Charlotte, Charlotte!

Well I can't say enough good things about my visit here in Charlotte!
I can't post any pictures today, even though I have taken lots...but I only have my iPad, so can't upload them now.......will post more when I get home. But I am just so excited about this, that I had to share!!!

I already mentioned that I had emailed the quilt guild here to ask about local quilt shops, and Kathy got right back to me and invited me to a workshop they were holding this weekend! How lucky is that?

I was a bit nervous about driving and finding the location ....Charlotte is a big city. But, if you can believe it, the location was about 5 minutes from our hotel, and literally I had to make 2 turns!! How lucky is that?

Oh, and there is more luck...

I signed up for 2 workshops, full days of sewing. The first day was a landscape class, I have pictures of what I made....and some of what it was supposed to look like! Will post them when I get home.

And when I got back to the hotel, my husband and I joined a fellow Canadian he had met at the conference and his wife, Dorothy, for dinner. When I told her about the class that I had take, wouldn't you know it...she is a quilter too! How lucky is that!

So we phoned Kathy, and they were happy to have her join us for the next class I had signed up for. And they found yet another sewing machine for her to use. They had already provided one for me!(thank you Phyliss!!)

So Dorothy and I went off to a fabric store to check it out and get some fabric for her for the class. If you have never heard of Mary Jo's Cloth Store in Gastonia, you need to go there at least once!!OMG! It is HUGE! Like the size of a warehouse....filled with fabric of all kinds! I could spend a whole post just describing that! Anyway we both bought enough to fill up those last corners of our suitcases!

The second class was called Fabric Fantasy and Amazing Manipulations. Such fun! I have pictures you will see later. The instructor, Jennie Rayment,was so entertaining too. You can check out her website, www.jennierayment.com for pictures of what she does.

We leave tomorrow, but I really have to say a big thank to the Charlotte Quilt Guild! They welcomed us, shared all their supplies, and made us feel right at home! I even got a guild pin.....Maybe I am now an honorary member! THANK YOU!

Work in Progress Wednesday

Did I once promise not to start anything new until I finished up some of these half done quilt tops????
mmmmm......I don't remember saying that either!!

So after cutting up my very favorite fabric ..Origins by Moda..... I am happy with the layout (thank you to all of you for your comments !!) I need to add the border to it still...and of course then actually finish it...

But once I decided that I loved this one, and had been cherishing the fabric for months, so I couldn't give it away..I had to come up with something else for the wedding gift!!! Not to worry....I have lots of ideas in my head.....so I just pulled one out and got to work!

For those of you who remember all the whining about my sewing machine problems when I was FMQ "Daydream" (sorry about that!) If you missed it you can get a dose of it here!!
Well, I am about half way finished the FMQ on this one, and it is going so smoothly even I am surprised!!
I am loving this again.....but sort of waiting for the problems to start!

I am not sure what is different...same thread same needle, same tension, feed dogs are UP (I dont drop the feed dogs) and stitch length set to zero. Anyway, it is so much less stressful when everything is working well.

I am leaving at noon today for North Carolina, so will be unable to post for a few days!
I am going over to Lee's blog, Freshly Pieced,  now to check out all the creative people posting there!
Then I have to go pack!!

How could I hate my favourite fabric??

Some of you may remember a fat quarter bundle of "Origins" by Moda that I have been saving.

I love these colors and just couldn't bear to cut it up!
But...one of my best friends has a daughter who just got married, and I thought to myself ...Self..isn't this a good reason to break into that special fabric??? And Self thought ..yes, yes it is!

So I cut it up. In my mind I thought large blocks of this would look like fields of flowers, or a meadow in spring time. ...

Boy was I wrong! I hated it...

I thought maybe some extra black sashing would help.....

but nope....still hated it!!

How could I hate this? I love those colors and I have been saving this for something special!! I thought about just putting it away and looking at again in a few weeks with fresh eyes, but then decided just to cut the blocks up into smaller pieces and see what happens!  Couldn't be any worse, I thought!

