Welcome to Mountaintop Quilting Studio

This is where you find me exploring a variety of creative adventures mostly about but not limited to quilting. I'm a firm believer that one increases their creativity by being open to and playing with a variety of cretative endeavors ... at least that my excuse for today. Enjoy your sourjourn through my studio playroom. May you find encouragement and inspiration, and on occassion, a little pin-prick that may be thought-provoking or spark your imagination. Thank you for stopping by.

FINALLY ... all the stars lined up, the calendar holes fell into place, and I was able to  go to my first quilt guild meeting in the Berkshires. There are two quilt guilds in the area with both of them holding their meetings on a Tuesday night. Makes it easy to remember. Berkshire Quilters Guild meets in Great Barrington (about a half hour drive for me) on the second Tuesday of the month, and Yankee Quilters meets on the third Tuesday every month in Pittsfield which is about a half hour drive for me in the opposite direction.

The Berkshire Quilters Guild meeting had a fantastic program on the schedule. I was so glad to be able to make it and hear Sue Reich speak about quilts from the World War II years. Sue shared a wealth of information about the what is was like during the war years, and the symbols of the times ...  how women used them in their quilting during her slide show presentation. After her lecture we were able to see her extensive collection of quilts from that era. What beautiful work.

One of my favorites was a quilt made using the fabric from parachutes. Some of the patches even had the numbers still stamped on them. Sue shared a quilt using an anchor block that would be fun to piece. I'm still searching for the pattern. I know it was published in a newspaper but don't remember the source. Drat, must take better notes next time. Her anecdotes were meaningful and poignant at times as she helped us capture a real life glimpse of the war years of the 1940's. Sue has a book and a CD about the quilts that would be a welcome addition to any quilter's library.

I also wanted to offer a special "thank you" to the gals with the guild for making me feel so welcome as a new-comer to your group. I had fun getting back into the swing of things making new quilting friends when we met for a few short hours of "quilting bee" at the Pumpkin Patch Quilts in Lee on Wednesday.

Time for planning ... must be thinking now ... what color palette/fabric scheme shall I use for my guild block of the month quilt. All blocks are planned to fit a Berkshire theme. Hmmmm ... sounds like the finished quilt might find a home in the guest room of my house called the Forest Room. Off to the studio for some searching and fabric petting. More about this topic in another post.