Big Sky Quilt Retreat 2015

I had ten quilts associated with me in the Big Sky Quilt Retreat show.  I had only created four.

Keegan created three of the quilts entered in the show.

There is People's Choice voting in each category.  Keegan won the youth category with Fish Castle.  I think the ladies from Yellowstone Valley Quilt Guild enjoyed knowing the young fellow that created quilts entered in the Big Sky Quilt Retreat Show.

Field Stripes by Dillon won third place in the Youth category.

The boys with their quilts at the Big Sky Quilt Retreat show.

I did enter the Brown Bag Exchange quilt created by Debby W.  It was entered in the Small Quilt category.

I originally created the Let It Snow quilt as a sample for Trackside Quilting.  It was finished so I did include it in the Big Sky Quilt Retreat show.

I entered my Dillon at Coulson Park quilt in the Art Category.  It fit the requirements of the only purpose of being hung on the wall.

 

I entered Two By Six in the Large Quilt category.  It had the benefit of being completed before the quilt show including the hanger.  It was so completed that I even forgot that I had entered it.  I almost forgot to take it off the wall to take to the show entry.

 I entered the Friendship 2015 quilt in the show before it was completed.  I had to really spend a lot of time on this quilt to get it done in time.  I spent a whole week quilting it.  Much of that time I had to ignore the boys because I had to spend all the time quilting.  It took 4 hours to machine sew the flange binding on.  Since it took that long to machine sew the binding on, I am glad that I did not have to do the hand sewing of the binding on.

I entered Pegasus in the Challenge Quilt category.  It won second place People's Choice in this category at the Big Sky Quilt Retreat show.  The Challenge Category is the only category that the People's Choice voting awards money.  I won $30.00.  Fun!

Me with Pegasus at the Big Sky Quilt Retreat show.

 

Although there may be too much redundancy in this blog post, I needed to get it down somewhere.  We are not supposed to enter quilts that we have entered in the show before again.

The next Big Sky Quilt Retreat will be in 2017.  For more information, when it becomes available, www.bigskyquiltassociation.com.

Pegasus - #35 March

The challenge for the 2015 Big Sky Quilt Retreat was to create your Fabric Fantasy.  My initial thought was a dragon.  My husband, Dale, suggest that a unicorn would be more my style.  I finally decided on Pegasus.

I found a free Pegasus graphic on the internet.  I printed a copy of the picture off in color with the color printer.  Then, I used the overhead projector to draw Pegasus on paper the size that I needed it.  Then, I cut the pieces out of freezer paper.  I needle turn appliqued the pieces of Pegasus onto the blue background.  I quilted definition into the feathers and the main part of the horse.  After Pegasus was quilted, I colored definition into the face, belly, hooves, and underside of the feathers.

Since I did so much quilting on the feathers, it would not have been necessary to do needle turn applique.  I also think the black is too dark.  I tried to lighten it with white but whenever I iron out the wax of a white crayon, the white disappears.  I think I am going to end up painting it to make it look like I want it to look.  I did want the sparkles from the metallic crayons but it did not show up enough to make a difference either.  I like my Pegasus piece but I still have more to do to it - like put a hanger on it so I can hang it on the wall.

Brown Bag

I received my brown bag from Debby W. through the Yellowstone Valley Quilt Guild a few months late but it is still very neat.

Debby W. said that her husband could not believe that Debby W. had to give this quilt away.  He really liked it and wanted it to live at his house.

The center is a panel.  I had to purchase all new fabric to put in the brown bag for this project.

Pam Peterson did the custom quilting.

Dillon at Coulson Park - #34 February

Quilt by Association offered a challenge to create something related to:
*Yellowstone River
*Billings Depot
*Billings Skyline
*Rims

The item was supposed to be the size of a fat quarter.  It needed to be completed by the February meeting.

We had a really nice fall.  We took many trips around the River and the Rims to take pictures.  I was looking for inspiration on something I wanted to create that I would want to keep.  I didn't find anything until Keegan, Dillon, and I went for a walk in Coulson Park on October 23, 2014.  I had intended to take a picture of the Rims with the perfect light.  While I was waiting for the perfect light, I took some pictures of the boys too.  Then, I found what I wanted to create.  The Rims, River, and one of my boys.  Putting one of the boys in the picture made it something that had meaning to me.

I printed a copy of the picture on the color copier.  Then, I used the overheard projector to make Dillon and the landscape items as large as I needed them - about fat quarter size.  Then I used freezer paper to draw my pieced.  All of the pieces are needle turned applique.  Then I quilted some definition into the picture.

I am very happy with how this turned out.  I now have it hanging in Dillon's room.  Dillon knows that it is a picture of him.

