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"Inn at the Loretto" by TQSWizard

About eighteen months ago I attended a Ricky Tims retreat.  This was the first artist run retreat I had ever attended.  He asked us to bring an idea of a project we would like to work on.  This was quite a challenge for me for up until this point I had only worked on published patterns.  I was intimidated by the thought of designing my own piece of work in a quilt. Where should I start?  Should it be applique or pieced?  I was totally frustrated. 

Ricky showed me how to break down my quilt idea into manageable blocks.  By looking at each piece in sections rather than the entire design, I was not so overwhelmed.  Building with these small sections into a larger piece became liberating as well as fulfilling.  After six days in this creative environment surrounded by the encouragement of others, I was excited and well on my way.

Having had the opportunity to live in a number of exotic locations spurred the idea to create a series of dwellings based on those places.  But that is just what they were - ideas.  Attending Ricky's retreat challenged me to work beyond my idea and to create the vision I had in my head. 

Do you have an idea for a quilt but are afraid to step outside of your comfort zone?  Look at the quilts in the Quilt Gallery.  Do some rough drawings.  Remember this isn't school.  No one is going to tell you that your drawings are terrible.  Then break those drawings into manageable pieces.  You just may find that idea is not as difficult to create as you thought.   

By the way I want to give Alex credit for inspiring the sky quilt design.  I wanted to create the look of a lightning storm with blowing wind.  I tried and ripped out two sky designs before the quilting idea in her book Quilts for Fabric Lovers was the one I decided was just right. 

Lilo