Mountain Quiltfest - Final Report

Classes and more

I only took two classes this year.  The first was a bag class and, unfortunately, it left a lot to be desired.  Let me stress, that this is NOT typical of the classes at Mountain Quiltfest or the staff at the LeConte Center.  It was more due to the circumstances than anything else.

First, the center staff weren't aware they needed to reset the room from concert to classroom between sessions so we got a late start.  And the box of kits hadn't been delivered to the room so the teacher did her best to talk us through the first steps without any props.  When the box did arrive, the choice of kits was spectacular, everything was included, and all the parts were pre-cut!  But, the pattern was a bit confusing, the fusible Bonsal didn't fuse, and my lightweight travel machine did not like sewing on the Bonsal AT ALL.

Nevertheless, I got this far in 3 hours:

Pretty side

Zipper side

Lined pocket

I still need to finish the sides which I think includes trimming and finishing the zippers.  If I were to make this bag again, I would use a beefier machine, make sure I had a zipper foot, and I would use a softer interfacing.  Those of you who have made bags, what type of interfacing would you recommend?

The second class was Jenn's Journey, a play on Storm at Sea.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, I "cheated" by using parts from a similar abandoned project.  I spoke to the teacher in her booth before the class and told her what I was doing, that I was confident in what I was doing, and I would do my best to lay low and not confuse the others.

The snail's trail blocks went together without incident and I was happy I had not invested in the $50 set of rulers.  (Although I did get a smaller version of one of the rulers that will help with Economy blocks and pineapples.)

Jenn's Journey - one quadrant

I am not totally happy with the diamond fabric; I may dig further through my stash for something more interesting, although seeing it in the picture it is growing on me.  I am just doing a wall hanging/table topper so the snails are done.  It will be surrounded with the diamonds and SnSs.

On the shopping front I was very reserved.  After the kids left on Tuesday, I drove back to Gatlinburg to visit Susan's Mountain Stitches.  She always has great deals during Quiltfest and I took advantage of the $2 FQs and a sweet quick quilt pattern.

I invested in one of Cindy (The Math Whisperer) Williams' fabulous manuals.

It is loaded with ideas for settings and borders and she does all the math!

I added three Studio 180 (Deb Tucker) patterns.  I have already pulled fabric for Mandala!

My big splurge was this panel that I purchased from Dizzy Divas (Knoxville).  I plan to use it in a panel One Block Wonder class later this summer.

Why was it a splurge?  Because I had to buy 7 to do the OBW!  I am so excited to see how this will work out.  Now what to do with the other 2 panels x 7 that I bought online ... wonder if I can return them ... hmmm...

All-in-all Mountain Quiltfest was a blast.  It gets better every year and I hope to be going back next year.  See you there?