Student Work and Class Offerings

 I spent some time with students last week at Sweet Home Quilting, a local quilt shop and INNOVA dealer.

In the morning, the monthly lecture/demo class met for Color My World. This runs all year, and allows those making the 2021 Block of the Month quilt for The Quilt Show to show off their progress in person and get specific help as needed. Great ideas come from this sharing experience.

Cyndi always has good ideas and she adapted the Little House in the City pattern to have fewer seams in the background. In the lower portion, she combined sections 1, 2 and 3 first, then added the one piece of background to either side. Very clever: 

On the left, is the original pattern, blocks made by my friend Pam. On the right are Cyndi's blocks, before the trees are added. 

Cyndi's Tall Buildings, ready for the Little Houses to be sewn in  place:

Paula's progress, made completely from silk, a lot of garment remnants and ties: 

As every fabric is interfaced, it's quite heavy: 

Beverly is making progress:

Beverly got help designing the Saturn V rocket pattern that is a highly recognizable landmark in Huntsville, AL. The pattern was the 2016 Row by Row block from Patches & Stitches, another local quilt shop. They still have this pattern available for sale:

By increasing the diagram on the pattern above by 200%, Beverly has an almost perfect size paper pattern. Here you see the original full size design and the design area for the Corner Skyscraper: 

For those looking for Lighthouses,  the Washington Monument, Windmills, etc.,  first search online for such patterns. You may find exactly what you are looking for and will only have to adjust for the size needed. The Seattle Space Needle is very similar to the Centrepoint Tower which will be provided November 1--it would be very easy to change the shape at the top of that pattern to create your own version of the Space Needle.

Mary-Louise hasn't let some medical issues keep her from making progress:

I have seen several photos of fussy cutting cute things in the windows and doors of these buildings:

In the afternoon, six students gathered to learn how to make Scrappy Trips,  a free pattern from Bonnie Hunter, available here, on her blog  This is Bonnie's version--I love that green border: 

A quick description of how to select fabrics, the size to cut, and how to get started had everyone ready to begin: 

Each student quickly got the hang of it and blocks started to  appear: 

In less than 3 hours each person had two blocks done, or very close, and declared this a great "scrap buster" quilt. It is good for donation quilts, or a Girl Scout/Boy Scout project or to teach someone who wants to learn the basics of making pieced blocks without much stress: 

Sadly, I had to cancel two local classes recently, due to lack of interest. If you are not interested in taking a local class at this time, I would like to know why. Some  have really gotten used to sewing at home, taking ZOOM classes. Some are not ready to gather in public spaces yet.  Maybe it's just lack of sufficient advertising. 

The classes were good ones I was eager to offer locally, and the couple people who signed up were disappointed the classes were canceled. I will try one of them again locally next year but the other will not be offered again as the sample quilt is a gift for a friend and I won't own it any more.

The one I will offer again, Charming Sampler, uses 5" charm packs and teaches a LOT of tricks for making 4 different blocks quickly, as well as paper piecing for those who want to give that a go. I also sneak in some "quilters math" on how to make these same blocks larger than the 3" used here. It has been a successful class the previous times I've taught it:

As I am starting to travel to teach again, there will be less time to offer local classes. If you see a class you are interested in locally, mine or other teachers', sign up or perhaps miss the chance on that project. This is true for all shops/guilds--support them when they provide learning opportunities whenever you can.

Let's quilt.

Barbara

Summer Samples

I love teaching quiltmaking to interested students.  And I'm always looking for good classes to offer, those that teach a skill or a particularly great quilt design.  Here are my Summer 2016 local classes at Patches & Stitches.   NOTE:  Sign-ups are not open yet--I'll let you know when that happens--some time in April probably.  This is so you can plan:

Strippy Stars, 44" square

This uses a great little Creative Grids ruler and makes those sharp points easy.  They also float which is a bonus when adding borders.  A great Quilt of Valor, baby quilt, or holiday quilt in your choice of fabrics.  Saturday June 25, 1-4 p.m.

