The school holidays are but a memory now, as are the carefree days of our youth. Sam, my 12 year old, and his friends built this tree fort and for a few days all food and drinks were pulled up in a bowl. It reminded me of when I was a kid. My "bestest friend ever" and I found a tree house and whiled away sooo many hours up there talking about who knows what now. However, reality sets in and once back at school Sam needed some prodding for more "discipline" and "routine" in his life. After enjoying the sounds of muffled chatter from the tree house for hours on end over the break, I discovered he had a lengthy report due!! Shock horror set in as I realized he had "wasted" so much time playing.
This last minute work ethic is getting old I told him and then I suggested he learn from my example and do the hard stuff first and what you want to do later, when you can enjoy, worry free some down time. He looked at me and simply explained that the reason he doesn't do that is because, "YOU are OLD and I am 12!" Choking back something that was either tears or laughter, not sure which, I left the room. Said so simply, It is so true. He deserves to be carefree and full of the youthful haphazard enjoyment of life.
Those of us that have a creative outlet can revisit the days of this youthful, spirited fun. We can feel the surges of excitement created before our eyes as we play with color and design. Last week we had lots of creative time playing in the shop. For example, on Tuesday night we got to see Kim's Gypsy Kisses near completion. This is what we love to see, our patterns interpreted and re-presented as someone else's. It is looking gorgeous.
Megan is also nearing completion of her big project. You've seen it before but it is worth seeing again...
We like crawling around on the floor at MO! Again we see an idea that has been done before but here it is obviously a very personal interpretation of Grandma' Flower Garden.
Michele has been working on a cot quilt and it is also coming up rather nicely with cute animals and lively colors...
In the Stash Management class we have Deidre who has an enormous bag of brightly colored homespun fabrics she has collected and now wants to use. What better inspiration is there than an Amish quilt. This one nearly jumps off the wall in it's fresh interpretation of an age old beauty!
There was all kinds of spirited energy sharing going on in all the classes. Some things are in bits and pieces while we review sashing options. As you can see, there are three quite different options here that can all be worked to make this scrappy pinwheel quilt come to life...
Sometimes we only need a few options and sometimes there are many to review...Here we have Helen, working WAY OUTSIDE her comfort zone but over the last few weeks she has achieved great success and this version of PopStars is starting to take on a super shimmer and deserves applause already!
Melissa has finished her version of PopStars which is glorious!
Melissa doesn't need any help as she is off and running enthusiastically all over the shop sharing her wild and carefree spirit.
Bundle has decided to foundation piece an un-bearably cute rug! (dad joke! dad joke!)
Watch out for those claws!
Julianne is another one that loves to take an idea and run with it! This lovely scrap quilt is done with scrappy sashing and just eats up stashed scraps. Julianne however took the idea and added scrappy stars which look fantastic. All this and four kids under 9! Since this one was well on the way Julianne has brought in these cute little Japanese dolls and is using them as the center for the Queen of the May block.
Michele O. is just back from a wonderful holiday in Europe with her family and as a result was able to get stuck straight into a project which is already looking fantastic. This one is also using scraps from her stash and a bit of a hot little
Alexander Henry spot which perfectly ties together all the Kaffe
fabrics.
In the spirit of an enthusiastic patchworker, I'd just like to thank these quilters for willingly sharing their work with us and by so doing with anyone that reads this blog. We appreciate the openness and generous spirit in which these photos are able to be taken. I often sit here at the computer and imagine all the gals (and guys out there) that aren't able to find a source of insprirational community and both Sarah and I hope you find it here. Ideas are just a thought, it's the making it yours in your own colors or patterns that is the pleasure we all seek. And afterall, aren't the best memories those of playing with our friends while sharing what we love...Thanks for sharing to all of you...it wouldn't be any fun all alone. kathy