Scrappy braid workshop

One of my sampler groups decided that they would like to make some smaller projects, so have been working on braids. It was more like a workshop because they each decided on what they were making, a runner, topper or small quilt. Then we figured from there. So lots of thinking and planning went into these. Last week they had their last class for this project and all were ready to quilt.

Finished!

They all attempted machine quilting their last runner and are getting much braver!These small projects are good to practice on.

Binding on, ready to stitch down on the back.

Linda started a month after the others, so got this far in class. She wasn't happy with her borders, so took them off and tried again. It turned out much flatter the second time!  She came for the UFO Saturday and started machine quilting it, but I didn't get a picture. Hopefully she will bring it to the next session.

I think they might be addicted to braids now...time will tell!

One of my scrappy braid projects.

Sampler sewing and a visitor

Sampler club was fun Monday night. Two of the quilters brought their StarLuna Sampler tops along to share. Marilyn's is finished, just needs to be quilted. Laura had her center all put together when she came for class. 

Laura is in a group that meets on Tuesdays to sew, and I joined them Tuesday so got a picture of her finished top. 

Betty is in a different class making the same quilt, so she worked on getting hers caught up Tuesday. It's really looking good!

 Dianne worked on her very large scrappy braid. I think she is working on the last braided strip now. It will go together quickly.

 My daugher, Angie, from Seattle arrived Tuesday afternoon for a week-long visit. I picked her up at the airport and we walked around the Old Market downtown area in Omaha for awhile. We met my other daughter, Wendy, at Trini's for yummy mexican food.

 She wanted to see her old elementary school, so Rachel and I visited it yesterday. Roosevelt is the school I work at and she was interested in seeing it since it's been remodeled.

 Here she is with her new bff, Rachel's dog, Galena.

Today we are going to my hometown do visit with my folks, sisters and brother. Should be a fun trip!

It's the little things....and goats and work

 I had a few spare moments last weekend, so decided to cut up some strips I had precut for models for the Scrappy Braid Workshop last month. I needed lots of different half hexies for the models because I couldn't find my original ones...hmmm ....plus I demonstrated sewing them together as well. So I wanted a nice mix.

I only cut a few of each fabric for the models, so I had lots left to cut. These were scraps from other projects, so there are more of some than others. They are fun and easy to sew together so now they are ready for a day I feel like doing some easy sewing.

 While I was in Earling last weekend, I visited my brother's farm. He raises goats, among other things. Many are kidding right now, so there were lots of babies, from newborn to a few weeks old. This one is about 8 months old and the only one that I got a picture of, even though I carried the camera around the whole time. I guess I got so busy looking I forgot to take pictures! They really are cute and made lots of noise while we were by their pens but as soon as we walked away, they were quiet again.

I am off this weekend with not much planned except a little cleaning. I finally got the tomatoes and peppers planted last night, so hopefully they will be happy. They were starting to look a little sad even though I was keeping them wet.

We have three days left of school, so the library is closed now and I spent the past week checking in, and shelving books. I have been rearranging some books on the shelves as I go as they were too crowded. I had moved some of the books to different locations earlier in the year, but I usually have 900 - 1000 books checked out at any given time, so moving them when they aren't all there isn't the best plan. But I had a good reason...

You might remember that we moved into our remodeled building midway through last school year.  The bookcase that is deeper so better for picture books was the farthest away from my desk, but I thought I should use it for them since that was its purpose.  It didn't take long to realize I needed to switch things around.  Mainly I wanted to get the picture books closer to my desk. It was too hard to monitor the kids where they were, so I moved the picture and easy chapter books over to the other end of the rows of bookcases, right in front of my desk. Much better, but to move one area meant I had to move another to make them fit. So I swapped them.  If the rows were A -G, G went to A and A went to G. It worked, but it scrambled the order up a bit. I haven't had time to move the rest, and decided it was better to do it at the end of the year anyway, after most of the books were returned. So that's the plan for Monday and Tuesday.
Happy Saturday!

Scrappy Braid Workshop

 Yesterday's Scrappy Braid Workshop went well. Everyone is working on their own version of a scrappy braided quilt. Jane is using batiks from her stash and making a quilt for her grandson.

 Dianne is making a king size version for a gift for her brother. She is using fall colors and has a puppy border picked out.

Norma cut up lots from her Christmas collection. She is going to make a runner and then a quilt. 

Diana was given a jelly roll as a gift and is using it to make a twin size quilt.

There are lots of ways to use these half hexagons...after they had a good start on their braids I showed them how to sew them together to make hexagons. I made a small version of this last summer. 

We had our cup swap yesterday after class. When Becky came she and Diana posed for a twin picture in their matching shirts!

 I didn't think to take pictures of all the cups before the swap, but I will take pictures of the ones I ended up with later and post tomorrow. Hopefully others took pix of their own I can share.

My Scrappy Braid quilt

I want to get the last border on the new Sampler quilt today, then I may start cutting out a new quilt. It always seems like borders should go quickly, but they never seem to!