What I Did on My Fall Vacation

This past week was a gift to myself for having survived tourist season, canning season, and the run-up to the wedding. My friend Tera and I have been wanting to make Laura Heine collage quilts. The technique/pattern is ridiculously obfuscated, so we thought it might be better if we stumbled through it together. I found out that the small quilt store in Spokane was offering a weekend class, and because we also like to travel together, we arranged a girls’ weekend away.

As it turned out, I also needed to deliver the rest of DD#1’s belongings and wedding gifts to them. They are staying with DSIL’s parents on the Olympic peninsula while they wait for orders to come through for DSIL to report to the Coast Guard base in Ketichikan, where he will be the dentist. I left home last Monday morning with the BMW packed to the gills:

I powered through to Seattle, where I met DD#2 for dinner. Given the events of this past summer, the husband and I thought it was prudent for her to be out of the city during the election, so on Tuesday morning, she and I got on an early ferry for a quick trip over to the peninsula.

We arrived at DSIL’s parents’ house mid-morning.

I love visiting his parents. His mother is a fabulous cook and baker and staying with them is so relaxing. We got all of the kids’ stuff unloaded into their storage container on Tuesday afternoon. On Wednesday, we took a trip into town to so some shopping. Alas, the quilt store was closed because they were moving to a new space. We went to Joann Fabrics, though, where I found a unicorn. The customer who ordered the apron I’ve been working on originally chose a fabric that was no longer available from Joanns. I had made a shorter apron out of that fabric, but it was a remnant and I had no more left. When I checked Joann Fabrics’ online inventory system—which is, admittedly, less than accurate—it showed there was no more of that fabric to be had at any store between here and the west coast. The customer chose a different fabric, but just to be thorough, I checked for her original choice while we were in the store. It was there! The bolt had a few yards left, so I bought all of it. I’ll let the customer decide which fabric she wants, and if she goes with her alternate choice, I’ll use this for a quilt back.

DD#2 and I headed back to Seattle on Thursday morning. (DSIL’s parents made it clear to DD#2 that she is welcome there anytime, which is a great comfort to me.) She went home and I continued on to Spokane, where I got some dinner and checked into the hotel for the night.

Tera drove over from Kalispell on Friday morning. We met up and did some shopping at the quilt stores before stopping for lunch at Nordstrom and checking into the Airbnb. Our quilt class at Regal Fabrics and Gifts had a Friday session from 4-6 pm. There were only seven of us in the class, mostly due to space constraints and social distancing requirements. Irene, the owner, has a lot packed into the space she’s got. She would love to expand, but rent in that area is on the high end.

This is the second class I’ve taken at Irene’s store. Both have been excellent. The teacher for this class was a former middle-school math teacher. She knew how to pace the class and present information. She explained the technique and set us the goal of getting our collage background done during Friday’s class session. Tera had bought a kit for her collage, so all her fabric pieces were the same size:

My background was a bit less coherent. Originally, I had planned to do one piece of background fabric—a Tim Holtz print, which is pretty busy on its own—but the teacher suggested I do several different background fabrics. I am still struggling with that design decision, as my background ended up much busier than I thought it should be. A collage should have a lot of visual interest, yes, but it shouldn’t be unintelligible, and I included one fabric that is shouting over the others, as you’ll see in a moment.

We got started bright and early Saturday morning. The large focal point of the collage is built on a Teflon sheet and then adhered to the background with Steam-A-Seam. My collage picture is of a tomato pincushion:

I chose this pattern because it looked like one of the easier ones, and it was. Tera had a lot of intricate cutting to do on her octopus and hers took longer.

After placing the large motif on the background, we filled in with little bits and pieces here and there. I got to use several of the sewing-themed fabrics from my stash.

Once all the bits and bobs are in place, the whole thing is pressed with the steam iron to set it in place:

Mine still looks like it’s missing a few things because I plan to add some surface embellishments with hand and machine embroidery. Once that’s done, the piece is layered with batting and backing and quilted.

This was Tera’s octopus after the main motif was placed but before she added the extra bits:

I was happy that we were able to learn the basics of the technique in the class, although I would do a few things differently next time. Getting a kit is not a bad idea. I should have brought a different selection of fabrics with me. Without knowing exactly what I was going to need, though, I had to guess. We were able to buy stuff in the store, but I have enough fabric in my stash without adding more just for a few pieces on my collage. And I would definitely do a much less complicated background next time.

I do want to finish this piece. I also have the large wallhanging pattern for the sewing machine and the rooster. I’d like to do the rooster wallhanging for sure. I want the rooster collage to have the same colors as my junior rooster, Dave, so I need to get a good picture of him. This is the kind of project that needs a dedicated space. I’ll probably set up a table, lay out the collage, and build it over a period of a couple of weeks.

Tera finished her octopus in Sunday morning’s class session. I worked on a prayer shawl, as I had gotten my collage done by the end of Saturday’s class. We left at noon with a bit of trepidation as it was snowing and we weren’t sure what we would be heading into. The highway was bare and dry from Spokane to Lookout Pass. The Montana side of the pass to the rest of the way home, however, was a mess. Tera and I both have a lot of winter driving experience, and I only rarely encounter what I consider white-knuckle driving anymore. This wasn’t terrifying. It was just more of a slow grind, having to travel 35 mph in what are normally 70 mph zones. We made it, though, and the husband had dinner waiting for me.

Now I play catch up. The pigs are going to the processor tomorrow, so we also have to get them into the trailer some time today.