2018 Berkshires' Quilt Retreat

Hello Dear Blogging Friends,

I've returned from my annual quilting trip to the Berkshires. We've lost track of how many years we've been going, I think it's been at least 20. We've been at our "new" hotel for 10 years.

Here are some of the beautiful projects from my Brown Bagger quilting friends.

Nancy D. finished a lot of projects!

Nancy added the outer borders to her colorful batik Card Trick quilt.

Here is Nancy's beautiful Christmas tree skirt.

Nancy put borders on her Friendship Braid, which was an older UFO. The outer border is a wonderful Kaffe Fassett print that ties all the colors together.

Here is Nancy's pretty table runner. The pattern is Breezy Runner by Pine Tree Country Quilts and Nancy purchased it as a kit with the instructions and all the fabrics.

Joannie was busy working on a t-shirt quilt but found time to finish her adorable patchwork elephant. It was her first time making a stuffed animal and it came out great!

Here's a close-up of the elephant.

Kim P. made this colorful play mat. This is a free tutorial on JayBird Quilts' blog that she calls Circle Quilt. I think I may need to make a few for all my friends who are having babies this year. If you look closely, or click on the photo, you can see Kim's beautiful machine quilting. She did some intricate vines in the green wedges. You may recall that Kim is an award-winning quilter who has won at the Vermont Quilt Festival and exhibited at the Houston Quilt Festival.

The quilt below has quite a back story! Kim was quilting it for her Mom's friend. She layered it this winter. When she pulled it out to work on it, she found that all of the safety pins had rusted and stained the quilt top. After she washed it to get the rust out, one of the pink fabrics in the quilt bled. In the end, Kim got the rust out and most of the fabric bleeding isn't noticeable. The quilt is absolutely stunning! I hope that her Mom's friend enters it in a quilt show.

This quilt needs to be seen in person to be truly appreciated.

Each little flower basket is different.

Here's a shot of the center medallion.

Karen was putting final touches on two new patterns that will be available for sale soon in her Etsy Shop, QuiltLily Designs.

This beauty doesn't have a name yet, although I suggested Nancy,

I think this one is called Cat and Mouse.

Of course, Marion was there with me. She finished two sets of blocks that will become quilt tops soon, probably by our next quilt weekend in August. When I left on Saturday morning, Joanne S., Kim G., Sally, Cindy and Debbie were all busy sewing but didn't have anything ready to share in the blog. I left the retreat early to go home and spend the weekend with Mike and Elvis, so I may get some more photos from Kim to share with you later this week.

Thanks for visiting.

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy