Last
week I drove down to Oklahoma to Kamp Kutti Uppi, a four-day (Thursday through Sunday) quilting retreat
hosted by the Kiamichi quilt guild from McAlester, OK. The camp was
held at the Pickens Camp facilities within the Eufala Lake State Park.
The facilities were a little more rustic than other retreats I've attended, having the main building for quilting and eating, bunkhouse style cabins, and a bath house a short walk away, but
still totally acceptable and quite fun! About 27 women attended from
around the area and from surrounding states (including me from Kansas
and at least one gal from Texas). They had a very fun program that
included an optional fabric exchange and free quilt pattern to make, the Dirty
Quilter game on Friday night, and a camp round robin quilt that was
completed and given to the winner of a drawing of those who worked on it
before camp ended. It was all very fun indeed and I definitely plan to go back
next year!
Mostly I worked on my Delightful Stars blocks for the Aiming for Accuracy quilt-along I
joined on Facebook and Craftsy. Having gotten buried in school work recently, I was several blocks behind and wanted to catch up. Working with the beautiful batiks I've
been collecting and using a black Kona cotton background, this will be a
gorgeous quilt when completed!
Once those were caught up, I moved on to
the fabric exchange. Those who were interested in participating were encouraged to bring 14 2.5" x WOF strips and 40 5" squares of black/white/gray fabrics to exchange upon arrival. If we wanted to make the free pattern available at camp, we also needed to bring 1.5 yards (or more) of a neutral color of our choice. I chose a hot pink Kona cotton that I have since learned is named Pomegranate. I love the vibrance against the black/white/gray prints!
The pattern was fairly
simple and before I left on Saturday afternoon (yep, a day early because
of the snow and ice between me and home that was starting Saturday
night) I had a throw size quilt top made!
The round robin quilt these gals make during the camp weekend was great fun! It started out with a starter block made and brought by the recipient of last year's camp round robin quilt. These two stars Linda is holding were the starting point and throughout the weekend whoever wanted to work on it could add rows or borders as they pleased until, at the end of the weekend, the names of those who worked on it would be thrown in a hat and a winner drawn. There were several vendors in attendance, so if campers wanted to work on it but didn't have the right colors in their retreat stash, they could purchase fat quarters or other amounts of fabric to work with. It's amazing how it turned out and Paula was so pleased to win! Next year she will make a center starter block and let the camp chairman know ahead of time what colors/theme she chose so campers can better plan to bring something to add to next year's round robin quilt.
What
made Kamp Kutti Uppi even sweeter was the fact that I reunited with
a friend from Pittsburg High School (Pittsburg, California) some 42
years later! Yep, even though we
hadn't seen each other in decades, the reconnection was instant and we
had a blast! After reconnecting on Facebook several years ago, Linda and
I found that we are both now quilters living in adjoining states in the
midwest. As coordinator for Kamp Kutti Uppi, she had invited me to
attend some months ago. Once it got closer I couldn't wait to get down
there to see her and to meet a whole bunch of new quilty friends.
Although I was sorry to have to leave early, I was so grateful for having made that decision. I drove into freezing mist a couple hours into my nearly 5-hour drive, and the snow had started falling at home before I got there. Chatting with Linda after I got home, I learned that I wasn't alone in my decision. The group of 27 had dwindled to 12 locals by Saturday evening. I'm already looking forward to next year's camp and hope to make it an annual event. As a Gypsy Dreamer who used to dream of gypsying to contra dance weekends, now I'm gypsying to quilt camps. And I couldn't be happier!
More snippets from the sewing room soon,
Liz
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