Table Runner & Placemats - #33 January

I had intended to give the following table runner and six placemats to our neighbors, Rob & Steph R., for Christmas.  I did not get them done in time.  Therefore, they are now my January completed project.

I thought the pattern for the table runner had come from the A Quilting Life blog.  I facebooked a picture of my completed table runner to the creator of A Quilting Life but I did not hear a response back.  I did go back through the blog for two years but did not refind this table runner pattern.  I am bummed that I am not referencing this table runner properly because it is so cool.  Someone asked me for the pattern and I do not have it.

I created six table runners using the 1 1/2 inche unfinished squares that I have cut out of my scraps.  I used most of my oranges.

Steph R. requested fall.  I used scraps on the back.  Rob R. told me that since it was not fall, they were displaying the backs of the table runner and placemats.  Although that was not my intent, it will make it interesting.

Shells

At the February meeting of We of Artistic Vision, we were supposed to create something neutral.  I created an off white crumb background.  Then I quilted three sea shells on top.  I do not feel that the quilting is dark enough.

One of the comments from the group was that the gray strip in the sand dollar on the right hand side was too stark.  I am supposed to paint the shells off white to make them defined and to make that gray line go away.

The next project for April WAV is to create separate shells using different techniques.

Hearts

In February since the boys have been born, I have created a heart quilt for them around Valentine's Day.  It is very small and I have had luck with finishing them.  Bonus!

This year I used created a crumb base to use under the knit heart that covered it.  I cut slits in the knit hearts.

Per Keegan's request, I created a heart for myself this year too.

Heart for husband Dale.

Heart for Keegan.  Keegan says his favorite color is purple.

Heart for Dillon.

I used knit with the intention that it would curl around the triple stitch lines within the heart to reveal the crumb mat underneath the knit.  It did not work.  I did show these hearts at show n tell at Yellowstone Valley Quilt Guild.  One of the ladies (MaryKay G.) came up to me after the meeting and told me that I had needed to cut the knit on the bias to get it to curl up.  It is so fun to keep learning!  Now I can do that next time.  I just haven't yet taken the time to make a new something  with knit.

Block Exchange

I am participating in another round of block exchanges through Yellowstone Valley Quilt Guild.

I created a snowman for Janet S.

I pulled the snowman graphic off the internet and then just made it into a quilt block.  Whatever site I pulled it off of gave my computer a virus.  My husband had to clean my computer twice.

I created leaves for Sue H.

Sue H. provided the leaf pattern that I used.  She also said that we could do any sort of leaf we wanted.  I decided to take the easy route and just do the leaves per the pattern provided.

Town & Country Row by Row

For the year 2015, I am participating in the row by row exchange through the Town & Country guild in Joliet, MT.  I really like the Town & Country group.  Initially, I thought they were more artsy than the Billings groups but I do not know if that is really the case.  They do do a lot of quilt related things and fun social activities throughout the year.  And they are a really small guild.  I do enjoy their guild.

These are the rows I turned in for the exchange:

The first row is the embroidered flowers again.  They were left over flowers and other embroidery designs from the row by row exchanges I did through Quilt by Association and Yellowstone Valley Quilt Guild in 2014.

I found the flower block on the internet.  I believe I completed a row for someone in the Yellowstone Valley Quilt Guild.  I did like the flowers so I did a row for myself for the row by row exchange.  I have some more flower blocks that I am going to use to complete my row by rows from the Billings guilds.  I did not believe the rows I received back from the Billings guilds were going to create a large enough quilt so I created an additional row.

Row by Row

I am participating in the Row by Row exchange in the Town & Country Guild in Joliet, Montana.  I finished my first row for Jude B.

The top baskets and flowers were created by Jude B.

I created the paper pieced Playing Cards row.  It was from Yoko Saito's book New Classic Patchwork.

Dog Beds

Nine more dog beds ready to go to a shelter.  The Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter states that it does not like pillows to be donated.  These are scraps in pillow cases.  I am going to ask Margarite D. on Thursday where she donates her dog beds.  Then I will know for sure that the dog beds that I am creating are going to be used.

Healing Garden

Brooke Atherton worked with a watercolor artist to create "Healing Garden".  Brooke asked for members of Yellowstone Valley Quilt Guild to create something related to a garden on a 2" square.

The display is at Billings Clinic in Billings, Montana in the hallway on the third floor.

The display is comprised of different panels:

Keegan colored a square that is included in the display.  It is the upper right square in this picture.  It has a red "flower", a green "leaf", and some orange "dirt".

I created the thread painted tulip.  I think I talked about creating this tulip in an earlier blog posting.  I mean, really early.

The Healing Garden is still on display.  I cannot remember when the display will be taken down.  I hope to post that information when I know it at www.bigskyquiltassociation.com.