Summer break!

I did manage to get all of those millions hundreds of books put away yesterday, but it was close. Now I can concentrate on summer stuff. Like sewing....painting...cleaning....

Judy

but first things first. I'm spending my first day sewing with the Tuesday Sewing group, so that's just about perfect! I'm going to work on some Circle and Spin blocks and maybe piece a back for the new sampler if I can find something I like. I'll worry about cleaning tomorrow!

Dorothy

These are some pictures from last week's Sampler Pick class. They are coming right along and it was fun to put the blocks up to admire them. There are three samplers being made by these talented ladies.

Christine

It always amazes me how everyone's colors come together for a unique look!

Marilyn

I haven't done a lot of sewing this week but did manage to make a few more Circle and Spin blocks on Sunday. I will have more to add later!

Circle and Spin to the Moon

Almost summer...

I spent the this past week working on getting the library closed for the school year. Besides getting the books all back....200 left to go...I also had to do an inventory on the 13,290 books in the library. That means scanning every book in the library into the computer. I got that finished on Thursday, but then spent most of Friday looking for the ones that got missed in the scan. Some were a missed section, some were odds and ends of missed that I had to hunt for. Some I found and some I still didn't find. My scanner hasn't been working properly this year, so I think there are books out that never got checked out. Big sigh....but my hope is that a teacher will find them today or Monday when they are closing up their rooms and turn them in. I go back on Monday to finish up.

Then I get to put the carts full of books away. I was hoping to get more put away yesterday, but didn't get very far. I got back about 900 books this week, so I have my work cut out for me.

Today I'm teaching the Circle and Spin Plus quilt to a private group so that will be fun! Hopefully I'll get some good pictures! Are you quilting today?

Scattered Thoughts

I taught the Scattered Thoughts class again Saturday...lots of pretty color combos and everyone got a good start. I made them all promise to show me their tops when they are finished.

Yes, they took the quilter's oath!

We put these on point like they will be in the final quilt. It really changes the look of the quilt blocks.

Two friends are making this quilt using the same fabrics. They struggled over the color choices, but I think they will be gorgeous!

The Scattered Thoughts pattern is now available on Craftsy if you want to make your own version! 

Sometimes it's a party....

It was so much fun Tuesday night when the Highlights sampler group met. It's a big class so the fun never ends with these guys! Cindy was proud to announce that she was all caught up with her alternate blocks as well as her other blocks. Her quilt is above.

Dianne

Of course, some of them thought she was trying to be teacher's pet...lots of giggles over that one!

I had fun putting what they had finished up on the design walls so we could all admire them. After this month's block and their bonus block, they only have one more to do next month so they are really starting to look like quilts.

Kelli

This mom and daughter team love to quilt together and were even using the same cutting mat the other night!

Mom and Daughter, Lora and Kelli

Studious Rose making sure she was cutting everything correctly.

Rose....thinking hard

Rose and Pat...cutting

Diana....figuring out what fabrics to use

They had to make eight of the Eccentric Star alternate block, so I gave them the pattern a few months ago to give them time to get them finished before the end of the sessions. Many of them have them finished.

Karen

One of the reasons I like to put them all up for us to look at and enjoy is to check out use of colorings and patterns in fabrics. The students many times exclaim that they never would've chosen a certain colors together, but love it when they see it done on other's quilts. So I think it helps us all grow as quilters.

Rose

We talked about Pat's usage of several shades of gray in some of her blocks and several shades of teal in others, but never mixing them.

Pat

We all love Pat's background...I need to go and see if they still have it at Cut Up and Quilt!

Pat closeup of background

They made the Simile block this month. Several got them finshed...others were almost finished.

May's block: Simile

Lora started her sampler using a different background, but didn't think she would have enough, so she bought a new background and remade all of the blocks. Someone asked her what she would do with the others and she said, "Put them in another quilt!"

Lora 

Dianne got her bonus block finished too. Most months they had an extra  block to do as homework in order to complete all 8 different blocks, plus the alternate blocks in 6 months. Another group decided they didn't like the word "homework" so now I call them bonus blocks. It's all in a name, right?

Dianne finished her bonus block too. No homework for her!

Cindy's blocks started this post and she is ending it with her finished Simile block. It's gorgeous!

Cindy and Simile

Love a long weekend

I had a great weekend. It started off with hanging a display at the shore on Saturday and then sewing with friends for awhile. I'm working on my new sampler design...so I need all of the sewing time I can get! I love the colors and it's been fun to work on. It is a bit different than the usual sampler, not as many different blocks but a row robin effect of repeated blocks.

I did a lot more sewing on Sunday and got very close to finishing it, which is a good feeling. While I was sewing I caught up on some tv watching!

I spent most of Monday working on the yard. It was a mess. It's so hard to keep up with the mowing with all of the rain we have had. I did do a little sewing and paperwork for classes as well.

Not a very exciting weekend, but I feel like I accomplished a lot, so that is good.

At work, we are getting near the end of the school year...so that means getting all of the books back, putting them away and doing inventory. My last day of work is June 8. 

Where has this week gone?

Marta

It's been a busy week spent doing lots of different things. I worked on the new Sampler 21 quilt over the weekend. It really is fun to get out that new stack of fabrics and dig in. This sampler isn't as sampler-y (yes, that's an official quilting term!) looking as some, so it will be interesting to see how people like it. I love it so far. But then I would, right?

Diane

 Tuesday night I did a trunk show for a ladies group that is interested in quilting. It was fun to meet some new people and share my love of fabric and quilting.

Laural

 Wednesday night I met with the Sunbonnet Sue Sampler Club and I was very impressed with what they had accomplished since last time. We had talked about the sashings and what they could do to start adding them to their quilts. You can see that some got farther than others, but they are all progressing nicely. This was the month to make Sue, but only one quilter wanted to make her, so I had an alternative block for the others to make, the Sawtooth Star. You can see it in Laural's quilt above (center, bottom row). For three of the four quilters, this is their second quilt. I'm so proud of them!

Avis

Last night I worked on some necessary paperwork for a class I'll be teaching soon. Not very interesting, but time consuming anyway. I hope to spend some time over the weekend working on the new sampler and gardening, if the weather cooperates! 

Miscellany

 I usually go straight to the store after work when I have a night class as there isn't much point to going home first. So I take along something to work on until the class begins. Tuesday night I worked on the Circle and Spin to the Moon blocks that I had cut and partially sewn as a demo during my class last weekend. I used chose some very vibrant batiks, my favorites! I have more squares cut, but will use them as demo blocks for a future class, so this quilt won't be finished for awhile....sort of an ongoing project.

Deb McQ

 I taught two Sampler Clubs last week and these are a few of the pictures I took during the classes. The students don't always bring their finished blocks from the previous classes to show and tell...but it's always fun to see them when they do. Both of these groups are getting closer to the end...

Deb M

 These are from the To The Point Sampler 11 Club. This sampler is a study in color usage as they try to decide on different fabrics to use as the backgrounds...go light? go dark? ...while making sure that their pattern shows up as well. This is a very creative group and most haven't been quilting very long, but are doing very well.

Nancy

 These are from the Highlights Sampler 20 class. You can see the pattern evolving now with Marilyn's alternate blocks in place.

Marilyn

Rachel

 This is the block they worked on...notice how Jane changed hers from the original pattern. It's always fun to see what they do and how they use their fabrics.

Jane

I started working on a new sampler design yesterday...it's coming along nicely and I hope to get more finished later. There's something about starting a new project, cutting into new fabric that is exhilarating! I guess that's why we love to make quilts!