Mary's Quilt

I just finished quilting a quilt for Mary. She ran this as a block of the month for Tiny Stitches for 2008. Her stitching on the applique is really nice and I wanted to make sure I enhanced her quilt.

You can't see the quilting on the photo of the whole quilt but should be able to see it on the block closeups.

There are four borders. I did a different design in each border.

Have I mentioned that I loved quilting this quilt.

QuiltSmart Bag

I made this little bag a couple of days ago. It is made with QuiltSmart interfacing and is called the Smart Bag. You only need two fat quarters to make the bag. It is a good size for a lunch bag. We are going to have a class for young girls and I think this is a good project for them.

I see that they have a new pattern called Market Bag that I would like to make. I need to find it somewhere since I don't really want to buy it for the shop until I see how it is made up. Has anyone seen this product?

Brown and Green Quilt

I finished this quilt a few weeks ago and took it to the shop to show Maetha, intending to bring it home to put the binding on it. Well, it is hanging in the shop and the binding is still not on it.

I made six kits and they are all sold. We just got more fabric in so I guess I will re-cut the kits and make a few more. It is a very popular color choice right now.

Beginning Machine Piecing - Class 2

I had two great classes today with the Beginners Machine Piecing. They are all doing such a great job.

I took photos of everyone's first blocks so there are a lot of photos in this post.

Getting Ready for Red Top

We had a work day today at guild. We are getting ready for our annual retreat at Red Top Mountain in March. Each year we have a really great goodie bag. The first year I went to the retreat, we got thread catchers, with embroidery on them with the name of the retreat and year.

The following year we got bags with two quilters appliqued on them - with yarn hair. Last year, we got little notebooks embroidered with our names and the retreat information. So each year, we try to make something wonderful to remember the great time we have.

This year, we are going to give out sewing machine organizers. Last May, when we took a road trip to Mary Jo's in North Carolina, I bought many yards of Mardi Gras fabric. The theme of the retreat is Mardi Gras in the Mountains.

We decided to modify one of my sister's patterns and made sewing machine organizers for everyone who will be attending the retreat. First, some of the members with longarm machines quilted 2-4 yards of the fabric. We got backing donated from members and bought batting. We then asked if anyone had packaged bias tape that they weren't going to use at home. We got enough of that donated so that we didn't have to buy any. We just asked for any bright colors and got lots of them.

Today, we cut the screen, cut the quilted fabric, applied bias tape and make the organizers. They have lots of pockets and are very colorful. We actually made 56 of them today.

We have 56 people signed up for the retreat so we need to make a few more since we will probably have a few late sign ups. Dave (who is in charge of goodie bags) is going to quilt a couple more yards and we will make a few more next month at Special Projects day.

We are also using Mardi Gras masks as our name tags this year. We are giving them out at the general meeting and then will have a work day next month where everyone can bring their embellishments to share and decorate the masks with. Should be fun.

Beyond Beginners Class Today

I started a new class series today at Tiny Stitches. This class is called Beyond Beginners and is a good followup to the Beginning Machine Piecing Class. There were three students today and they all did a great job. The book we are using is called I Can't Believe I'm Quilting Beyond the Basics by Pat Sloan.

The first project is a table runner with flying geese. Here is my sample that I made last year. I seem to be stuck on black and white and of course used lime green as the sashing and binding. Have I mentioned that I love black and white and especially lime green.

Here are the first few flying geese made by each student.

It looks like two of them like lime green also.

We are working through the book one project at a time and since there are five projects in the book, we will meet once a month for five months.

Beginning Machine Piecing Class

Today was the start of my Beginning Machine Piecing Class. I teach it in the morning and again in the evening so it does make for a long day. This session lasts for six weeks so it is a fun time and I get to know the students much better than the one or two day classes.

I have 4 students in the morning class and 5 in the evening. I forgot my camera in the morning but did manage to get pictures of the fabric selected by the evening class. I know I said there are 5 in the evening but tonight we had 6 since one of the morning students came to the evening class just this once.

This should be a fun session.

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

I have been reading Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois for the past week and finally mixed up a batch of dough on Tuesday. I baked our first loaf last night but forgot to take a photo of it before we ate it all.

Today, I came home from teaching the Beginning Machine Piecing class and made the second loaf. It really only takes about five minutes to shape the loaf and get it ready to put in the oven. From start to finish it takes 40 minutes, including 20 minutes of heating the oven and then 30 minutes to bake.

We love the bread and I highly recommend that you get this book and try it.