

Molly's dinner night....so much fun...on the back of each chair was a dress that is a clothespin holder...I am putting mine in my laundry room-it is adorable

Fairy gifts

My red hat from Susan

The sun goes down on Whidbey Island

Just to prove I really was there- this is Mel, Me and Laurie on a trip to Port Gamble and the quilt shop....such fun Please read my other blog for happenings and more photos of the week- Mary Lou and Whimsy Too