Quilting Up North

Last weekend, I drove up North to Mason, WI to stay overnight with friends Rick and Mary.  Mary and I were classmates at Luck some years ago.  The plan was to go out for fish on Friday night and then spend Saturday at a quilt class in Bayfield.  

Mary was teaching The Yellow Brick Road quilt pattern.  She assured me that I should be able to finish sewing the quilt top during the class which started at 8am and ended at 6pm.  I had done all the precutting of fabric that I could do ahead of time, (see my previous post about Measure Twice, Cut Once).

The fish was great, we saw about 40-50 deer along the road on our way there and home again.  I am guessing that the snow is still too deep in the woods, which is driving the hungry deer out to the road side to see what they can find to munch on.

Saturday morning started very early as we had to be the first to arrive at The Orchard Edge Quilt Shop so that Mary could greet the students and help set up.

We started sewing close to 8am.  6 students of varying abilities and experience.  All with different, in fact very different, fabric colors and patterns.  A short break for lunch and then back to the machines.

As it turned out, the other students were not quite as aggressive/foolish as I was when selecting the size of quilt top to sew.  I was working on a Queen size, most were doing lap size or twin size or even baby size.

No matter, with Mary's help, everyone made steady progress throughout the day.

By the time we packed up our sewing machines and supplies to head home, I had spent as much time at a sewing machine as I wanted for that day!  My quilt squares are done, but they still need to be assembled into the final quilt top.  I'll post some photos once I get that job done, maybe tomorrow?

I spent Saturday night at Rick and Mary's too.  They have a large herd of deer that come into the yard every-night   They clean up under the bird feeders, and there might be some other snacks supplied to them as well.  Here are a few pictures of their white tail herd.

The classic pose we all love

Fawn and Momma

This guy wanted a drink so badly, but he was so nervous.  Kept creeping up closer and then backing off.  I never did see him take a slurp of the bird bath.

The deer are not very pretty this time of year, and they really blend in with the browns of the woods and dormant grasses along the road.  Drivers have to be very careful.