Group Pictorial Quilt

Last summer, Joe and I took friends Mike and Alex on a hike to Becker Lake in the Beartooth Mountains. The wildflowers were spectacular that day (as were the mosquitoes!).
Anyway, I took this photo, and it was chosen for our first pictorial group quilt - a joint effort between two small art quilting groups - WAV and TAGY.

15 participants each created an 8 x 11" section of the image. Here they are all put together. You can see each artist's individual work on the WAV blog here.

Big Sky Quilt Retreat

Big Sky Quilt Retreat
Shrine Auditorium in Billings, Montana

This is a biannual event sponsored by the two big quilt guilds in Billings.

Yesterday, I spent the day helping to install the artistic portion of the show, which features work from a local art quilt group, WAV (Women of Artistic Vision), SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Association), SDA (Surface Design Association, Salvaged Threads, and Fabric Give Away.

WAV was well represented.

Salvaged Threads

SAQA

more SAQA

Beartooth Llama Trek - 4th Afternoon

Thursday morning, we'd climbed high to Cloverleaf Lakes, where we had lunch. We followed the outlet back to our base camp at Spogen.

This route involved significant drops in elevation, which brought us alongside a series of falls, rockslides, and lakes.

In spring and early summer, these areas are flooded with rushing water. By mid-August, the water levels have receded greatly, leaving lush meadows, exposed expanses of rock, and it was possible for us to navigate without getting wet.

Rachel Lake, named by a good friend for his granddaughter.

This beautiful falls was adjacent to Rachel Lake.

Teri navigating the rock scramble between Rachel and Martin Lakes.

Jeanne on the rock scramble with Martin Lake in the background.

Wildflowers at Martin Lake.

This delicate white flower is Grass of Parnassus. Isn't it amazing?

Beartooth Llama Trip Pictures - Day 2

Our morning at Sunrise was lovely and clear. We had a leisurely breakfast, packed up camp and prepared the llamas for the hike to our next camp. Each person led a llama. The llamas have a specific order in which they travel, and I was leading Crowfoot (AKA Crow), who fell in at the end.

We happened to meet two hikers at this beautiful spot on the trail, and they were willing to take a group picture. Our party - from left to right are Poncho with Jeanne, Chico with Kathy, Crow with me, and Hobbit with Teri.

As we neared our destination, we passed within view of Martin and Wright Lakes.

Here is Spogen Falls, which is right on the lake. There is a stream leading from Wright Lake to Spogen. The elevation difference and rock formations make for a lovely waterfall.

We walked around to the lake and set up camp on the opposite shore with a nice view of the falls. This campsite offered more privacy and better grazing for the llamas.

This is the outlet from Spogen. This stream leads to Witcomb Lake. Kathy and I walked down to Witcomb, where we caught Brook trout at Witcomb for our second night's dinner.

By late afternoon, smoke from the Sylvan forest fire in Yellowstone Park started drifting into our area. This created breathing problems for all of us. It made for a beautiful sunset, though.

Dusk at Spogen Lake.

Beartooth Llama Trek for Adventurous Quilters - Day One

Close to heaven - as viewed from Surprise Lake in the Beartooth Wilderness.

Seeking inspiration from above, four female quilting companions ventured into the Beartooth Wilderness on August 13, 2007.

This particular adventure was the brain child of Kathy Lichtendahl, of Clark, Wyoming. Kathy is a skilled outdoorsman, world class quilter, talented artist, and athlete. Kathy and her husband, Ken own a number of llamas, some of which are trained as wilderness pack animals. They are well suited to the terrain and climate of the wild areas of Montana and Wyoming. You can read Kathy's blog to learn more about her life in Clark and the llamas.

Our group included four women ranging in age from 49 to 53, and four male llamas. Each woman led a llama up the trail. We began our adventure at the Clay Butte Trailhead. It was a warm, lovely summer day when we set out for six days in the wilderness.

The first day's hike was four miles long, a good "warm up" for those of us who are not as conditioned as Kathy (meaning the rest of the group). We set up camp at Surprise Lake. In the picture above, the llamas have been staked out in a grassy area to graze and rest.

Jeanne caught the first fish - a very large Brook trout.

Terri caught the second fish - also a nice Brook trout.

As evening approached, we had a few light rain showers, but by the time we crawled into the tent, it was calm and clear. When I crept out of the tent at 4 AM, I saw half a dozen shooting stars and the Milky Way - I felt very blessed.

I'll be posting images from the rest of the trip in coming days.