Holy CATS!  I cannot tell you how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE camp in all of its varieties.  Everyone should be a camper and then when you’re too old to be a camper, you need to be a camp counselor and when you’re too old to be a camp counselor, you need to send your kids to camp.  And when you have the opportunity, you need to go to QUILT CAMP!  Sewing and camping combined?!  YESSSSSSSS!!!!!  Camp Tecumseh YMCA in Brookston, Indiana hosts an adult quilt camp six or seven times a year and in fact is the very place that I learned to quilt along side of my mother a few moons ago.  In my twenties, I was a camp counselor, adventure trip leader, and outdoor educator at Camp T.  Actually, some campers and staffers don’t know my real name, they know me by my camp name — Heli.  Heliotrope was my camping pseudonym.

Crimson Tate :: Modern Quilter was honored to be the 24-hour camp store at this July’s UFO — UnFinished Object camp.  Historically the July camp is without distraction of organized projects, classes, or even camp store but the Quilt Queen Emeritus Beth Wright was recently in the store Downtown Indianapolis and decided it was time to have Crimson Tate man the camp store and teach a class on Modern Quilting.

Here’s a look in at the pop-up shop we constructed for the five day quilt camp.  You can shop the camp quilt store 24 hours a day.  It’s what we all dream of!  We took the new Amy Butler Stash Belle collection with us knowing this gang would love to have first dibs on Amy’s newest line.

We spent time sewing, chatting, eating, hiking around camp, and making new friends.  A hayride resulted in a lil’ jaunt across the suspension bridge over Richard G. Marsh lake.

It was such a great few days helping my friend Andrea make her FIRST QUILT EVER!!! 

Right? She’s a rockstar.  I love that she jumped into the Hexy Sexy Love quilt by Amy Butler using Denyse Schmidt’s Shelburne Falls fabrics!  SO GOOD!!!!  Here she is with her prize from the week.

And of course, our David was a charmer and a champion sewer.  He sewed together the back of a GINORMOUS quilt and matched the pattern perfectly, like he does.

Hanging out at camp reminded me of so many great memories from pulling pranks on other cabins, sneaking out at night to go on a pizza run, finding life-long friends, and being thoroughly exhausted and totally understood.  I secretly wish I could live there forever.  Being an instructor and getting to chill at camp did my soul extra good.  Thank you Beth, Sarah, Christine, and the gang for making it such a great experience.

Mark your calendars!!  We’ll back in action for next year’s June Quilt Camp @ Camp Tecumseh.  We want OOOOODLES of our friends to join us where the Wabash River meets the Tippecanoe.  Noonway, lovelies.  Noonway.