Pie Class

Teaching Pie, Sweet or Savory this past Saturday was a blast!

Below is the story in pictures. 

Unfortunately we don't have pictures of every student. 

Nor do we have photos of the tasty lunch provided by the Quilting Connection.

We offer special thanks to our students! 

Three traveled 4 hours to arrive at 10 am. You do the math! 

Others we've taught or helped at the store in the past. 

Several were new faces we were lucky to meet.

Jill starting off with a demo of the simple 3 pin technique in the Pie block.

Julie sorting arcs, crusts, and wedges.

Lori planning cuts and choices.

Maria's two fabric choices included a green fabric 
with a wide range of values across it's width. 
This choice added variety to her composition.

Amber, a rookie quilter, is knocking out her blocks with ease.

Thyra double checking her scant 1/4" seam allowance. 
(An important lesson to us all)

Carol working on those simple curves!

Interesting approach to the pattern, Linda maintained the same print throughout the wedges and crusts.

Some of Elaine's harmonious choices in gray, yellow and white. 
Note, she still has lights, mediums, and darks.

Kelly finger pressing and constructing her blocks.

Trimming the oversized block following our helpful tips and diagram!

Table runner plan!

A good start on a happy throw.

Auditioning arrangements to distribute values.

Leslie's two fabric Savory queen underway!

Technique accomplished Linda!

Thanks again to our students and the Quilting Connection in Ames, Iowa. It was a fun and rewarding day.
Till Tuesday...

Pie, Pie and More Pie

jill here....  We just shipped this one off to the retail display in Sisters Oregon!  The annual July outdoor show is on my bucket list.  Guess just the quilt will have to work for now.

Sweet "Pie" in bright pastels, throw size.

 We have our "Pie" class at the Quilting Connection this coming Saturday.  There are just a few spaces remaining!  We're looking forward to seeing former customers/ friends and meeting some new ones too.

Close up view of the "Whole Lotta Bubbles"  pantograph
designed by Urban Elementz

Our pattern  gives instructions on how design the remaining cuts.
It's the perfect improve opportunity for an interesting back.

We'll share a whole class full of ideas next week!  'till next Tuesday....

Clothes or Quilts?

jill here.... You'll know I'm a baby boomer when I tell you I learned to sew in jr.  high home ec. classes and made most of my own clothes through high school/ college.  Dresses, skirts and more dresses because we couldn't wear pants to class!  Can you relate?  Boy, those were the dark ages.  I made a few dresses for my daughter  when she was little but when she pulled and tugged to get them off (and downright refused to wear) I said NO more with things that had to fit.

Part of the reason I started to quilt was there was no fitting involved (well at least in the end).  I despise alterations and hemming but I do them if absolutely required.  Sadly, there are some elements of found clothing that still have tags on them.  So when I saw these cute patterns at market a year ago, I did a double think....is it really worth my time to attempt another "fitted" dress for my granddaughter(s)?  This pattern is fairly unstructured so I bought it and put it on the back burner.  I needed a fun project  so I picked it up last week and went shopping for some cute girlie fabric.

The Cottage Mama Daphne Wrap Dress and Top

Carrie Bloomston's of Such Designs for Windham Fabrics "Paint".
We used this same collection in our latest  child TV Dinner.

Cute little dots for the yoke and lining form Michael Miller fabrics.

I also had to find the perfect color of piping and buttons...not an easy task! With fabric laundered and ready,  I READ the instructions (really, I had to read the instructions with good pics to guide me).  Once I figured out the pattern pieces, traced and cut the right size, I was ready to sew with lots of prep.

Freezer paper patterns.

Lining side up of the little wrap dress.
Piping, curves, clipping, flipping and edge stitching....

So you can see that "Paint" is a border print.
This is the back.

Front view of the dress, bottom holes/ buttons yet to be completed.
Look like a smiling purple monster?

So I'll send it off to check out the fit!  Keep you posted.  'Till next Tuesday...

Pie class offered and Wave Project quilting lines

Marny here...

First an announcement! We will be teaching Pie, Sweet or Savory on Saturday, June 27th in Ames, Iowa at the Quilting Connection. 

The Quilting Connection website class listing is under construction, so here is the info Kelly emailed:

New Class!  We are very excited to welcome Jill Guffy and Marny Buck of MODERN QUILT RELISH as guest instructors!  They have just released a new pattern, simply called, "Pie."  Join them both on Saturday, June 27th from 10am-4pm to make this marvelously modern quilt.  To see a picture of their recent booth at International Quilt Market, which features this quilt pattern, go to http://www.iaquilts.com/uploads/5/1/9/9/51991953/1433344773.png.  There are several design options that give many different looks,  and we have these very quilts displayed in our store!   It is a privilege to host these nationally-known authors in their home shop.  Space is limited and will fill quickly!  Class fee is $65 for the day, including a light lunch.  Call or email to reserve your space!
515-233-3048
info@iaquilts.com 

We are looking forward to familiar faces and to new faces! Please join in!!! Pie is an easy to piece block (I promise) and we'll get you a long ways towards completion in the six hour class! 

On the subject of classes, we taught a workshop in Cedar Falls, Iowa last June. We just received photos from Chris of her completed "Singing the Blues" using our Leftovers pattern. I remember the lovely fabrics. Thank you for sharing Chris!

And now for my UFO - Wave Project.
How to quilt? Rather than continue to be overwhelmed I decided to reduce the scale, literally. I printed out photos of the entire quilt and mocked up potential quilting lines with a pencil.

Here I used my original little drawing of wave action seen in the previous post. The top and bottom of the quilt are mirror images of one another. This is a white quilt, and the stitching will be white too.

The 'islands' are further removed from one another and the wave swells are mostly parallel lines. These mock ups are very useful. Time to forge ahead.

 Till Tuesday...

Quilt UFO seeking attention

Marny here...the time has come. (I hope)

Does this happen to you? You finish a top and then the quilting decisions stymie you? Fresh fabric wants to be cut and pieced and you move on? It happens over and over to me.

I can date this Wave Project UFO to June 2011. Read about it here. It was set aside because the quilting decisions overwhelmed me. You can imagine that over a period of four years it got totally buried in a basket with other ideas/projects stacked on top. When I wanted to see it again a couple of years ago I couldn't find it anywhere. Magically it reappeared earlier this spring.

The Monk Upstairs brought the whole project back on my radar this week. Tim Farrington's imagery made me long for warm Hawaiian sand and the beauty of ocean waves arriving on shore. The memories of sand and surf lingering in my mind will help me get through the quilting! I hope.

Vertical or horizontal?

Wave patterns are fascinating. A 9th grade oceanography field trip to watch incoming waves encounter wharfs, reefs, shallow depths, wind, etc. has come back to me too! I'm trying to capture a bit of my history in this Wave Project. 
We'll see...

Decisions need to be made concerning the final orientation of the quilt and whether to use straight or curved quilting lines or both. And then I better dive right in!

Till Tuesday...