Sneak Peek

I have finished one of the projects for class and you are getting a sneak peek of it here! (Why do bindings have to be so tedious?) The design is not difficult at all. Just a simple paper pieced tulip block made many times and turned this way and that. Easy to make and have done for the holidays this year! I was able to machine quilt in the ditch all of the way around the inside and outside of the wreath, as well as along the inner border. It's hard to see here, but there is a very narrow flange of dark green fabric between the center and the border. I wanted to hand quilt a simple cross-hatch in the background, but ran out of time. It turned out flat enought that I can still do that later.

I can't wait for class to start. I've been very uninspired of late. I need the creative energy of the others to get me going again! Besides, who wants to sew in the heat???

Remember, preview night is Monday, September 11, 2006 at 6:00!

Real Women Quilt

I just read this tip from one of my favorite web sites (and an on-line shop), Real Women Quilt. A woman wrote in to say that she belongs to a block-of-the-month club where she only gets just enough fabric to complete the block (with no errors). Hmmm. Sounds familiar. Anyway, she first makes a sample of the block using her own Christmas fabrics. When she is sure that she knows how it goes together properly, she makes it using the given fabrics. Good idea! Then when the series is completed, she has enough blocks for a Christmas quilt too.

RWQ is a great website with all kinds of articles and features. You can get a monthly (and now also a weekly) newsletter full of new things and lots of humor. Check it out if you have time!

Applique Cats Block 2

And here is the second block!

Applique Cats Block 1

Look at me, I can applique! I've always admired fine needle-turn applique. I've seen some absolutely beautiful quilts done this way. Unfortunately, I can't do it. I have tried several times over my quilting life, but I just can't get the hang of it. Now I finally found a technique that works for me. It is the process of painting a line of liquid starch along the edge of the seam allowance and ironing it over the freezer-paper template. Then with all of the edges turned under (and staying that way), it is a matter of stitching the pieces to the background. It works perfectly for me.

I fell in love with this applique block-of-the-month program on line at StoryQuilts.com called Temple Guardians. So far it's coming out great. The really neat part about their program is that each month along with the pattern and fabric, you also receive a chapter of a story about the cats. When the quilt is complete, you will also have the complete story! Above is the first block that I finished a couple of months ago.

Adopted

Well it looks like we are not going on one of our famed road trip vacations this year. Which got me reminiscing about last year's trip to Oregon. It was a very leisurely trip up Northern California, into and across Southern Oregon and back down California home. One of the highlights for me was seeing Twelfth Night at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland. Later we stayed in a sort of cabin in Klamath, and as we were leaving the area, I spotted this sign on the road. I insisted we take a picture. Quilters are the greatest!!

You Go Girl!

I've been holding on to this article for about a month now. In it is an unexpected appearance by a well known quilter. If you are not interested in reading the entire article, jump down to the last three paragraphs for the most interesting part.

One a day, that's all we ask

Judy, over at one of my favorite blogs, Sunshine Quilts, has put together a little informal program to encourage everyone to sew for an hour a day. She made a churn dash quilt and broke up the directions into easy one hour segments. Today she's on Hour 2. What an awesome idea!! I would be right in there making the project with her, except that I'm already sewing every day to finish up the samples for class along with three baby quilts. Ladies, please, stop with the babies already!!!

No Worries

Okay, after a brief scare over the weekend, I have worked out all of the details for the Fall Quilting Class at the Veterens Memorial Senior Center. I was taken by surprise when I got the Redwood City class catalogue on Saturday, and the class was not listed! I got in touch with the new coordinator first thing this morning and got it all straightened out. The preview will be on Monday, September 11, 2006 at 6:00. The class will begin the following week on Monday, September 18, and will run for 9 weeks. Those people who have taken the class before will be getting a notice in the mail (snail mail!) with these dates as well. I've got lots of fun things planned, so be sure to stop by!

Bear Sandypaws

Here is the other man in my life. We have been together for about 11 years now, and he is very dear to me. I thought I'd introduce him because he will undoubtedly be making many appearances here. He likes quilting, feet, and the cat next door. His favorite part of quilting is rearranging my blocks before they are sewn together (much to my dismay). His foot fetish is a little strange. Let's just say that he'd much rather be pet with your foot than your hand. And the cute orange cat next door is the only one that he doesn't hiss at, so it must be love...

And now entering the stage....

Hey look, it's my first actual blog post. This is exciting. It's difficult to type what with all of the streamers and champagne corks popping. Okay so it's dust bunnies and Diet Coke. What can I say?

I've been inspired by all of the other Quilt blogs that I read everyday to go out and start one of my own. Now this may not seem like a big thing to some, but this is a big step forward for me. I just started teaching a quilting class less than a year ago and I've come a long way in that time. And I'm loving every minute of it.

Pop in when you can and join the rest of us monkies. We might just come up with Othello one of these days...

Thanks for visiting! Blog at you soon!