Another little project ...

I worked on finishing this class model on Saturday. I had sewn some leftover 3D Tumbling Blocks together into rows so that I could demonstrate how to sew the rows together during the classes I taught last year from the ABC 3D Tumbling Blocks and More book.  It was one of the projects I decided to finish putting together in my quest to have a few less bags of "stuff", class model props, etc.... If I teach the class again, I can always make some new models.

After I finished sewing the rows together, I added a navy border to complete the dark border around the blocks. (I had cut it originally to aid in showing the rows in class.) It was all put away in a tub so it would be together. I knew I would finish it at some point. I auditioned several different fabrics that I had on hand for a final border, and none of them really added to the quilt. I'm considering finishing it as is. It's about 26" x 35" right now, which would fit perfectly in the quilt rack my dad made that I have on the wall.

Here is the Tumbling Blocks quilt...it still needs to be quilted. (did you hear that big sigh?) I taught the quilt class several times, but hung the quilt top so people could see what it looked like. I don't always have time to quilt everything before I teach the class.

I finished quilting the new quilt yesterday and I love how it turned out. I'm using a new batting, and so far I like how it quilts up. I am going to quilt the little hexie ufo next. I loaded it today. I want to try out a new thread (new for me) so I will practice on it just in case there are problems.

I'm looking forward to sewing with friends today. Hopefully I will have some pictures to share tomorrow.

A gorgeous quilt and no reply comment fixed

 Mary took the Tasty Tablerunner class last Saturday and look what she brought to show me! She took the Tumbling Blocks class last Oct. You will see her quilt's beginnings here...scroll down to the last picture. I forgot to ask her what size it is, but it's very large and beautiful. You can tell she is very proud of her work! So am I!

I fixed my no reply comment problem by leaving Google + and going back to Blogger. There is a setting there that you can set to show your email, and that fixes the problem. I'm not sure why you can't do it from Google +, but you can't. At first I was worried about changing back, as there was a warning that after 30 days you would have to enter your info again, so I wasn't sure exactly what that meant....if that would wipe out the blog and I would be starting over or what? But I emailed Jenniffer, who had posted advice on this problem last fall,  to make sure the blog wouldn't be deleted. She was very helpful and told me that once you reset the email preference, you can go back to Google + if you want.  It was easy and fast and now is fixed. See her post if you need help with this.

Cubes, oh yea!

Saturday was the second session of both cube classes. I was excited to see that all the ladies in the Hollow Cube Too class had been working on their cubes, so we could really get a good idea of what they would look like.

 We cut the background pieces and saw those cubes really stand out!

 Dianne mixed her colors and is using a dark purple for her background. I forgot to get a pic when she had it all up there.

 Ida Mae is using the polka dotted black for her background....it really brings out the colors in the quilt.

 If you look closely, you can see that she switched out just one wall on some of her pink and green cubes....can you find them?

 The Tumbling Block class went well too, many pretty colors and interesting designs.  We figured out a great way to get an entire vertical row off the design wall to sew....just tape it! Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures until we had taped the rows together.....they both promised that they would bring them back when finished!

Mary is using a random layout, should be really pretty!

I spent all day yesterday cleaning....I went under and over all surfaces in the kitchen.... it looks so good I hate to cook and dirty it up again. This past month has been so busy that I haven't done a good job of deep cleaning. I cleaned the whole downstairs, except I forgot the ceiling fans! I still need to tackle them and the upstairs bathroom, but it will wait for another day.

Cubes, cubes and more cubes....

The ladies got a good start on their Hollow Cubes,Too blocks on Saturday.  I like to teach some classes in two sessions, like these 3D cubes. There are a lot of steps to making cubes, especially the hollow ones, so if they can concentrate on the construction of the actual cube, without worrying about how to finish it, it's more manageable.

Plus there is a lot of strip sewing and cutting involved in making them and it's good incentive to work on them through the week when they know they will be coming back the next week to work on putting it together. I hope by next Saturday they will be ready to begin sewing some pieces together.

Here is my design wall to show the process to the students as they made their first cubes.

Lots of pretty fabrics as always! We are using the book ABC 3D Tumbling Blocks and More! by Marci Baker. Her techniques make this interesting quilt very doable.

    

To make this block look 3D you have to have a combination of three fabrics that are light, medium and dark or it won't be effective. Sometimes that is the hardest part...coming up with a good combination of three fabrics. 

 Later in the day I taught a second quilt class, the Tumbling Block quilt. I have taught this one before, but it never ceases to fascinate me. You make this block using strip piecing methods as well, so there is lots of cutting, sewing strips and recutting. It's worth all the work when you have a finished quilt to admire!

 They are going to see how many sets of cubes they can get sewn and cut before next Saturday, and spend some time playing with them to get some ideas on how they would like to arrange them.

You need to choose sets of 3 fabrics for this quilt as well, in shades of light, medium and dark.

 I am so excited to see what both groups of ladies have ready by next week!

Tumbling blocks class & other sewing....

Saturday's class for the Tumbling Blocks quilt went very well. Lots of pretty fabrics. I am excited to see what kind of layouts they come up with.

This one is going to have lots of flowers, which should add some interest. That is part of the fun of class, seeing the colors everyone picks out. They are going to try to get their strips all sewn and cut before next week's class. I can't wait to see them!

I spent a good share of yesterday working on some blocks for some mini courses I want to do in June. I am using some browns, teals, orange and yellow. I will take some pix later.

I"m having dinner with a friend tonigiht that I haven't seen in a long time, so we have lots of catching up to do.

Spring Break is shopping, sewing...what's next?

