WINTER DAYS

 Like most of you in the US, this weekend finds us in the deep freeze. No walking for me for the next several days. No snow here, just sleet, freezing rain and temperatures below freezing for the next several days. At least we didn't get the 14" of snow first mentioned several days ago. Winter in the South.

So what to do? Put a pot of 15 Bean Soup in the slow cooker. Corn muffins will be made later:

Free motion quilt Diamond Jubilee, with a new ruler:

The only thing left is the borders

Wavy border straight line quilting

This is a terrific new ruler: STITCHLINE 1 QUILTING RULER designed and sold by my friend Geraldine Wilkins--no relation that we know of.  Watch her video at this link and you will want one too. It combines a channel for Stitch in the Ditch--a MUST for me, a long straight edge with needle stops at both ends AND a cool wavy edge that lets you make lots of great designs easily. In addition, there are lots of great reference lines built in that allow for less marking on the quilt itself. 

Her website and YouTube channel have good videos as she explains lots of important things to know about free motion quilting with rulers. If you want one of her brand new rulers, buy it from her-- shipping was reasonable and fast once she got them in stock. Tell her I sent you:

 

I haven't decided if I am going to do a cross hatch border--double the quilting--but I might. When all the first round is done I will decide. 

Spend a few hours with the hubby doing a jigsaw puzzle:

My “Will” Wilkins

A few days ago I had fun teaching THE VILLAGE at Southern Charm Quilting here at home. The students did well, most learned a few valuable tricks to improve and enjoy paper piecing:

Student work at the end of the class

I bet some of them are building more houses today

Class sample:

I hope you are warm and contentedly working on whatever brings you joy during this big storm week. How do you keep busy?

Let's quilt.

Barbara

Something Old, Something New

 Recently, I taught Smitten to several students at a local shop. I love teaching this quilt and loved making my own. The class sample:

A student who was in a class several years ago, made this beauty--shown here in my guild quilt show, a few weeks ago. Leigh did a wonderful job with her palette of soft fabrics:

Leigh's stunning Smitten

The Smitten printed pattern is no longer available anywhere that I could find. BUT the designer now has a downloadable PDF for sale and it is much better than the old printed pattern. Find it here: SunspellShop

Here is a bit of the students' work from the recent class:

Amanda and her blocks

Mazie's blocks

Terri's block

Laura's blocks

Linda's blocks

Holly’ blocks

Mary-Louise sent me this photo a few days after class. She said "I was determined Y-seams would not be the boss of me! Now I can do them." As I tell students--it's not HARD, it's just not FAST:

Next up for me is a Neutral Quilt--a new class sample that will feature a variety of Disappearing Nine and Four Patch blocks. The quilt can be made in any range of colors you prefer. I've been wanting to make a neutral quilt for a while so now is the time:

And these two AdventureLand quilts are almost finished. I saw the pattern on Instagram and bought the PDF pattern, find it here: Suzy Quilts. The pattern includes Twin and Double/Queen sizes also:

baby sizes, 40" square, Adventures by the Sea

Throw size 60' square--Adventure in Kaffe Land 

What are you working on? Do you prefer to finish a project before starting a new one? Not me, I have many in various stages of completion.

Let's quilt.

Barbara 

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

Teaching Beginning Quiltmaking

 At a local shop Sweet Home Quilting, I recently taught a 9 hour class for beginners. The project is fairly simple, and the 3 class sessions are about right for beginners to get the hang of making their first quilt. I call the class Learn to Quilt--the Basics, Fast and Fun:

39" x 48"

This time, I did session 1 and 2 in the same day--so the students had 6 hours of instruction the first day. For true beginners, just learning to cut fabric and the basics of piecing a block can take 3 hours--then it's time to pack up. This worked very well. Everyone got all the instruction they needed, as often as needed, and all went home the first day with at least 4 blocks complete. 

A week later they returned for the third session, 3 hours of instruction on how to finish their quilt--whether they will quilt it on their machine, will pay to have it longarm quilted, or will rent time on a longarm and quilt it that way. They also got detailed instruction on binding their quilt.

