Design Wall Monday, October 17

I got home yesterday, and was pretty tired. I wasn't up to much last evening, I just knitted for a while, had a nap, took a really long bath, knitted a while more, and went to bed. Wild party animal, that's me ;-)

Today my design wall is sporting the two blocks I got started on from the Improvisational Adventure Quilt class I took on Friday. I'm not sure how much I'll work on these this week, but I'm leaving them up on the design wall because I enjoy looking at them and pondering what comes next.



Check out Judy's blog, to see what other quilters have on their design walls. Thanks for stopping by to play. Come back again soon.

Friday's and Saturday's Projects

I only slept for about 2 hours on Thursday night, so Friday evening I wasn't up to writing a post. So now I'll share what I did the last two days of the show.

In my Mariner's Compass class, I got the arcs pieced (the round part is in quarters) and the center circle applique prepared. I still need to cut the background and piece the arcs into it, then applique the center into place, add borders, and then it'll be a quilt top:


In the Improvisational Adventure Quilt class, we started some log cabin variation blocks. I got a good start on two blocks, and made some other units, but didn't get pictures of them yet. I'll post them later -- maybe on Monday for Design Wall Monday ;-)


This next thing seems like a cross between a poncho and a shawl -- a ponchawl? a shawncho? The teacher/designer called it the Suzanne Wrap, which may be the easiest way to refer to it. So, here's my Suzanne Wrap:

The color's off on that -- it's actually a pretty sage green color, not gray as it seems in the photo.

Yesterday I had one class scheduled in the morning, and one in the afternoon. The morning class was another class with Debby Kratovil, called "Sugarloaf Jewels." Unfortunately, I overslept and missed it. I woke up just in time to throw on clothes, rush over to the Expo Center and pick up my kit. So that picture will be coming later.

In the afternoon, I had a class with Connie Spurlock called "Don't Get Caught in a Bind," which was about different ways to bind and otherwise finish your quilts. This class was hands-on, and first we learned how to do straight-of-grain binding on right angles:

then on angles greater than 90 degrees:

then we learned how to do ruffles:

and Prairie Points:

and bias binding, and how to apply it to a round shape:


and finally, I used bias binding to make this eyeglass holder:

I did one make-it-and-take-it at the show, at the Sew Artfully Yours booth. I silkscreened a leaf on one end of this hand-dyed silk scarf, and needlepunched assorted fibers on the other end:


Right now, I'm getting ready to head for home. Thanks for coming by to play. Come back again soon.

Here Are Thursday's Class Projects!

In the morning, I took a class from a woman named Barb Callahan. We each got two vintage hankies, to make two "flower" pins. She had a lot of floral and other print hankies, but I chose simpler ones -- one a white linen with a pretty green crocheted edging, and the other a white linen with a subtle tone-on-tone embroidery motif in the corners, and hemstitching along the sides. I made these pins:


Then in the afternoon, in a class taught by Debbie Kratovil and starting from a precut kit, I got this far on my Storm at Sea quilt:

As you may be able to tell, the blocks and units are joined in rows, but I haven't gotten the rows sewn together. It'll also get a border. The center will finish to about 35" square, and then it'll get roughly 4" finished borders.

Last evening, I learned about hand piecing. The instructor, a woman named Marty Moon, called the class "Portable Piecing." Here's what I got done:

The color's really off on this -- the center square is purple solid, the triangles are a raspberry solid, the border strips are navy solid, and the cornerstones are a pretty teal solid. There are still outer border strips, in a dark green solid, which I haven't gotten to yet. I seem to recall that this will finish to something like 17" square, but don't quote me. Anyhow, it's around that size.

It was a full and enjoyable day -- three good classes, and some time to shop and enjoy the show.

Today's classes are going to be fun, too. I'm taking two quilting classes from Debby Kratovil, who also taught the Storm at Sea class. The first is Mariner's Compass. I've made several of these before, but I'm always up for learning new techniques, and I really like Debby and the classroom environment she fosters, so I'm looking forward to this! Then in the afternoon, Debby will be teaching an Improvisational Adventure Quilt. I took her "No Sneaky-Peeky Improvisational Quilt" class last year, and enjoyed the whole process quite a bit. This time the class is sort of a follow-up to that one, with different techniques. I'm really, really looking forward to that one as well! Debby is the designer who has been patterning the Gee's Bend quilts for Wyndham Fabrics. Then in the evening, I'm taking a class from Emma Seabrooke called "The Suzanne Wrap." It starts with two rectangles of fabric, and its serged. I don't know what to think about this one, but I'm looking forward to it because it seems like it's based on a clever concept, and I always love to learn more clever concepts! ;-)

Thanks for stopping by to play. Come back again soon.

More the Day Before

Greetings from Kansas City, MO! Yesterday I took two classes, both of which were for table runners. That's a bit ironic, as I normally never make table runners, because it's something neither I nor anyone I know uses. I signed up for the classes, hoping to simply end up with blocks that I could use in a different way than as a table runner.

In the morning, I took a class from a woman named Kim Montagnese, from Amherst Ohio, called "Flashing Fins." I'm still feeling a bit under the weather, so I'm pacing myself a bit, and during this morning's class, I just listened, read through the pattern, and made sure I understood the concepts. Then I went back to my room and took a nap. So at the moment, I have nothing of my own to show, but here are her blocks that she had in class:




Our kit is to make two blocks, and I'm planning to either make more blocks to make a quilt, or use those two blocks as sort of "orphan blocks," and set them together in a sampler or random kind of quilt. I'm sure you'll be seeing those pictures eventually. Back in my room in the evening, I did trace the shapes I needed onto Do-Sew, but I want to do the sewing at home, in my own space.

Then in the afternoon, I took a class from Connie Spurlock, of Coeur d'Alene, ID, called Turkey Trot. Here's a picture of the sample of the class project:


I got my turkey appliques made, and I've decided I'm going to applique them to tea towels when I get home. So for now, they're as far along as I can get them. Aren't they cute?:


I'll post pictures again when these turn into actual finished projects. For now, they can stay as they are. Today the show opens -- I have a little time in the morning, and a few hours in the afternoon when I'll be able to shop and/or do make-it-and-take-it projects. Today's classes are a bit of a mixed bag -- I'll be making a beaded flower pin from a hankie, working on a Storm at Sea quilt (from a precut kit, yay!), and learning hand piecing. Pictures of the results of those classes tomorrow!

Thanks for stopping by to play. Come back again soon.