I am so enjoying my Spring Break! Monday, after a couple of appointments, I went fabric shopping with my sister-in-law. We checked out a new quilt store in Omaha...very nice! I was looking for a few more fabrics for the second quilt I want to make out of the book ABC 3-D Quilts and More. This one is called Hollow Cubes, Too. (If you follow the link, it is the 2nd quilt on the page under the pic of the book.) You need 4 combinations of light, medium and dark and I think I am going to stick with 4. I don't think I'm  going to use the greens in the quilt, but got them just in case one of the other combos didn't work! I had bought the center fabric just because I loved it, so am hoping it will work as a border. 

You might remember that last summer I sewed with some students/friends on Tuesdays. When I went back to work, they continued to sew together on Tuesdays, so I went up and joined in the fun yesterday. I cut out my strips for the Hollow Cubes, Too quilt and sewed them into stripsets.  I worked on a back for a quilt and them I worked on a UFO I'm helping my mom with. It was great fun to sew with them all again...7 more weeks and I will be able to join them every week! I met these ladies as they have been students in many of my classes, but they have become friends as well. You meet such nice people through quilting! 

Brenda was working on her T-shirt quilt, so I was able to get a pic! She has quite a collection of Mickey Mouse shirts, so some of the other ladies were drooling over them yesterday.

Dianne finished her Tumbling Blocks Quilt...isn't it gorgeous? It's fun to see the finished quilts from classes I have taught.

Tomorrow I am going to the International Quilt Study Center and Museum in Lincoln, Ne with friends. I am so excited about this! I have been planning on going here for several years, ever since they opened, and just have never made it. Pretty embarrassing since Lincoln is only about an hour from here. They rotate their stored quilts in and out of the exhibits and also have visiting exhibits as well.  I will take some pictures if it is allowed and share with you!


Today I am staying home all day! I am going to get a T-shirt quilt on the frame so I can start quilting it. It's nice and cool here, so a great day for that! I am also waiting for the repair guys to come and look at our dryer. It quit drying over the weekend, so I hope they can fix it.

Tumbling blocks class finish...

OF course that doesn't mean that the quilts are finished! But everyone got lots done and had a good time. This quilt is pretty intense, but I was happy to see that they all had their blocks to the half hexagon stage by class.

Some had laid them out at home...who could resist? so had an idea what they wanted to do. This one is Jane's...she had it the way she wanted it at home, but then couldn't recreate it here. Hopefully she got it back the way she had it once she got the blocks home. She wanted a scrappy look.

 So many pretty fabrics and great 3 color selections for light, medium and dark.

Deb tried a little different arrangement...can you see her pattern?

 She is really concentrating on getting it the way she wants it!

After class on Saturday, I went up to my hometown to see my mom, dad and sisters. I hadn't been there for awhile and had a great time catching up.

I have spent the last few weekends (including Sunday) writing the patterns for the new Sampler. I still have one left. I start teaching the class tomorrow night. The Sampler classes meet once a month for 6 months. 

Playing with cubes

 I want to make a small quilt out of the leftover tumbling blocks I had left and the yellow/orange ones I demo cut during class on Saturday. It's always fun to figure out something to do with extras. Plus I want to sew the rows together vertically so that I can demonstrate with them Saturday for the 2nd session of the class.  After moving them this way and that I stuck with this layout.

 I found a dark blue print to fill in around the edges. Now to get them sewn together.

There is just enough for a small border around it. I know I want to add another border, haven't decided if I will do the piano key or find something else.

Sorry the color is so iffy on these pix. I took them at night and that never works out well.

Tumbling Blocks class & another Flop-easy Pillow finish!

 Tumbling Blocks class went well yesterday. Everyone learned how to sew their strips together, and then cut them to make this unique block the easy way.

 Once they knew what they were doing, most decided to do the sewing in class, and cutting at home.

 Everyone had from 7 or more sets of colors, so these will be some gloriously colorful quilts.

 I don't know how, but I didn't get pictures of the other 2 ladies' blocks. I am excited to see the range of colors they use and how they decide to arrange them.

After I got home, I played around with my leftover blocks from my project. I don't have enough of each color left to make these hexagon flowers, but it would sure be a cute idea! I want to make a small quilt with my left over blocks so that I have another visual of the row piecing for next week's class.

I did a makeup class yesterday too. Maria couldn't come when the others came to finish her Flop-easy Pillow, so she came yesterday and finished it. She made this robot pillow for her son...now she said she has to make one for her daughter. I'm guessing that she won't be able to rest until it's finished too! 

Hanging a sign and Saturday Tumbling Blocks class

I hung my quiltinjeanie sign over the classroom door the other night while I was there....guess I am claiming my spot! 

I am teaching the Tumbling Blocks class today. I made some samples to demonstrate with last night and think I am ready. This one is a little more complicated to explain, but fun once you get started. Hopefully, class will go well. I am teaching a makeup class for the student who couldn't come to the Flop-easy Pillow class last week, so she will get that project finished today! Pictures, pictures! 

Better go get ready!

Ta Da!

 I worked a good part of Sunday on the Tumbling Block quilt. I decided to make a piano key border, using all the colors in the quilt. Last night, I added a black border to the outer edge and it is a finished top!

I will get a better picture when I take it to the store to hang it up...maybe I can talk someone into holding it up for me!

The innocent looking Conrad wouldn't leave the top alone while I ironed...I had to lock him in the bathroom. Just long enough to iron, that is...

I am also getting ready to go on quilt retreat with friends this weekend. We are going to the same place that we went to last time. Should be lots of fun!