Monday, Back Home

Sew what's new?

A week away from home seems like a lifetime, even when I'm having a great time with best friends.

Time to play catch-up, and first on the agenda is an updated stash report.  I actually was very restrained in my shopping at and around Mountain Quilt Fest in Pigeon Forge.  (By the way, if you haven't been to MQF in a while, the new venue at LeConte Center is such an improvement!)

Back to shopping ... except for a yard here and there, and a 3-yard wide-back purchase, I stuck to fat quarters.  As I said in an earlier post, I am making a new class sample and I wanted to use "modern" fabrics which I don't have in my stash -- and I'm not sure I want them, either, so FQs was the way to go.

Modern Fat Quarters

I needed to keep the prints on the small side as my strips are only 1-1/2" wide.  And I was trying to stay in a color pallette taken from one or two focus fabrics.  I also had to make a field trip to the vendors to fill out fabric options in one of my classes.  Total purchases:  25.5 yards.

Speaking of classes, the teachers this year were outstanding, for the most part.  First up for me was "Split Geese" with Donna Thomas.

Split Geese missing corners

Donna was well-prepared and packed a lot into a half-day class.  My main reason for taking the class was to learn how to use her On-Point Ruler.  Granted, it wasn't really necessary for this particular block.  The value in the ruler is when you want to figure out how to make a block -- say, an antique block you see in an old quilt -- where some of the units are on point.  The ruler does the math for you!

Next day I learned how to combine piecing in log cabin blocks with Flavin Glover.  Not that I couldn't have figured it out for myself; I just had never looked at a log cabin that way.

Half log cabin blocks with 4-patch center

Flavin suggested I add the sashing and I added the cornerstone in the middle.  I am looking forward to making more of these blocks.  I'll probably set them in fours, like this, then sash the fours with something else.  I have had that sashing fabric forever but couldn't find a place to put it.  I mainly used it as my color inspiration but I'm loving how it looks.  Unfortunately I don't have a lot of it so this will be one of those quilts that's as big as the fabric allows.

I have to say that Flavin Glover is probably the most generous teacher I've ever had.  Besides being just a classy lady, she gave us loads of handouts for all sorts of possibilities.  Everyone was doing their own thing and she worked the room tirelessly.  If you have a chance to take a class with her, jump on it!  You won't be sorry.

That evening I had a class with a vendor -- not sure if it was just because I was exhausted or because it was basically an infomercial for her products .... 'Nuff said.

My last class was "Castle Wall" with Mickey Depre, another excellent teacher.

Partially finished Castle Wall block

I intentially booked a handwork class on the last day so that packing up would be easy.  Because the class was small, Mickey pulled several tables together so that we could sit around them and chat while we were doing our stitching.  I have both arthritis and carpal tunnel which makes handwork like this difficult, but I had no issues once I got the pieces traced on the fabric with the templates.  Maybe just because she made it such a relaxing experience.  I have selected fabrics for several more blocks and I'm looking forward to some slow stitching in the kitchen while I'm keeping an eye on dinner cooking.

Well, that was my week of classes.  But what's does a quilter do after a long day of class or walking the show floor?

She goes to Margaritaville!

Have a great week, Y'all!  Spring has sprung here in Middle Tennessee.


Weekly Stash Report - March 23, 2015
     In last week:                      25.5 yards
     Out last week:                     0.0 yards
     In year to Date:               51.25 yards
     Out Year-to-Date:           20.00 yards
     Net Used 2014                 31.25 yards (red means more in than out)

Linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times.