Quilt sandwich = almost a finished quilt!

Lorraine's More Peas in a Pod

 Five of the new quilters met Thursday night to layer or sandwich their quilts. It was fun seeing their finished tops and helping them sandwich them for tying.

Marguerite's More Peas in a Pod

They learned that even though they are tying these quilts, they would use the same method to secure the layers if they were hand or machine quilting with their home machines (with the addition of more hand basting). We also talked about prepping for someone to long arm machine quilt their quilts. After pinning heavily, we basted the outside edges for security and ease when adding the binding.

Pat's More Peas in a Pod

 They didn't have much time for tying, but will work on that this week. We meet again Thursday night to make and sew on the binding.

Trish's More Peas in a Pod

 It's fun to see them almost finished. They are already talking about the next quilt...yep, they're quilters all right!

Anita's More Peas in a Pod

 I added Crystal's layering picture again as she is part of this group and I wanted her in this post as well. I will add Myneeka's also when she gets to this point.

Crystal's More Peas in a Pod

Whole lotta sewing going on....

It's been a busy month of classes...I've been working with beginners as well as starting 3 new Sampler/Fun Clubs last week. The 2nd Tuesday Fun Club is working on a Log Cabin quilt using the Eleanor Quilt in a Day book and method. They worked on getting their First Light and First Dark sewn on all of the blocks. Nancy is starting with blues...

Martha with yellows...There are some really pretty fabrics, which will make gorgeous quilts.

Nancy is making the bag, so she only needs one block for it. She is ready to start assembling the bag now.

Shirley can't join the group this time, but tried making a few blocks too. Look at those reds, blacks and whites! They really pop!

Debi's reproduction fabrics are looking good, with the red in the middle for heart of the home.

Debi also showed us her Circle and Spin to the Moon, back from the quilter. Very pretty!

Circle and Spin to the Moon

Pat came and made up class 2 of the Beginning Quilting More Peas in a Pod. It's looking great! Most of that class will be coming tonight to layer, pin and tie their quilts. 

Michael took his finished Bluebird quilt to CUAQ Therapy last week for show and tell. Wowser! Can't wait to see it quilted and finished!

The Wednesday Fun Club also decided to do the Log Cabin the Quilt in a Day way, so it will be fun to see both groups work through their fabric rounds towards a finished quilt.

Linda loves green! Me too!

Marta chose more traditional reproduction fabrics with dark centers...do you know what that means?

Crystal is part of the beginners group and came to layer, pin and tie her quilt Monday night. It's a big class so hard for them to do it all at the same time.

Myneeka came as well and finished her  blocks. Now to get them sewn together!

My daughter, Wendy, started a More Peas in a Pod quilt recently too and came to work on her blocks with the others. She has her blocks completed as well, though I didn't take a picture of them. 

Here is a picture of a couple of her blocks.

It's been fun this month helping people start new projects and finish their first project. Pictures from tonight's class soon.

Beginners coming along strong!

 The beginners got their quilt centers put together yesterday and started the borders. They learned measuring is very important to border attachment. It's always fun to see their quilts come together and enjoy all of the different fabrics and colors they put together.

 Everyone was certain that they could finish the 2nd border on their own before the next class. One of them asked if this quilt could be made bigger by making more blocks and I said yes it would be easy to do. She said "not that I'm thinking about the next quilt, really." I loved it, because she was actually thinking about the next quilt while still working on the first one. Yep she's a quilter!

One of the gals missed the first class, so came yesterday to begin her quilt. She is coming tomorrow night to work on it some more!

 A little excitement for me...my quilt, Fragments,  hanging with the rest of the Quilters Quilt the Blues exhibit at the Original Sewing and Quilt Expo in Atlanta GA this weekend. (The pic was on their Facebook page.) It will continue to travel with the OSQE shows throughout this year. If you happen to go to one of these shows, please take a pic of it for me! It will be in Lakeland, FL next weekend.

Fragments, second row from bottom of pic, 2nd quilt from the left.

Spring break, a new machine and a new quilt

I was off for a few days this week for spring break. It was great...I got caught up on a few things at home and finished this Wonky Rail Fence quilt from the book Cultural Fusions Quilts. Love how these blocks are cut with motion and are very wonky when finished. I had a hard time deciding on a layout, so incorporated two from the book in my finished quilt. I'll be teaching this technique at Cut Up and Quilt in April.

I used batiks for this one, but think it would be gorgeous in Moda Grunge. I might have to make another one!

I also got a "new to me" Bernina sewing machine over the weekend, so used it to finish the quilt. Love how it sews and it fits into my reconstructed cabinet. My singer had issues a few months ago and I have been using a machine I was given several years ago and take back and forth to classes to use for demos.  I've been meaning to take the Singer in to see what's wrong with it, but haven't gotten that far yet. I'm not sure it will be worth fixing if it's the computer that has the problem. Anyway, it's fun to have a new machine to sew on!

Stringpiecing fun

 There was a lot of stringpiecing fun going on last Saturday during the Stringpiecing Extravaganza. The quilters could choose which stringpiecing design they wanted to make, learning how to make all three in the process. Elsie wanted to make the Tangled in the Kite Strings version, using her batik scraps. Very vibrant beginnings!

Tangled in the Kite Strings (available on Craftsy)

 Bettie and Karen liked the Corner the Stringpiecing Market the best, and make some good progress on their quilts.

Corner the Stringpiecing Market (available by contacting me

I did a demo on making the Summer Fun Stringpiecing quilt as well, so they would be able to make that one at a later date. This one incorporates pieced hexagons with whole hexagons and is great fun. 

Summer Fun (will be on Craftsy soon)

Bettie also brought her Bluebird quilt to show and have quilted at Cut Up and Quilt. She used all scraps!

Bettie's scrappy Bluebird quilt

I spent some time yesterday working on a new quilt from the Cultural Fusions book...love how these blocks are turning out! I'm combining 2 layouts into one, as I liked them both and think it will look awesome. (Ok, maybe I couldn't decide between them either.) I love free cutting, and this book lets us do just that.

Wonky Rail Fence blocks

 I have 3 days off from school this week for spring break so plan on sewing up a storm!