I've been trying to spend some of my free time this summer and fall working on FINISHING some creative projects (quilting and knitting) that were started several years ago and have quietly waited in my studio closet waiting for their day to shine. I've made some progress...slow but steady.
I started this quilt in 2002 at a quilt retreat that I went to with my mom in Port Townsend, Washington. We had never gone to a retreat together and thought this sounded fun. I had to get time off work and fly out to Portland with all of my supplies and sewing machine. From Portland we drove up toward Seattle, took the western route up the Olympic Pennisula to the tip where Port Townsend, a cute Victorian town sits on the waterfront overlooking the northern part of the Puget Sound. The views are incredible.
From Port Townsend we continued along the shoreline to Fort Worden historic state park. Fort Worden used to be an military base in the early 20th century, and was inactive, turned into a state-owned retreat center. The old officer's houses and army barracks were transformed into bunkhouses for retreaters and classroom space for workshops. It was quaint, old-fashioned, but adequate. The setting too, was gorgeous - with the waterfront property and the grounds that we walked around on. A fun place to be creative and "camp out".
We were lucky enough to be there in the fall too, and there were lots of towering trees full of autumn colors all over the grounds...falling leaves everywhere of gold, orange, and rust-colored hues. The fall leaves inspired me to create this quilt. I thought of the golden leaves crunching under my feet as we walked back to our room at night from the gathering in the dining hall. The starry skies were above us. It was a magical time.
This particular class was taught by Debbie McCaffrey who has out several quilt books. This quilt was based on her "Noodle Soup" book which uses 2 1/2" strips of fabric to create a variety of quilt designs. It was fun to see the wide variety of quilts and fabric colorways that people in our class were using. All very different.
Well, as good intentions go, I returned home with this and several other quilt projects in the works, and over the course of seven years, I have finished a couple of them. About two years ago, I buckled down and pulled the pieces of this one out of the bag, and got busy putting the blocks into rows, and rows into on-point designs.
Large triangles finished the four corners and "floated" the stars in the center of the dark sky. Sadly, the quilt top sat folded on a table in my studio for another two years until I finally took it to quilt on the long-arm machine last spring. Then it returned home and sat through the summer until I finally made the binding and sewed it on just a couple of weeks ago. This quilt has had a long journey.
But it's finished now and I hung it up on the wall in our basement family room. It helps warm up the room. But mostly, it's nice to finally have it finished.
Another one done, but many more to go!
