Looking back ten years to May 2012 Part Five 05-31-22

It was amazing how much some of the students accomplished in class, some completed the top of their quilt.  I never do well in class.  Can't concentrate, have to keep up with what everyone else is doing, taking pictures, shopping for more fabric, just can't settle down.  I did not even cut any fabric, just worked on the design for a large quilt of fuchsias.  The design is rolled up in a plastic bin with lots of other designs I have never completed.  

The shop was large and had a fabulous selection of every possible cotton print, so we all took home additions to our fabric libraries.   Ruth lived in a rural section of Massachusetts where it was miles to a quilt shop, so she always stocked up when she visited Kallispell.  Here are the fabrics she purchased on this trip. 

I guess I also bought the orangey stripe in the middle.  I used it in a quilt I made during the pandemic.  I'm sure I have others in my extensive fabric library.  

The day after the class ended four of us did a tour of Glacier National Park enjoying the local knowledge of the shop owner who also did the driving.  It was a great day, I'm sure we would not have seen as much if we had been on our own.  Bears, sheep, loons, and unbelievable views of the soaring mountains and deep lush valleys.  I'd like to go back again someday. 

Loon carrying chick on back. 

What a wonderful week, but over too soon. My friend flew back to the mid-west and I hit the road for SCalifornia.  

#   #   #

Looking back ten years to May 2012 Part Four 05-28-22

This was the last class that Ruth taught, ever!  She had been teaching here for a few weeks every summer for some time and many of the students were repeating - taking one last class.  it was at the Quilt Gallery shop which has since changed locations and owners.  It was a very large shop with a great classroom, but I don't know what the new shop is like. 

  The first day of class everyone gets out the picture(s) they have brought with them and Ruth starts helping each student design their quilt.  I have always been amazed at how easily she seemed to handle twenty different designs and the twenty different backgrounds and experiences of those students.  

Susan Hilsenbeck and her husband drove from Texas and while she was taking the class he went on a fly fishing class.  She worked diligently and almost complete the quilt top of this eggplant design. 

First putting tracing paper over her picture and drawing the seam lines.  She chose to color her drawing to make it easier to chose fabrics. 

Starting with the flower she selected and cut fabric, pinning it on her diagram until she has all the fabric cut for one section.  

Continuing to select fabric and cut the shapes which are pinned in place.  

One joy of having a class in a quilt shop is being able to search the entire shop for just the right color, texture, value, etc.  of fabric needed.  

By the last day of class this is what she had done.  The piece is about 22" wide by 28" tall.  The original photo she worked from is on the left.  

There were four or five dogs, a cat, seven or so flowers, a couple landscapes, some people, a great lizard, just a broad selection made by the students.  

I liked Susan Vacek's blue dog.  The original picture was brown. 

And the lizard was spectacular.  About 36" wide.  

#   #   #

Looking back ten years to May 2012 Part Three 05-27-22

Still en route to Kalispell.  We didn't want to eat fast food, so we drove on until we found a nice restaurant that I had enjoyed before.  It was completely different, but the food was good.  We were ready to start our Ruth B. McDowell class the next day.  

It was spring in upper Montana so there were lots of wildflowers blooming and later in town beautiful flower gardens in the green, green yards.   I had to photograph many of the flowers.

Prairie Smoke  (Geum triflorum)

Lupine (the blue flower) and I don't know the name of the white.

Bluebells (Hyacinthoides)

Common Flax (Linum)  A garden flower

Horse Chestnut tree in blossom. 

A very blue bearded iris growing beside a garage in Kalispell. 

Catmint (Nepeta)

Columbine (Aquilegia) with Catmint.   Columbine is the state flower of Colorado.

 

We finally made it to Kalispell, a lovely green town, at least it is in the summer.  We stayed in what would now be called an AirB&B.  The door on the bottom floor at the left was our room.  It was clean and comfortable, but we didn't spend much time there since we were in class all day. 

Tomorrow I will show some pictures from Ruth's class.  

#   #   # 

Looking back ten years to May 2012 Part Two 05-24-22

We had allowed enough time to do some sightseeing and not drive too long in one day.  One problem we had though was finding places to eat.  There is a lot of open highway and not many towns or even service islands.  One really needs to plan ahead.

We saw a lot of wildlife and spent a day driving through the National Bison Sanctuary.  I had driven it before, but saw a lot more bison and other animals this time.  

These sheep were not in the sanctuary, but up on a hillside behind a rest stop.  They had two attendant dogs, but didn't see any sheepherders. 

In the Bison Sanctuary there were a lot of bison - bulls, cows, and calves. 

Ruth McDowell taught in Kalisplett for quite a few years and visited the Sanctuary.  She made this very large quilt (over 100" each side) showing the bison in the pond. 

Many pronghorn antelope all along the way.

                            

Their bright white butts make them stand out on the rolling grey/green prairie. 

 Quite a few deer, but they are more difficult to spot without the bright white backside. 

I believe this is the first wild swan I have every spotted. 

To be continued.....

#   #   #

Looking back ten years to May 2012 05-23-22

Late May 2012 I started a long trip to Kalispell, Montana, to take a workshop with Ruth McDowell.   I had driven up there sever years previously for the same purpose, but this time I picked up a friend from the east at the Las Vegas airport and we stopped many places along the way to the quilt shop in Kalispell.  It was a great trip through wide open country almost the entire way.  

First day on the road - I-15 north of Barstow where the north and south bound lanes are wide apart.  The desert sometimes seems unending. The smogless blue sky stretches from horizon to horizon.

Further north the highway winds through Virgin River Canyon.  Glimpses of the river deep in the shadows of these great grey walls. 

We stopped at Zion Nat'l Park, but it was blazing hot and we stayed in the air conditioned car.

 

Miles and miles of open country - meadows, mountains, piles of clouds. 

We spent some time driving around Butte, Montana, with old mining shafts and many explanatory signs about the gold and silver mining in the past. 

To be continued.............

#   #   #

Thursday Treasures 06-04-20

I suppose most of my treasures are memories which I access through the pictures I have taken over the years.  Here are some from a trip to Kalispell, WY , eight years ago this month in June 2012, to take a class with Ruth B McDowell. 

Facebook has selected these pictures:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/paMVu7wBRYHdZVva9

I hope pasting this URL on here works. 

Here are some images I have selected from my files.   On this trip I saw a lot of wildlife, some on an all day drive through Glacier National Park. 

Out on the prairie there are a lot of antelope, here is a rare picture of an antelope resting in the grass. 

This is a more likely view and those white butts are visible from a good distance if you look for them in the grass and sagebrush. 

A drive through the National Bison Range provided close up shots of lots of bison and bison calves. 

Many different birds all over, including this lovely swan.

Loons are so distinctive.  This one came close to be sure we didn't get too close to the hen and chicks. 

This bear was really quite far away, I used a telephoto lens. 

This was Ruth's last class, I'm so glad I was there. 

#   #   #