Tuesday, January 30, 2007

yooper quilt girls

On the Moda pattern, Parasols in the Park one of my students was able to get all 12 points to meet neatly in the middle by pressing open her wedge seams and doing a bit of trimming. Thinking on your feet and improvising is key to making your creative endeavors a success. I was happy to see a student think outside the box and to be able to share that with everyone else.
The "I spy" class was canceled due to a scheduling conflict. This happened to also be the same night as our elementary schools annual "variety show". An "extra" class will be added to the end to make up for this lost time. The next "I spy" class should see students with nearly all the fabrics collected that they will need to finish a quilt. We will have had nearly 3 months of time to gather the necessary novelty fabrics. If you are still finding yourself short, please check the "free box" at Brambleberries for what you may need. This is a give and take box so please contribute a novelty at least 5"x5" for each piece of fabric that you take.
As I mentioned in an earlier post I have plans for a Circle quilt. This is not set in seams, it will be following "Easy Bias-Covered Curves" by Wendy Hill, look for this book at Brambleberries, it is required for the class that is offered as a one day event in March.
Now without having run this blog by Vicki x 2 and Deana, I must add here that this my own personal blog not endorsed in any way by Brambleberries Inc. Nor are any of my own opinions shared here by the above mentioned shop and its owners. The same can be said for The Piecemaker's Quilt Guild.
Our next guild meeting is coming up soon. It is a "business" meeting with much to discuss. Don't want to leave the planning for the annual show to the last minute. LOL.

Thursday, January 11, 2007

My perimenopausal quilting day

Oh my, I had my birthday, and low and behold I am now 42. I have had a rotten time of it trying to get some decent sleep at night. This leaves me too tired to get motivated durring the day.
The whining aside, I did manage to get some chores done today, all the Christmas decor is put away, dog is washed, dried and brushed...this being no small task as she is a St. Barnard.
My quilt projects for the year are already standing in line.... classes to teach, samples to make, and a quilt show to help organize and impliment. I aught to stop raising my hand to volunteer for things.
I am excited however about getting to some quilt ideas bouncing around in my head. I have found a new love, circles! Gosh cant hardly wait to get started on that. If the quilt comes out as well as I hope it will, this will be my "fair quilt". I recently purchased a book on bias-covered curves by: Wendy Hill. This book is great! I love her style of writing, very assessable, not pretensious. The instructions are clear and illustrated. So if this is a book review, I give her a thumbs up!
Am also working on a pattern "parisoles in the park" and dispite several tries at the parisole block am unable to get the points to meet neatly in the center. This block is pie-shaped with 12 "wedges". The wedges are cut with one side on the bias. I have taken my time with this, being carefull not to push or pull the fabric out of alignment durring sewing and carefull pressing, still not quite getting it right. Ah but I will doggedly try yet again.
It features the Sonet fabric collection by Moda, which I must say are quite delish! Loads of browns, oranges, and some of that turquios-y blue reminisent of the 70's. This line was designed by April Cornell, love it April!
Found a church pot luck recipe book at "Crossings" book club. This is indeed a must get for me as we have a large social after every Sunday service. Once I recieve it I will let you know if it works for me. If you are looking for a large selection of Christian reading material I would suggest you check out the site. They have titles for everyone. I have been very pleased with the service as well.
That is it for today. Just a note that the Northwoods of Michigan's Upper peninsula did get some snow. Not much and tempuratures did come down a bit, I beleive that we are a ways from the lakes being all that safe yet. Let it freeze some more.