A milestone

I have a milestone coming up soon, my 1000th blog post. When I started blogging in 2007, I wanted a way to post about my classes for the people taking them as well as for other people interested in quilting. I hadn't read a lot of blogs at that point, but I loved what I saw.

I had sort of a rocky start, not really posting much to begin with. I'm not sure why that was, exactly, because I wanted to focus on quilting on the blog, and I am usually doing some type of sewing or quilting related project most of the time when I'm not work. I don't really consider myself a writer, per se, so I do have trouble with the writing aspect, sometimes. Part way through 2008 I started doing a better job of posting more regularly.

 I thought it might be fun to look through some of my pictures from 2007 just to see what I was teaching back then.

I remember that I loved this circular bargello when I saw it on a shopping trip with friends, so came home and started working on it. I had already made a couple of other bargellos, the one below was supposed to depict a garden scene with flowers, a stream and a rocky path. not sure if I succeeded, but I thought so at the time and had this quilt hanging over my bed for many years. 

I bought this panel while vacationing with my sister in Canada...I got one for my friend Jo as well and we put together wall quilts and embellished them with beads and stitching. I don't seem to have a picture of hers, but this is mine. 

A group of friends and I did a round robin block exchange. We gathered our own fabrics and passed them around monthly. You had to make blocks that were the equivalent of three 12" blocks....two could be 12" blocks, but at least one had to be equivalent parts. It was my first experience with a round robin and I loved it.

I designed the Potato Chip quilt around that time and have taught the class and sold the pattern many times. I made this quilt for a friend, so eventually gave it to him. A few years ago I made a new version.

A few years ago I made a new version.  These are just a few of the things I was working on back in 2007...I won't bore you with all my pictures!

 I'm not sure how many of my students actually read my blog, but I have enjoyed the blogging process and met so many wonderful quilters through this medium. I don't always have as much time as I would like to read other blogs, but try to keep up with some of my favorites as well.  I find it to be relaxing and inspirational to read about what others are doing in the quilting world. 

Do you blog about quilting? What is your favorite thing about quilting blogs?

A new round robin....paperpiecing a block...a helper...

I have a group of friends that have gotten together every other month or so for years. We did a block round robin several years ago and later on we all did our magic on an Ocean Song panel. At our last gathering, one of them suggested we do another round robin, but this time it will be a medallion round robin.  So when we meet next week, we are supposed to bring a block. It has to be at least 12". I wanted a block that would stand out since it would be the focal point of the quilt. I had seen  the paperpieced Circle of Geese  on another blog, and loved it so decided to make it, with a little variation. I wanted the points colorful too.

 I had to choose 12 colors, as I wanted to reuse each twice. Plus I wanted the points lighter than the geese, so that (hopefully) it would look 3D.  It didn't take much of each fabric.  Here is one quarter finished.

 You can see how helpful Smokey can be!

See that tail? It swishes around while I am sewing and almost gets under the needle.

 Yea, I'm talking about you.

 Since I was using so many colors and the pieces are fairly small, I marked each one with the color I was going to use so I wouldn't get mixed up. If you make it with just the geese, you use the background on all of the pointy sections.

 Here is the second quarter finished.

 I needed 2 of each quarter to make my block.

 Ready to sew together.

 This pattern makes a 12" block. I wanted to take the paper out before I passed it on, plus I wanted it a bit bigger, so I added a 2" border of the background fabric.

All done! I am excited to see what the others will make for their center block.

Quilting can wear a girl out!

Finished Round Robins

Here are the pics of the Round Robin quilts we made using our blocks from the exchange. Everyone set them together how they wished. Debbie used a piano key border. She had asked each of us to put in a strip of fabric we used of our own so it would be in the border.
Cindy used all cat fabrics. It has since been quilted and finished and is on a bed.
Jo had a battle with cancer in the midst of this project, but luckily has gone on to make many more quilts!
Mine is finished also. Laura moved to Ankeny and we haven't seen her lately, so not sure if she ever finished. It was fun to work on something for each other. We are starting a new project next week, more details later.