Quilting Up North

From the image above some of you Wisconsinites might be able to guess where I was teaching a few weeks ago. Yup! I had a wonderful adventure speaking to a guild in Hayward, WI ~ and staying with my friend Cathy in her log home on the Chippewa Flowage.

She, and her husband Tom, are extremely talented at building and renovating ~ and staying with them was a delight (especially eating REALLY fresh fish for breakfast – thanks Tom!)

The members of the Hayward guild were welcoming, fun and inspiring. My Gone to the Dark Side lecture seemed to go over quite well, and afterwards a group of us went out for lunch. There was a lot of laughter and sharing, and I sat across from a very talented fiber artist, Carol Fure, who invited Cathy and me to see her work in a gallery in a nearby town. So the next day we drove to Webster to visit the Northwest Passage Gallery.

I was surprised to find such a lovely gallery in a small town in northern Wisconsin (silly me). The building is an innovative, multi-use community center and gallery, developed in partnership with the Burnett Area Arts Group, and showcases local artists’ work in many different mediums. The building also features the InaNewLight Gallery. The work of these young people was amazing.

Carol was the fiber artist on display and her unique pieces really intrigued us.

We all went to lunch again and she was so willing to share many of her creative techniques. I think it’s time for Cathy and me to have a play day and experiment with some of the interesting products Carol recommended.

We also visited the River’s Edge Antique and Quilt Loft in Hayward.

It was fun to chat with Gail and hear about her adventures as a quilt shop owner.

There came a moment on this trip where I mentioned to Cathy that I’d lived in Wisconsin all my life, but I’d never seen Lake Superior. She told me it was about an hour’s drive away and there was a great quilt shop in Duluth, MN (just north of the city of Superior, WI along the edge of the lake), that she’d been wanting to visit… Road Trip!

It was a beautiful drive and Hannah Johnson’s quilt shop was well worth the trip!

After spending a bit of time and money there we made it to the shore of Lake Superior:

Stunning! But I must admit, after growing up in Milwaukee ~ it looks a lot like Lake Michigan 😁. Thank you Cathy for making this trip fun and memorable.

I feel so blessed to be able to travel with good friends, to wonderful destinations, and to meet friendly quilters who I consider to be my new friends. God is so good!

And …

Since I started this post with a photo of a log home, I’d like to share a bit of information about another log home – mine. After 18 years of living in our beautiful house in the woods,

we’ve decided it’s time to move closer in to Watertown. So we have a house to sell! If you or someone you know is looking for 20 acres of nature, a log home, and a pond, halfway between Milwaukee and Madison ~ with a gorgeous quilting studio, click here!

And, in case you’re wondering, I have room in our new home to build my new studio. Did I already mention that I’m very, very blessed !?!