EASY ARCH at Cedar Lakes quilt camp, October 2015

Once again I had the pleasure of joining over 200 quilters at Quilt Camp, a retreat held at Cedar Lakes in Ripley, WV .
For over 30 years quilters have come together here during Columbus week to learn new things and enjoy each others company. Weather was just perfect  this time, and so was my class of 8 ladies eager to learn free form rotary cutting and sewing curves. I have  come up with many variations over the years of this simple block, but still there are new inspirations for new variations to come. Making some blocks into free form leaves has become a favorite, not just by me but also by many taking this class. Below are several outstanding examples of that. Enjoy!

 Jeri Fickes from Ohio came with a plan to make a wall piece for her new bedroom. This black and white with a little red is very original and creative. Love it!

Jeri's leaves continues her love for black and white.
This wall quilt will probably stay asymetrical, with a nice quilt design in the dark area. The red piping is perfect.

Cindy Kellner from Georgia became very prolific in making Easy arch blocks. The leaves in orange, red and yellows will create a stunning wall quilt after she has the leaves appliqued to the purple background. A beautiful color combination.
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 This is the first piece Cindy worked on. She made many blocks in the blue and burgundy hues, with a touch of green. This is a more "traditional" setting of the blocks, but can easily be changed around as long as you don't have them sewn together. She might also make it bigger by adding more blocks. Lovely cool colors.

Susan Tardif, also from Georgia, made even more blocks. Her very large stash of beautiful batiks in blues, turquoise, purple and pinks was one to envy. Her setting is more random, but it lets lines flow through the quilt. She is planning to add even more block for a larger quilt. It will be stunning.

Susan in front of some of the leaves she made. She chose a very skinny vein to go through the leaves, and that is very effective. The setting in the large green squares will give her many options for how to put them together. This will be another very vibrant piece.

Mary Bugg from Ohio brought some very rich fabrics to work with. The blue tones just made this beautiful square from 4 blocks. She is planning to add similar blocks in brown and pinks to compliment the blues

Becky Hamilton from Ohio worked with a very soft group of Christmas fabrics. They only looked christmasy when you were close. Becky cut through several of the blocks and added skinny bias strips. It gave the quilt a very contemporary look using traditional type fabrics. She added couched yard around the borders, and pretty much had the top ready to be quilted by the end of class! Impressive.

Becky's leaves has added plain fabrics as well as prints. Love this original setting. With some border(s) it can be a wall piece or a table piece that will work all year.               

Lois Hall from Ohio is a quilter who gets a lot done!  This is a baby quilt that she actually also basted and quilted during the 4 days at Cedar Lakes!  A baby girls will love this quilt, it has minky on the back and is soo soft. The blocks are set in a traditional setting, which is perfect for this. Lots of movement.

Lois made blocks from these cute Halloween fabrics, but instead of making a Halloween quilts she assembled 4 Trick-or- Treat bags for the grandkids. How adorable is that!. All the bags are lines and have sturdy handles, ready to be filled with goodies.

These bright leaves will most likely be the beginning of a larger project. I can see Lois make several more and have something to show at the next retreat!              Every year I am fortunate to have talks with Lois about our common background . Her grandparents were from Norway, and she has done a lot of research about them. It really gives me a feeling of home when we share this, even if it is only once a year!                                                                     

 This is Shari Gilzow from Ohio and her bright batik wall quilt. Strong colors gives her quilt a very dynamic and swirly effect. She plans to add one or two borders to frame the blocks. That would make it large enough for  a lap quilt, or to hang on the wall.

This says late fall to me. Right before some leaves disintegrate on the ground they have this color of brown and purple. It is quite beautiful, and Shari have captured this. I hope she agrees with me! Love it. Whatever she adds to this, it will be a great piece. One which I hope to see next year.

Last, but not least, Dee Burdette from Ohio, brought a beautiful collection of blacks, browns, grays and whites to use for her blocks. Very rich colors that played so well together. She chose a gray setting with black cornerstones which compliments the blocks very successfully. She plans to make a few more blocks to make it somewhat larger, and add a border for framing. This will be a gorgeous quilt when it is finished.

Dee wanted to make some leaves, but did not have a specific project in mind for them. I think she should come up with one, because this is a great beginning! Since yellow and orange are my favorite colors, she can not go wrong in whatever lay out  or positioning she chooses. Hope to see what she will come up with .

 As an added bonus I was able to see a few finished projects from last year's class. It is a real treat to get to see the quilts we work on in a class as finished projects later.

Ginny Diefenbaugh from Ohio made a very bright and colorful wall piece with several blocks in the Transfer paint class last year. She now added embroidery outline around the leaf shapes and quilted it. Beautiful result!

Cheryl Davis from Ohio planned and worked out a fairly complicated design (her own) as a memory piece for her mother who had passed away. After the Transfer paint class last year, she finished it at home by adding beading and embroidery as well as quilting. This is now a  very personal memorial to her late mother.

Lois Hall took the Free form Machine applique class a few years ago. She started a very special and personal quilt from a photo of her son during a horse race. This was a challenging and detailed piece, but this year the quilt was done, and I think you'll agree it was worth all the work. This will be a gift to her son, and I think it will blow him away. For me it is so rewarding to see the accomplishment of creative people

Lois also finished a second quilt this year. The Eagle will go to her other son, as it represent his interest in Tae Kown Do. Wish I can get this much done!

As you see, lots of things going on at Quilt Camp in Ripley. More classes coming up next October!