Back to Bozeman

I recently got to return to one of my old haunts, Bozeman, Montana. And as is true for most of my stories, this one had some quilting involved! As you can see in the first photo, the Bozeman mountain range is gorgeous. This was my view when I lived here.

And this is our nephew Ty, who graduated with honors from Montana State University with a degree in mechanical engineering and a minor in aerospace.

Of course, the best part of going back to Bozeman is seeing my friends. I have been friends with most of them for over 30 years. There is nothing better than an old friend.

Back row left : Colleen and I worked together at The Patchworks. We had a lot of fun working together. We even have a Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan story.

Colleens Mom and aunt started The Patchworks; it was the first quilt store in Bozeman. They were not only wonderful quilters but also amazing women. They sold the store to Margo Krager. I worked for Margo after she bought the store from Marilyn and Dee.

Back Row right: Tracy is an amazing long arm quilter! I think the first time I met Tracy she was taking a class from me with another friend. They were having toooo much fun in class....it was great. My husband thinks the world of Tracy.

Middle Row left: Loretta was a neighbor. She is a really sweet person. I remember when we moved from Bozeman to Denver she came over when the movers were packing up everything and she said "Don't argue, I am cleaning all your bathrooms and what ever else needs to be done." That is a true friend. Her son was the most adorable Boy Scout; I still remember him coming to our door selling popcorn.

Middle row right: Carol is not only my daughter-in-law's mother but also a true friend! She is always willing to help when I go to Quilt Market or edit a pattern for me or to bounce ideas off of. She is also an amazing quilter; she has many quilts in my books.

Front row left: Anna was my next door neighbor when we lived in Bozeman. She is also a long time quilting friend; we belonged to the same quilt guild when I live in Bozeman.

Front row right: Diane is a truly dear friend. We met because of our children being in the same 1st grade class. She also lived close by to me; we would walk our kids to school along with our dogs. She is the one that got me started in quilting....I owe my quilting career to her. Diane was also very helpful to me when I was working on the Add-A-Quarter. We would walk the dogs and I would run ideas past her.

As you can see, I have some amazing friends in Bozeman. I could write a lot more about each and every one of them; they are all very dear to my heart!

The Patchworks has been sold several times since I worked there. It is currently called Main Street Quilting Company; the owner's name is Gwynn. She has the best selection of flannel that I have ever seen....it is Montana.

My friends Diane and Carol holding an Add-A-Quarter at the Main Street Quilting Company in Bozeman.

The Silver Thimble is owned by Libby. She is a fun loving person with a great shop. It is always fun to visit with Libby when we run into her at Quilt Market.

We did a day trip to Virginia City and Nevada City, and the weather was beautiful. Notice how blue the sky is in the pictures....that is why Montana is call "The Big Sky Country". Here are photos of some of the old buildings in Nevada City.

On our way back to Colorado we stopped in Buffalo, Wyoming. We stopped at the bar next to the Occidental Hotel, (for some lemonade, haha). The Occidental Hotel was built in 1880. The hotel manager was telling us stories that had happened in the hotel, very fascinating. If walls could talk.

There was a hole in the floor that the clientele could go through during prohibition. They would place a rug over the opening to hide the entrance. There were also sliding compartments under the bar to stash the liquor. She also spoke of ghosts in various rooms. Of course it was also a brothel during the early days.

In 1902, Owen Wister stayed at the Occidental when he wrote the book The Virginian. His room overlooks Main Street. They say there was a gun fight on Main Street and that is how he got his inspiration for the gun fight in the book.

Buffalo is also the home of Craig Johnson the author of the Longmire series. They even have a store front that has campaign posters for Walt Longmire for Sheriff.

They had a cute quilt shop, but we were not able to go in...it was Sunday.

We were having such a wonderful time we decided to spent the night. If you spend the night you are also able to look at the various rooms if they are open. It was like walking through a museum.

They had a box of various hats that we had to try on.

They could have used the Add-A-Quarter when making this quilt.

Hope you enjoyed traveling to Bozeman and other parts of Montana and Wyoming with me!

--Carolyn--