On the Road: Fabric Collage in Kalispell, MT—June 2019, Week 2

If you’ve been following this month’s posts, you’ll know I’ve been catching up on last month’s classes at the Quilt Gallery in Kalispell, Montana. Every place I teach, my students put their all into their projects and listen with such rapt attention, it shocks me sometimes (I certainly don’t get that sort of attention when I’m home!). And once I am home, I enjoy sharing a bit of each class, each location, and each fabric collage begun in those travels.

My second week teaching in Kalispell (click here for a rundown of week one) began with a few familiar faces in class, among a bunch of new and eager faces. Marci Robman (above) arrived with last year’s iguana collage to show me his progress. Her finished roadrunner collage quilt can be seen in this Finish Line post and from the looks of the basking iguana, it may not be too long before he’ll be finished as well.

Other returning students brought finished quilts and a mini-show was hung to decorate the classroom for the week. Below are quilts by (left to right): Ruth Knoch, Antoinette Hettinga, Cynthia Chaddick, and Kaye Burns. You’ll see these (plus more) quilts—up close and personal—in next week’s blog post, Finish Line Part 2 of fabric collage quilts begun in past Quilt Gallery classes.

This year was the first in the Quilt Gallery’s new building and location. I stayed in an apartment set up on the second floor, so in the quiet of the early mornings, I’d take short strolls with my cuppa in hand, checking out the day-by-day week’s progress. On the final morning of class, I got the panoramic photo above of the classroom, collages waiting for another day’s attention from their creators.

This pile of sandy brown fabric was waiting for its chance at becoming part of a camel—and the newest collage—by Cynthia Chaddick. That’s Cynthia in photo below, with her friend Kaye Burns. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing these two ladies in a few classes (in different states even). They’re prolific quilters and have certainly taken to fabric collage. Check out those impressive quilts in their own “Focus on Two Friends” Finish Line post.

First-time student of mine was Quilt Gallery owner Marianne Buller, above. Marianne purchased the shop three years ago and was bound and determined to make the time this year to participate in the class. She did a good job arranging her schedule to concentrate on a portrait of penguins she had photographed. The photo was interesting (and helpful) in that it had already interpreted the white of the penguin belly into shades of pink, proving you don’t have use white fabric on a white creature in order for it to look white. We know penguins are black and white, so you can play with alternative colors—such as light pinks and blues with dark purples—since our brains will still register “dark and light penguin.” It’s all about the values.

Let me introduce my class, above left to right: back row—Susan Spencer, Antoinette Hettinga, Robin Johannsen, Cindi Guridi, Marianne Buller, Ruth Knoch, and me; middle row—Karla Langlois, Teri Dahl, Lorna Greenwood, Sunne Brandmeyer, and Marci Robman; front row—Kaye Burns, Kathy Rogers, Cynthia Chaddick, and Kashmir Dhillon.

I think you’ll be impressed with the images in the slide show below. As always, I selected photos that visually take you through the process and progress these talented ladies went through this week at the Quilt Gallery.

Student Work Slide Show

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In my early morning coffee and classroom stroll routine, I’d have quiet time to focus on more that just the projects, but also the personal spaces that each student worked in. Marci Robman who spends summers locally, showed me the fresh iris she picked from her garden one of the days. I didn’t notice until the next morning how perfectly the flower’s colors matched the yellow and violet color scheme Marci had chosen for her white polar bear collage (below left).

And then looking at Marci’s beginning collage (above right), I noticed she had brought further inspiration to class in the form of a jointed polar bear figure. For fun, I took a photo of the two together.

The next morning, the bear had changed position, seeming to restlessly prowl the table, below.

It was the morning that the bear was fiercely guarding the bottle of Aileen’s Tacky glue (below), that I began to suspect that Marci was testing me to see what and if I’d notice her arrangements.