Then I started playing with the now little bits of fabric...and really wish that I had a design wall, because crawling around on the hardwood floor got old pretty quickly !!   : )

Anyway, I ended up with this...

...and now I think I love it again!

In fact my daughter asked how I could give it away, after all that. At first I thought that it would be nice to give something I loved so much...but then I got selfish!! I think I might have to keep this one!
mmmm Is that bad??
 Of course that meant back to the drawing board for the wedding gift, but not to worry, it is under control....but that is a story for another day! 

Charlotte North Carolina!

I am so excited! I am going to Charlotte, North Carolina next week!

My husband has a conference there and I am joining him!  I don't really know anything about Charlotte, or North Carolina for that matter, but guess I will find out!
And what is even more exciting.... There is a quilting workshop going on there , with the local quilt guild..and I am going to attend a couple of days!!
The workshops are taught by Jennie Rayment   (www.jennierayment.com)
And this is a couple of the things she will be doing...

Looks like great fun!! Now to see what I can squeeze into my suitcase to take along for this!!

laying out the lay out!

I seem to spend a lot of time laying out blocks, and shuffling them around. Even though they are semi-random in placement, I keep moving things and exchanged blocks. I am really not sure if it actually looks any different or better when I am done !!

So I was laying out my collection of "Etchings" blocks
I took a picture of the layout..

and then from a different angle..

I find this gives a good "birds eye view" and sometimes makes it easier to spot a colour combination that needs changing or a misplaced block.

Once I am happy with the layout.....how to keep them all organized ???
I have tried a number of different methods, some with limited success, but think I have a method that seems to work for me now.

First I put a little tab of paper on the upper Right hand corner of the block on the Right end of each row, starting with number "1" at the bottom....

then I pile the blocks in each row, starting from the far Right hand side, so that numbered block ends up on the top of the pile....

Then I pile these piles of blocks, starting from the bottom row, so that the number "1" pile is on the top...

Now you can move the whole lot over to the sewing machine. I leave the numbers pinned on there till I am finished sewing the top together. I flip the top block over and sew it to the the second block in that pile. By always checking the number and always turning it over the same way, they all stay in order !! The pinned number tag also helps to make sure that everything is still turned the right way.

I have tried working with 2, or sometimes 3 rows at the same time, alternating as I work, so I can chain them together. Of course I was feeling pretty smug about how smoothly this was going until I realized that I had picked one block off the wrong pile!! Then it took awhile to sort myself out again. Fortunately I had that picture on my camera that I could check back to. Of course they are randomly placed, so if you do make a mistake it is likely that it will not be noticed----by anybody except yourself that is!

Anyway, the final result is all the rows sewed together, and numbered so that they can be sewn together in the right order...

Another day!!

Work in Progress Wednesday

Well, it is Wednesday again....time to take inventory of what is going on here...and everywhere else too! It is so inspiring seeing all the amazing projects out there!

Here is what is onn my Work in Progress list:
"Oasis" is basted and ready to quilt...

"Square Dance" has both the top and backing finished, ready to sandwich and pin ...

"Etchings" is near completion.( I .love this fabric)...then I will need to decide on backing for this one...

Nothing at all has happened with the "Wonky Blocks"or the Newfoundland fabric creation.. : ( ....
....as well as a few other projects that are hidden under all that stuff, I think!!

And the tote bags are near finished......so I just had to start something new !!
(can you say quilters attention deficit??)
This is a really quick one. It is one of those Jelly Roll 1600 tops, made from Moda's "Comfort" ...

Just perfect for a cozy throw cuz I am thinking that winter is on the way !!
..Now off to check out what everyone is up to over at Lees blog..Freshly Pieced!

some more pretty!

My sweet little girl (well she is now 23 yrs old....but still my baby!) gave me some fabric for my birthday...

I love the colors!! I have not worked with batiks much before, so am excited to try this out.  I have some fabric that coordinates well with this to use for sashing/borders etc, so will have to get busy and cut this little bundle up soon!