Four of the six students returned for the last class. The other two were unable to make it. Leila used luscious Cherrywood fabrics for her blocks. While not a true beginner, Leila knew she could benefit from learning tips and tricks and she was very pleased with her improvement in  piecing:

In the 3rd session we also discuss selecting borders that really add a great touch to the quilt. This Kaffe Fassett fabric is absolutely perfect for Leila's blocks and navy sashing:

Betsy chose a beautiful, soft palette and made several sets of blocks at home. She has just ordered a brand new Bernina 770 sewing machine and is eager to step up her quiltmaking a notch when it arrives: 

I have taught almost 2000 beginner students over the past 35 years. Many of them make beautiful first quilts in the classes, quilts that impress me with their workmanship or color choices, or a design element added.  I am not usually totally gobsmacked by a student's quilt but Ida did that. 

I love everything about this quilt. She chose a line of fabric, so everything blends nicely. But it is her choice of a small print for the sashing and the geometric outer border that just did it for me. Remember when we learned "you don't wear stripes with polka dots"?  It's kind of like that for me--my sashings tend to be solids. Ida used a lovely small vine-like print for her sashings. Then she knocked it out of the park with the terrific geometric print for the outer border. To cut that accurately, she had to cut one layer at a time--she figured that out on her own. Great job, Ida!:

A close-up: 

I love teaching beginners or those who are learning on their own and want to enjoy the process more by being more successful in their efforts. Now I look forward to seeing these lovely women again in future classes.

Let's quilt.

Barbara

Love Beginning Quilters

 I just finished teaching a 3 week Learn to Quilt--Fast and Fun class locally. We had 11 students, about half of whom were totally new to quilting. The class was  held at Sweet Home Quilting.

My sample gives you the idea--simple 9-patch blocks, the basics of Cutting, Sewing and Pressing, and then how to assemble a quilt top, and the basics of how to complete the quilt, whether you want to quilt it yourself or "quilt by checkbook"--i.e., pay someone to quilt it for you:

Approx. 38" x 48"

The students who attended the last class are on their way:

Mother/Daughter team Tori showing hers

Tori showing her mom's Inez

Kim is making a bed size for her son

Pat was told what colors to use for this baby quilt

Shelia made great strides in class

Joyce loves playing with bright fabrics

I can always tell a class is successful when the students all say "What's your next class?" I showed them several options I am thinking of offering in a couple months and there was great interest. Love to see the excitement in a new quilter as she realizes "I can DO that!"

Let's quilt.

Barbara

Teaching Locally

Since I am home for a while, before a busy travel schedule begins, I have several local classes.

The other day I taught Smitten to 4 quilters:

My Sample

Blocks on the wall at the end of the day

Trish

Karen

Robin

Carolyn

They enjoyed learning that Y seams aren't HARD, they are just not FAST.

On President's Day, I taught Patriotic Pineapples to 8 students:

Blocks on the wall at the end of the day

They used either the Pineapple Trim Tool ruler from Creative Grids OR the Trash to Treasure Ruler from Gyleen Fitzgerald--both make 8" Pineapple blocks, with 1" finished logs. Each person learned how to use the ruler she brought to class.  

In the afternoon, I showed them how to paper piece the block, if they wanted to. Some had never tried paper piecing before so it was something new to learn. Most kept going with regular piecing and their ruler--the second block comes together much faster than the first.

It was interesting to me that several students had wanted to make a Pineapple quilt for years and either had not started yet or could not understand the instructions with their ruler or pattern. Having a class available made it the right time for these quilters to start this project. Great quilts in the making.

The REAL reason I offered this class is to force me to get back to my Patriotic Pineapple quilt, that WILL be finished this year:

Only 46 blocks to go...

Coming up soon locally is my favorite class to teach: Antique Rose Star by Machine. I teach this all over the country to large classes and we have such a great time:

March 7 and 21, 2020, Huntsville Sew Creative. If you are local, please don't miss this opportunity--this is the only time I will offer this class this year locally. You will be amazed at what you learn and how easy these blocks, with 72 pieces in each, can be to make.

Let's quilt!

Barbara