One more quilt from the retreat

Isn't this absolutely beautiful? The quilter told me that it was a Block of the Month from her local Quilt Shop. The quilt is all needle-turn appliqued. She said this was her first needle turn project and she did not take a class!! What an ambitious project.
I have been working on finishing up a few projects at home. Steve and I are planning a trip to Pigeon Forge next week for the Mountain Quiltfest. This will be our 3rd annual trip to Pigeon Forge. We are hoping for warm weather. This time of year it is great to head to warmer climates for a break. (It is only 17 degrees right now here). I have also signed up for a class with Pat Sloan and I am excited. Now I need to be putting together a project or two for the trip. Yesterday I looked through some patterns and came up with a couple of ideas. One of the patterns is from an older Fons and Porter magazine. The quilt in the magazine is made from some very bright colors and I think that is what drew me to the quilt. They also showed the quilt in some darker fabrics and I liked that one too. For my birthday fat quarter club at Guild this year I asked for batiks. I am not a big batik fan at all but thought I would give it a try. So this morning I thought I would take a look at the batiks and see if I could use them for this pattern. And ..... no, it is not going to work for me. The batiks just look so dull and boring (sorry to all of the batik fans). So this afternoon after I do a couple of other little odd jobs (shop for a new internet provider, get things ready for income taxes) I plan to search through my stash for some bright fabrics. I know that some day I will find something to do with the batiks. Any suggestions? Perhaps I will get some inspiration in Pigeon Forge.
Thanks to all of you who registered for my blog prize. I haven't been able to talk with Jack yet about my prizes but hope to do that tomorow. Stay tuned.