Paper Piecing--Learn to Sew Upside Down and Backwards

Paper piecing is a skill set most quilters try and some find very difficult.  Learn how to make it easy. Saturday July 9, 1-4 p.m.

Hexie Stars

Learn to hand piece or English Paper Piece these cute 6" stars.  A great way to decide if you really want to make a bed-size  La Passacaglia quilt--which is quite a commitment of time and money.  Try this FIRST! Tuesday June 7, 5:30-8:30.   I'll be teaching this at Open Studios at Quilt Festival Chicago, next month.

Smitten

Nice big pieces make this fun quilt easy to sew by machine or hand or my favorite method:  hybrid, some of each.  Saturday June 25, 9-noon and July 9, 9-noon.  A much easier version of the La Pass or New Hexagon style quilts.  And with pieces cut it's the perfect take-along project for summer travels.

String Stars

Use those small leftover pieces, strings, to make a 12" Lemoyne Star block.  Learn to sew on paper foundations then learn the simple steps to Y-seam piecing that block.  It doesn't have to be hard. Tuesday July 12. 5:30-8:30.  Another Open Studios demo class in Chicago in April.

Here are two more I'm thinking of offering--if either of these are classes you would sign up for, please comment below and share this post with your friends--guessing which classes you want isn't as good as your feedback is:

Antique Rose Star--hand or machine piece, your choice

Scrappy Trips--very easy and a great stash-buster.

Now to get the supply lists ready.  It takes more than making a sample to prep for teaching classes--you might be surprised at the behind-the-scenes work involved.

Let's quilt!

Barbara

Might Be Done...

This Scrappy Trip might be done--it's 48" square and that just might be enough.

 

There are lots of groups working on these fun and fast Trip Around the World quilts.  There are Flickr Scrappy TripAlong groups with lots of photos and the pattern is a free one from Bonnie Hunter.  A fun way to use up scraps. 

My next project will be to add a few borders to this little gem: 

It's the latest round robin I am in with my 2 best quilting friends--this center was made by Ellen and I get it first to do with as I please.  We bought our fabrics at Paducah in April, all different and there aren't any rules--we can do what we want for the center and the other two can add whatever kind of borders they want.  Stay tuned to see what I do with this.  And, of course, my center block hasn't even been figured out yet--love my fabrics but no idea what I want to make for the center.  Here are my fabrics:

 

 

Check out Judy L's blog to see what others are doing.

 

Let's Quilt!

 

Barbara

Too Many Irons?

I am often asked how I get so much done.  That's ironic, since I feel like I don't get enough done! 

Maybe it's because I have too many irons in the fire?  Thought you'd like to see a shot of my current design wall:

At quick count I can see 6 works in progress--and at least 2 more that are covered up by the Small Feathers quilt and one that's in the basket.  Grandmother's Choice is almost done--only 2 blocks left, then borders and it's fini!

Some are hand pieced, some hand appliqued--they just go on until I decide they are done.  The Scrappy Trip Around the World was a class sample--class is over so I'll work on that as a "leader/ender" project until it's the size it wants to be. 

There is another "leader/ender" project to the left of the Scrappy Trip--it is lots of four-patches--1" finished size.  First there are 4 of them in a block with 1" sashing, then 4 of those become an 11" block, then 4 of THOSE become a 23" block--those are joined with 2" wide dark teal sashing and cheddar cornerstones.  This will be a special birthday quilt for my sister and is half done so far.  I have another couple years to get it done but think I'll try to wrap it up this year--I'm getting tired of all those little 1" squares!

Today I'm off to Long Beach, CA for the Summer Quilt Festival there.  I work for Quilts Inc in the Education department and look forward to these shows every year.  It's our last visit to Long Beach--next summer there will be a great new show in Portland, OR.  I will get to see my wonderful longarm quilter friend, Pamela Joy Spencer Dransfeldt, this Saturday when she and her husband Steve come to the show. 

Do you think I'd get more done if I stuck with one project until it's done?  Is that how YOU work?  I don't think I'd be able to do that--more is better for me. 

For more inspiration check out Judy L's Design Wall Monday blog.

Let's quilt!

Barbara