Kim Brunner - Quilting Rock Star

I took a class today from Kim Brunner. She is not only a great quilter but also a great teacher. 

Galveston

We went to Galveston today and are on the bus back to Houston. We stopped at a couple of quilt shops, toured  Galveston and had a wonderful lunch. 

We also took a tour of the Moody house. Very interesting. Can't wait to see the quilts when we get to Houston. 

Elements of Art for Quilters

Stella and I took a wonderful class today from Lyric Kinard.  The name of the class is Elements of Art for Quilters. It was kind of like being back in kindergarten again without the naps.

We had a wonderful Tim playing with fabric and glue and a brand new sketchbook.

Here is Lyric teaching, filled by some of her demo pieces.  It was a great class!

Bonnie Hunter Mystery

I decided we needed a Bonnie Hunter section in the fat quarters. I fastened the paint chips to the side and cut fat quarters for each color. Customers liked it as I filled it several times over the weekend. 

Sampler Savvy–Class Four

Today was the 4th class in the series.  First I want to show all the blocks that were made from the previous weeks.

I didn’t get photos of the blocks that they worked on today but here are the GFG blocks that just need to be appliqued to the background.

Next week Michele will be a substitute teacher for me since I will be in Houston.

Melinda

Special Projects Day at Allatoona

Today was the day for special projects.  We had a small turnout but those there seemed to have fun making the project.  Here are the two I made for samples.

The smaller one is perfect for jewelry and I am going to use it next week when Stella and I go to Houston.  The large one can be used as a sewing bag.  Love all the little pockets inside.

Melinda

Design Wall Monday–October 21, 2013

I had to admit that the spool quilt is still hanging on the design wall but we have seen it unchanged for several weeks so I am not going to show it again.  Instead I am showing two different finished for our current Saturday Sampler series.

This first one is based on the designers plan but we used purple instead of black or red as she envisioned.  The layout is the one she designed.

Since this quilt is so large (87x107), we decided we needed to offer a smaller version.  I designed this one and it is around 64x84. This is the black version of the quilt and there is also a red version.

For more design walls, go to Patchwork Times. There is always a wonderful selection of design walls to inspire you.

Melinda

New Fabric Arrives at My House!

Just what I need – more fabric!

First here is my new selvage fabric designed by Pat Sloan.

I also got my monthly Kaffe fabrics.

Just what I need – more fabric.

Melinda

Tiny Stitches Decorated for Halloween

Thought I would share a few of the quilts being displayed at Tiny Stitches.

I have a kit for this one somewhere.  Mary made it.

This is a Double Slice I made last year.

This is a Sudoku quilt made by Carolyn.

 

I love this quilt!  Mary made it as a BOM a couple of years ago but the pattern is still available.

While not a quilt, this witch’s hat was created by Debbie.

Just a taste of what the shop looks like!

Melinda

Customer Quilt–Simply Quilts Quilt

This quilt is one of the most fun I have quilted.  Rhona made it in a class several years ago and spent much time taking the papers off.  It is beautiful.

Here are a couple of close-up photos of my quilting.

Do you remember Simply Quilts on HGTV.  A version of this quilt was on the opening shots of the show.   I love this quilt!

Melinda

Sampler Savvy–Class 3

Yesterday was the third class of our Sampler class.  We worked on the spool block and started putting together the Grandmothers Flower Garden block.

Going to work on Ohio Star and a Bears Paw variation next week.

Melinda

Hexie Club Last Night

We had a great time last night at Hexie Handworks club.  First Rosemarie shared her hexies from Hillbilly Handworks.  They are wonderful.

Then she showed us how to make clamshell ornaments.  While not hexies, the method is very much like English Paper Piecing so it fit in well.  We all had a great time working on them.  None of us actually finished ours but here are hers.

and a close up of one.

We are going to play with hexie ornaments next month!

Melinda

Halloween Quilt

First – I did not make this quilt.  It was made by my friend Mary and is a shop sample at Tiny Stitches.  I love this quilt!

It was a BOM a year or so ago and there are complete kits available.  There are also kits with just the patterns and extras like buttons.  I decided to get one of these and hope to eventually make this quilt in much brighter fabrics.  Not any time soon but some day.

I spent 15-20 minutes yesterday cutting up scraps for my containers and am headed up to do it again today.  Eventually I might get everything under control.  Wish me luck!

 

Melinda

Design Wall Monday–October 14, 2013

My design wall still has the spool quilt top on it.

But I have another design wall.

This one was taken at Tiny Stitches yesterday during the first meeting of our Bonnie Hunter Club.  We had about 15-16 people join so far and start getting their scraps under control.  Although I led the group, I certainly can’t say that my scraps are under control.  We talked about the Scrap Users System that Bonnie uses and shared how we sort and save scraps.  Several people brought scraps and stayed to cut them into strips and squares.  We also talked about the upcoming mystery quilt and have decided to have somewhat of a mystery support group as part of the club.  By the next meeting, the fabric requirements for the mystery will be out and we will talk about perhaps sharing fabric so everyone will have a bigger selection to work from.

We also talked about using the Fly Lady system of setting your timer for 15 minutes and cutting up strips and squares – kind of like eating an elephant one bite at a time.  I spent about 20 minutes today taking one bite and cut some bowtie kits for my leader/ender quilt and a few strips and squares for my containers.  It felt good to start on getting it under control.

We also decided to do Scrappy Trips, which is why my few blocks are on the design wall.  This are the blocks I made last summer and I have 26 done.  I have decided I want to make it large enough for my bed, which I can do with 36 blocks and borders or a lot more blocks without borders.  Borders are sounding good.  This quilt is all batiks.  Lots and lots of batiks.  I have lots more batik strips in my 2 1/2 inch strip container.

I really want to make another one using random strips, but having a common center for each – not the same fabric but the same color.  Need to get this one done first.

For more design walls, go to Patchwork Times and check them out.

Melinda

Halloween Month

I put out my fun Halloween quilt/wall hanging for the month of October but finally took a photo of it.

I made this a few years ago when we had a Halloween sew-in at the shop.  I love how I quilted it and it makes me smile.

Melinda

Chula

Thought I would post a photo of our wonderful little Chihuahua.  Her name is Chula and she is probably 16 years old.  She joined our family almost 14 years ago and the Vet thought she was somewhere around 2 at the time.

She is starting to show her age but we love her.

Melinda

Sampler Class - 2

We worked on two new blocks this week and Margaret completed her homework from last week.

Hopefully Eve will be able to catch up this week.  Can’t wait to see what they have done.

Melinda

Design Wall Monday–October 7, 2013

My design wall actually looks just like it did last week with the spool quilt apparently taking up permanent residence on it.  However, I did get a quilt quilted this week although it still needs binding before it can go on the finished list.

It is the Saturday Sampler that will finish up in December and this is the smaller of the two that I have pieced.  This is the black version and there will also be red and purple versions.

For more design walls, go to Patchwork Times and check them out.

Melinda

Sampler Savvy–Class 1

Today was the first class of a new Sampler Savvy series.  Only two students but we will have a great time making quilts together.  Here is a preview of the fabrics they choose to work with.

One of the first blocks we are working on involves flying geese.  Here is one block.

Melinda

Allatoona Guild Meeting

Great meeting today – here are a few of my favorite quilts from Show and Tell.

These are only a few of the wonderful quilts that were shown.

Melinda