Smoky Mountain Getaway

My trip to the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina for the Quilt Symposium was uneventful. Thank goodness the grief began on the way home with a storm in Atlanta that delayed my trip 6 hours. Good thing I really like Airports. I think I get it from having grown up near one. We would often walk up to the park to watch the planes land.

  The symposium itself was wonderful. Over 300 beautiful quilts, 20 vendors and a few hundred quilters.  I was lucky to get these three pictures from my Thirtysomething class.  My camera has been acting up for a few weeks, so I will be getting a new camera in the near future.  I hope I have these projects identified correctly. The one above was by Kathi Culler.

The next one is by Judy  Slater. And the bottom one by Diane Berdis. I really liked that the gals chose some of the options I presented. I like to think of my designs as suggestions. There was alot of talk in both classes about "the next one I make like this" So with any luck they'll send me jpegs.
Students promised to send me pictures from the Infinite Stars workshop, too. Some of the gals stayed up till midnight finishing their stars.
After 5 days, it was good to get home. I have been watering the gardens all day today, it's been so dry. Otherwise things are the same as always. Love it.
 

Sew much for setting goals

 The girls are here for quilting Thursdays this spring.  Sue finished her triple 4-patch using my fabric. She is thinking maybe she will quilt this one next winter (always by hand) and piece another one this spring. I hope so.

 Shaggy brought along this tablerunner.  She made it several years ago for a challenge we had. The only rules of the challenge I remember were to use the scraps from the small boxful I gave them and that they could add at least one more fabric. I remember being careful to pack brights in her box, but I was really surprised when she produced this. I guess it is still waiting for quilting, but at least it is basted. I won't always have photos of everyone's work because really this is my blog.
 

Nothing from me this week. I had to do some cleaning at my people's houses and I forget what else. I guess the goals I set for myself last week didn't help me at all. They weren't even successful at making me feel bad for not working towards them. I attempted to work on some of those projects I thought I could finish quickly, but with one, I couldn't locate more of the matching fabric I needed. Don't know how that happened cause I am so organized. And with the other project I picked up to work on. Well, I cut the pieces too small. Sooo, I put them away and dinked around with some ideas for another quilt.

Then I went shopping and ended up at the quilt shops in Milton and Janesville. I guess those are the places to go around here if you like the Civil War reproduction type. Which I do. And I don't get there often enough. Does that give you the idea that I spent $. Well, I had a good time and I had to replace the fabric Sue used, right?

Thursday's meeting at Benny's was well attended but the shop will now be called Quilt's 'n Such. I was a little distracted that day because my daughter was having surgery. She is home now and doing fine.

 This is Sue's quilt in progress. She was required to bring it for show and tell the other night when she called at 9 pm looking for more fabric. Since she knows I am up till midnight she didn't hesitate to call. I was surprised because she is one of those early to bed early to rise kinda girls. My fabric is looking pretty good there, I'd say.  I guess I arranged the blocks wrong, but she liked it and might not set it barn raising style after all.

It was sure nice to attend a quilt show in winter. The Winter Quilt Show was a little small as show's go, but otherwise had everything you could want in a show - a bunch of free lectures and lots of vendors. My Sweet Pepper class Friday was not well attended. This was the 3rd year of the show and the first time classes were offered on Friday. The gals in class did an excellent job however not all wanted to share photos. This work is by Melissa followed by blocks from her friend Sue and another Gail.

 

I didn't get any sewing done this weekend with Mark home. But it was still nice out and we went for several walks and discovered a huge patch of Bittersweet vines growing along a path I've hiked often in the past. Sue was over today for even more fabric (She always makes big quilts.) and a walk to see the Bittersweet.  While she was here I cut and organized my 1800's scraps for a couple more kits. Now I don't know what to work on next because I have so many ideas started. Maybe it is time to make another list, that always helps me to prioritize. Quilting at church tomorrow and Joy is bringing a quilt for the long arm on Wed.  Busy, busy, ain't that grand?

Quilting Season

I'm still enjoying this unusually mild winter and getting a good walk in on most days. I also enjoyed finding this picture in my in-box from Claudette Males of a quilt she started in a class she took with me in Cincinnati. The class was Kissing Cousins from my Thirtysomething book. It's always fun to see different fabrics used for the same pattern and no where is it easier or more fun than in a class.She did a great job.

This weekend is the Winter Quilt Show  north of Milwaukee near Jackson and sponsored by Material Matters of Cedarburg. There's classes, free lectures, lots of vendors and quilts. The weather should be good so I am expecting you to go. I'll be teaching, be sure to say hi.  There is also a new Wisconsin Quilt History Museum in Cedarburg. Maybe it would be a good time to go for some of you. I will be too busy.

There's a meeting at Benny's tomorrow and I haven't made my block yet, so I am off to do that now - maybe.
Have a good one.

Super Students

I love it when students share the completed quilts that they have made from my classes. Especially since I am not too good about remembering to bring my camera to classes. Sue stepped out of her comfort zone when she chose the fabric for this quilt. She did a super job as always.
Rita designed this quilt after taking a series of Thirtysomething classes with me a year and a half ago. Rita enjoyed the techniques so much she also made this Thirtysomething medallion as a wedding quilt for a granddaughter.


I'm glad to show their quilts especially since I haven't taken any photos lately. I keep forgetting to get new batteries for the camera. I did decide to add a border to the log cabin quilt. So once that is washed and attached I can show you that. My history suggests that could be a few years though. It's was kinda hard for me when I didn't need it for anything. Maybe now with the blog I will be better at completing the tops.

Quilting at church yesterday. Lots of great show and tell and no camera as ususal. Some of those pieces will surface again when the quilting is done. Maybe I can get a shot then.
Thanks for stopping by. Sew long for now.

Wedding quilt plans

I helped a student plan a medallion quilt today using my Thirtysomething technique. The pattern for the central portion is in my book, Thirtysomething. I suggested in the book that I thought it would make a great center for a medallion. I guess Rita thought so too.  It turned out pretty good. This is an Electric Quilt drawing. What a great piece of software. It saved me at least a full week of work on the book I am working on compared to the software I used before.

Our church Raffle quilt is coming along slowly. It happens every year when four of our members fly south for the winter. That is okay. There is plenty of time to finish it. I have it all spread out on the flannel wall so A: I can show you the progress and B: so it is easier to organize it to get finished later.








My scraps are piling up, so I'll plan to work on them next.  I will have to show you how I organize them and get back to you on that.

Thanks for stopping by. Sew Long.