It’s been busy at my home studio/classroom. This week I started Operation UFO at my home studio/classroom on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It’s an open sew type gathering where quilters come for a day of sewing and bring their UFO’s (un-finished objects) of any type and have access to a teacher (that would be me); for as little or as much help as they need to get themselves going again on projects put aside for an indeterminate amount of time. There is a nominal fee, but I’ve been told it’s more than worth the cost. It hasn’t taken long for word to get out and interest to begin to grow. So, if you are local to me, send me a private message and I’ll be more than happy to send you more information. I’m thinking this will become a sought-after activity before too much longer. Yay!
Here is Cindy, working away and totally comfy. She even brought her sewing slippers! I love it!!Cindy is working on Hanging Gardens by Georgette Dell’Orco. It’s a great little pattern, being made with a sweet line of fabrics. We both wish we knew the name of the collection, but it IS a UFO. But we’re enjoying it all the same.Jean is working on another quarter of her Prairie Star by Judy Niemeyer. She’s got a few stitches to release before moving on to the next step.Here’s the first quarter of her Prairie Star all sewn together after the Judy Clubb on Sunday. She’s about to lay out two more quarters, using this as her guide for placement.
They were lovely days with lots of progress made along with lots of stories and visiting.
Another terrific day brought another small group of dear ladies, and I became the student! Of course, quilting was a topic that threaded its way though most every bit of conversation, along with copious amounts of laughter. But the main topic of the day was……how to make truffles. Yes! Those decadent, mouthwatering, melt in your mouth, wonderfully chocolatey wonders that only the best candy shops offer. I can only say to those reading this blog…future retreats I hold might just be the time that I pull out the stops and introduce these amazing treasures to attendees. Just sayin’…
This is step two—rolling the flavored truffle center into balls which will need to chill for 24 hours before they can be dipped and decorated to complete step 3. I think the funniest of comments is about to be made….And here is the laughing, snorting and tears of too much fun! Oh my…we had such a good time. I love these ladies!!
These yummies are made with dark chocolate and flavored with caramel. But I have it on good authority they can be flavored with jams and liqueurs of choice. The combinations are endless…dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate— raspberry, boysenberry, orange, strawberry jams—coconut, rum, bourbon, crème de menthe and other spirits—oh…just imagine the possibilities!
No…I’m not a lush. LOL!! But these ARE the perfect size for flavoring truffles. Oh! And who doesn’t love these??? I personally know each of these are wonderful….mmmmmm my mouth is already watering.
So, while I’ve not been as active on the blog as I’d like, it’s been an action-packed week with lots of content that I’m eager to share with you.
Such wonderful things happened this weekend! I’m so pleased with the progress of my students over the past two days.
Saturday our Wedding Ring Class met with the goal of laying out their finished piecing and seeing for the first time what their quilts will look like. We had such a great time! Over the course of the last 6 months we’ve been meeting, using the Quiltworx Wedding Ring pattern and its variations as a Block of the Month. There have only been a couple months we weren’t able to meet, but that happens even without a pandemic going on. They’ve all made wonderful progress and each step of the way there were oooh’s and aaaah’s as we shared our progress each time we met.
And we all learned something…including me! Some things I learned because I was asked a question I didn’t know the answer to, and others because I needed a creative solution to help them obtain a goal or to make it easier to continue their work.
The latest solution was what to do about a design wall! In the pictures, you’ll notice their units (or block pieces) are being laid out on sheets. It’s a curiosity, but a solution that I suggested and they agreed to with enthusiasm. Neither of these lovely ladies have design walls at home. My goal was to find a way for them to layout their units without: 1) having to take copious pictures with their phones; 2) disassemble what they laid out; 3) transport everything back home; 4) reassemble it all and lay it out only in small portions either because of space or foot traffic concerns, and then hope they were getting everything together correctly They jumped at the idea! So, after handing them each a flat sheet, we got busy.
Here is Shirley laying out her units. After each row across there was a happy dance of excitement and a “Boom-chicka-boom-boom” coming from her as she saw things coming togetherAnd here is Jean working on a table doing the same thing. From her came “mmmm-mmmm-mm-mm-mm”. For Jean, we worked out a number chart for her to follow as she laid out her units. It worked like a charm!! Another teaching aide that will go into my files for the next time I teach this class.
As they laid the units out, each one was pinned to the sheet. And at the end of class, each sheet was gently rolled up and carried to the car with the confident knowledge that each time they went to work on their project they could just go right to work without the time spent on trying to find their place in the process.
Dottie was also with us and she brought her AccuQuilt Cutter to make quick time of cutting the 2 ½” strips for her project. I’ve never seen one of these in action, and I must say, it was so cool to see how they work.
I’m thinking this may need to be an investment for some time in the future. They sure are slick little machines that make quick work on lots of repetitive cutting
It was an awesome day full of great friends, fun and lauging, and tremendous progress!
Sunday was much the same for the ladies that joined me at Clubb’s in Delta for our Judy Clubb. The Judy Clubb is an open sew kind of class where anyone working on a Judy Niemeyer pattern is welcome to come and sew for the day, and I’m available for as much or as little help as is needed
The entrance to our classroom. Our class area is the furniture store. And the fabric store is right next door, always open for us during class and ready for anything we need. It’s a terrific arrangement!
We have a wonderful work area at Clubb’s where a terrific cutting table and ironing area are provided. Lots of beautiful lighting and abundant room is provided for us to work our magic.
These stations are sooo nice! Plenty of room for multiple people to work at the same time.
Take a look at what was worked on!
Cheryl is working on putting the binding on her Impatiens placemats. Her color choices are simply beautiful! And one of the best helps I could give her was to show her the UTube videos by Judy Niemeyer on that very subject. It’s amazing that we have the ability to carry an iPad, secure an internet connection and tune into a free, on-line video and then help the student to utilize the same resource at home. When Cheryl had a question, we worked through it together finding a few additional helps for her to use at home. She’s doing a marvelous job!
I love Cheryl’s color choice on this project and she is so precise in her stitching. What a lovely project she will have when all finished.
And here is Jean, using a sheet as her backdrop on the design wall to pin her Prairie Star to. Her goal for the day was to get one quarter of the quilt on the wall and assembled and marked with notes on how to complete assembly for the rest of her quilt when she’s back home.
The quarter section of Jean’s quilt is nearly put together. She’s added some little yellow notes for her to follow when she gets home so she can get this project all finished up. How exciting!Jeans pulling a few more papers off the back of a unit before assembling the next section. Making great headway.
All in all, it was a very productive, and rewarding weekend. I think one of the things I truly love about this work that I do and the quilters that start out as students and then become friends, is that I get to help them reach their goals.
People, non-quilting people, frequently remark to me about how this is nice and all that, but what’s so special about a quilt…. it’s just a blanket after all. And my knee-jerk reaction is that they just don’t get it. And they don’t. But what I say to them is that quilting is a tool. It’s a tool, or a means to reach a huge plethora of outcomes. Quilting is a creative outlet, which is a crucial aspect of our mental and emotional health. Quilting is a skill-building tool that enhances our cognitive and deductive reasoning utilizing color theory, math, planning and organizational skills to just start the list. And one of the very most important things quilting does is to both create and revive memories for those making the quilts as well as those receiving the quilts. Quilting as an art and a skillset is something that has a huge ripple effect on all those around us quilters. And no…these are not just blankets. They are works of love.
And I….me…I get to help these lovely people create and fulfill their goals.