I laughed out loud to an empty classroom the morning I came upon the “conversation” between mountain goat (a color inspiration for Marci) and bear (above right and below). Marci later told me the Cabella’s coffee cup was an intentional part of the vignette as it’s from a company that caters to hunters—to be avoided at all costs by mountain goats and polar bears alike.

And on the final morning of class (below), the bear was offering his critique of “his” portrait.

Also on the final day of class, Ruth Knoch set aside her eagle portrait to get some feedback on an egret collage (below) she had begun on her own. Another bird collage of hers, the hummingbird shown earlier, will be one of the featured quilts in next week’s Finish Line post.

Out and About in Kalispell, Montana

In last year’s Kalispell post, I introduced Canola “Cannie” Bloom, the little yellow manual-transmission VW pickup that I named after the bright yellow canola fields in this rural area. This is a car of Marianne’s that I get to use while I’m in town. I learned to drive on a VW Beetle stick shift, so I get a kick out of driving this little VW. One afternoon I ran to the store to pick up some groceries and when I came out, Cannie had been joined by a car that matches model and color with my current ride, a Honda Element named Ms. Ella Watson. (Yes, all my (now our) cars have (or had) names. Tom’s fine with that—his car is Henry. Our son however, refuses to join in with the family tradition with his first car—so, much to Sam’s chagrin, I call it Steve.)

I do get two days off between the two weeks of teaching while in Kalispell, and this year day one was spent with Marianne and her daughter Ashley, who was visiting from her college town. We went to sites I hadn’t been to before, starting with the Swinging Bridge (above) on one end of a trail and Kootenai Falls (below) on the other.

I absolutely adore aqua jade colored water, and literally soaked it up by letting the water run over my feet in the shallows. It’s one of those places you could be mesmerized for hours by the twists and turns of the rushing current. I’ve included a short video below, sharing the sight and sound of the beautiful water.

 

The second place we stopped at that day was Ross Creek Cedars Nature Trail. These trees reminded me of California’s mega-trees and Muir Woods just north of San Francisco. It was quiet and earthy and felt ancient. On a warm summer day it was refreshingly cool.

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For Day Off #2, I got picked up by former Quilt Gallery owner Joan Hodgeboom, and we headed off on another beautiful day to a few favorite stops of previous years. One of the entrances to Glacier National Park is a take-out coffee length ride from Kalispell, and one destination for the day. I hadn’t seen the colorful pebbles, clear water, and mountain vista of Lake McDonald for a couple years, and it made for an easily accessible stop. We got some take-out sandwiches and settled down for a picnic lunch along the shore.

That’s Joan in photo below right. She’s a big rock-lover and has expanded my knowledge and appreciation of rocks over the years. We’re both the type of people who pack rocks in their suitcases. So spending some down-time running our fingers through rocks was just the thing for both of us.

I took off my sandals and, slowly and sometimes painfully, waded into the lake. Some people have a life-list of birds they’ve seen, I kinda have one of bodies of water I’ve dipped my toes into. In the slide show below are more photos from Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park.

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Before and after our stop at the lake, we hit Kehoe’s Rock Shop in Bigfork, and then the Tuesday evening Farmer’s Market in Whitefish, MT—two annual stops that Joan and I have enjoyed—photos of both below.

Kehoe’s is an unimposing little shop with an amazing selection of rocks, fossils, and gems. I like seeing their fossilized cave bear skeleton in addition to natural and polished stones in a mind-boggling variety of colors and striations. The natural world is truly amazing.

And the farmer’s market is just a home-town feel with the vendors, including craftspeople and artist booths. I always find a little something to bring home with me, and Joan and I find something good for dinner before heading back to Kalispell. On Wednesday morning, the second week of class began.

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One last Montana body of water I got to dip my toes into was Flathead Lake, the largest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi in the lower 48 states. It lies just outside of Kalispell, and we skirted by it heading to a dinner destination on a couple class evenings, pausing to take in the sights, and the aforementioned toe-dipping.

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See you next year, Big Sky Country.