Curvelicious!

 Yesterday's Circle and Spin class was so much fun. Even though we had snow and bitterly cold temps in the forecast, these hearty quilters came out to learn a new technique! We took it step by step and in no time we had some curvelicious blocks!

 Once they got started, there was no stopping them! Sandy chose earth tones for her quilt....we loved it when she added the gold in her second set of blocks. She had some rivery looking blues too.

Cindy chose Americana fabrics she had in her stash....she commented that every time she glanced at her red plaid it looked like ants on a tablecloth, so we renamed her quilt "Ants Across America". If you click on the second pic, I think you will see that it's actually stars! 

 Do they look like ants to you? We liked the interest the teal colored fabric added to the mix...you never really know what will happen until you put them together!

 Paula chose batiks for hers. They are stunning colors of greens, blues and purples. She chose one batik  she loved and built her fabric choices around them.

 Luscious! It was a fun day of sewing and chatting and the snow didn't start until late afternoon so everyone could drive home safely. I did make them promise to show me their finished quilts before they left....

I have lots of odds and ends to do today, among them cleaning (ugh), redoing a graphic on a pattern and loading the mystery quilt on the quilting machine. I need to get it quilted! Sounds like it will be a great day to stay inside since it is bitterly cold outside. Not sure if we have more snow in the forecast or not, but we only ended up with a couple inches last night.

Saturday's class and Paper Piecing

Yesterday I taught two classes of the Circle and Spin Quilt. It was fun and the ladies got a lot done. I think they had fun making the slightly abstract looking circles and it made curved piecing seem fun. Next week they meet again and hopefully I will get some pictures.

After I got home and collapsed for a bit, I wanted to try one of the techniques suggested after my post earlier this week. Mary suggested I go to Twiddletails and see how to PP without sewing through the paper. Anina uses freezer paper, cut to fit her printer. I was intrigued so cut some to fit my printer and printed them out. It works well, and no tearing off the paper, though you use it for the precision. She says they can be used several times. I used each twice so far. They turned out the same size as the rest and look fine. I want to try the other ideas, too, just have to go shopping for the supplies. I had the freezer paper here, so tried it first.

I'm off!!! More blocks...almost finished

I am so excited to be off today (can you tell?), I have plans to get lots done. Last night I sewed 12 more of these blocks and this morning squared them up, so they are ready to go. I have 6 left to do. I want to take them to Earling with me tomorrow so I can lay them out on Mom & Dad's floor and get opinions on layout. They have a massive floor with good natural lighting, so should help. I might even get a chance to start sewing them together, though I don't always get a lot of sewing done there. Now I am off to quilt!

Mama Kitty loves to quilt too! She was looking at me when I snapped, but didn't catch it...darn!

More blocks

I finished 24 blocks last night. Good thing I went out and found those batiks!!! I won't have time to do any sewing until Wednesday. I want to get the blocks finished by Saturday as I am going to my hometown (Earling, IA) to sew with my mom and sisters. So I could work on finishing it then.

Friday Snow Day!!!

Sometimes when you work for the school district, you feel just like a kid....like when you wake up to a SNOW DAY!!! And it couldn't come at a better time. My sister & her boyfriend will arrive late tonight from Canada. I have been cleaning like crazy the past couple nights, after having classes Mon. & Tues. night. So what I have left to do shouldn't be too bad since I have all day to do it.

We didn't actually get that much snow, but the ice and sleet that came before made everything a huge mess. I think a large part of the midwest was in the path of this storm. I have another sister coming from Missouri on Saturday, hope she makes it. Seems like they always get lots of sleet when it does anything. My sis from Canada will stay here til Sunday, then on to my hometown (Earling) about 50 miles from here. So I will see her several more times before they go home.

I love this time of year, even if I am so far behind...no baking done...no shopping done....no decorations up except the Nativity scene. But I did get the curvy pieced quilt top finished....so here it is. I'm still not sure it turned out like I thought it would, but it is bold and colorful. And I am still working on the new Sampler quilt, though it is on hold til after my sister goes to Earling. Whew, sorry this is so long.

The rows are sewn and I won the contest!

Two pieces of exciting news. I won one of the prizes in the Quilting Bloggers Falling Leaves Contest!!! I am not sure what prize I won yet, but I did win. Thanks to everyone who voted for me!

I worked on my curvy blocks today and got all the rows put together. I just have to decide if I need to add a border or not. It is already 77" x 90", so it wouldn't take much and it would fit a queen. This is the best picture I can get with it on the floor....need someone to help hold it up, can anyone come over?

Saturday sewing

I am bound and determined to get that curved pieced quilt sewn together today. It seems like I have been working on it forever since I have stopped and done other projects in between, plus work. I did get a few rows together last night, so hopefully some pix later to share!

Back to the curvy pieced blocks

I had today off so went back to work on the curved pieced blocks. These are the darker ones. I now have all the blocks sewn together, so need to square them up and then will be able to start sewing them together. More pix soon!
I sewed for awhile then took off and went to lunch & Goodwill shopping with a friend. We had fun and got lots of chatting done.

Saturday quilters & Quiltathon!

This is a picture from class this morning. Some of my classes run for 2 Saturdays so that people have a chance to work on it during the week in between if they have time. Sometimes there are more steps to learn the second week, but this time it was an easier quilt so some of them really made some headway during the week. De got hers almost finished, so finished it in class this morning. She does want it for a Christmas gift, so that was motivating her. She took Beginning Quilting about 2 1/2 years ago and has been quilting like crazy ever since!

I want to spend some time quilting tomorrow with the Quiltathon going on over at Patchwork Times. I got a little done tonight, but mostly worked on class stuff. So I am really ready to quilt tomorrow. Anyone else joining the Quiltathon?

Ok I laid the finished blocks out after all

Well I couldn't resist laying them out even though I haven't squared them yet or finished sewing them. But this gives me a peak at what it might look like. I'm getting excited to put it together.

I worked on quilting a quilt most of the day, taking a few breaks to stretch my back. It is almost finished, hopefully I can finish it later. Now I am going to see The Secret Life of Bees with my daughter. I have heard good things about that movie.

Great class today and more curved pieced blocks

Today's Whirly Girls quilt class went well. Should have some pictures next week of some partially finished quilts.
After I came home I worked on the curved pieced blocks some more.Hopefully I will get the rest sewn together tomorrow so I can start laying them out. I have about 28 to sew together yet.
I stopped sewing to talk to my daughter on the phone, then haven't gotten back to it tonight.(So it is her fault! lol) You can see they are getting darker as I get to the last colors. The last 3 sets are all the darker colors. I am getting anxious to see them laid out and may try some combinations later.

Cutting & sewing more curved blocks...

I sewed & cut out some more of the curved blocks tonight. Now I am getting into some of the greens and blues. I want the colors to sort of flow into each other, from pinks and oranges, to greens and blues and purples.


These are the last set of colors, haven't gotten them cut yet.

Another bag and curved piecing...it truly was a quilty weekend!

I made another bag today. I made this one smaller without a pocket. It still holds a lot

Then I got out the fabrics I bought yesterday and some I had here and decided I had enough to make the curved pieced blocks. So I started on them this afternoon. They are really easier than you would think to do.

I have colors ranging from pinks and oranges to greens and blues to purples. Hopefully it will turn out like I want...
I also went walking for a bit today, it was another gorgeous fall day. There were many people out doing the same thing. Guess we need to enjoy it while it lasts!