Monday, October 01, 2007

Fall Seminar

Friday I had my workshop with Becky Goldsmith "Little Bitty Ensy Teensy" It was a very good workshop. Lots of little tidbits of information that were very helpful with improving my applique stitch. My stitch was much longer than it should be. I found that I can get a smaller stitch with an Applique needle instead of a Straw needle. Becky was a wonderful teacher, enthusiastic and fun. I like the "Piece O' Cake" method with making the templates with photocopies and laminate and needle turn applique. Very accurate and easy to do. I think it will be very helpful for the applique on my DJ quilt.


This was the result of the one day class ( I also did a very tiny bit of a branch but it was not good - LOL)

The next day I had a class with Judy Morningstar - a Canadian teacher from Manitoba. "Creative Curves" She was also a very good teacher. Great sense of humor. It was a great class.


This is Judy with her curvy log cabin quilt. I just love this quilt. And the interesting thing here is that all the fabric she used was solid black fabric. Some of the fabric had been put in bleach and each black fabric came out slightly different colours from the bleach -- orange, green, purples etc. That is so amazing. She had tons of samples of what could be done just by sewing curvy fabric. And it was quite easy to sew the curves - after a little practice.


A bunch of sample blocks.

I made a few samples myself.

This is one of my samples just to show that I was able to master sewing curves. I also made a log cabin curvy block and a curvy four patch.

Jim and I have decided to take a little road trip next week to the Oregon Coast. We were thinking of staying around Lincoln City -- taking the dog --- and I am looking for ideas of good quilt shops in Oregon - along the coast. I have a few on my list so far. There seems to be a number of quilt shops in the area but if anyone out there has a favourite quilt shop on the Oregon Coast - I would love to know. I am quite excited about it - because we will be gone for over 7 days. I can bring back up to $750.00 duty free, Oregon does not have sales tax -- and the Canadian dollar is at par or close!!! How much shopping can I do......look out American Express!! Can you feel the excitement????
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14 comments:

  1. Love the curves. I saw a show of Judy Morningstar's quilts once and she is fantastic.

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  2. Looks like you had a couple of great workshops. I think your curves look great, I have no idea how difficult they are to make. Have a wonderful trip down south!

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  3. Whoo-hoo! I was just there, so they're fresh in my mind. I hit 8 shops along the coast, but 3 really stand out: Coos Bay is home to Threads that Bind on Central Ave, and my other favorites were Country Keepsakes in Brookings and Forget-Me-Knots in Bandon; oh yea, Quilters Corner in Port Orford! I'm not sure where Lincoln is, but Oregon isn't very big. The coastline is stunning! We chose about 3 towns we'd like to move to. Enjoy your trip!

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  4. Your curves look very good. It's always fun to take classes and learn new techniques.

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  5. I've seen curvy letters recently and was thinking about giving it ago. However, one thing at a time and must overstretch myself.

    Have a good road trip - I've heard that Oregon is beautiful.

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  6. Whoops - that was supposed to be must not overstretch myself!

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  7. Interesting the curves...
    ......have a good trip.
    ciao ciao

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  8. I can definitely feel the excitement! I am amazed by each solid black fabric being so completely unique after it's own bleach bath! Wow!!

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  9. I've done some bleaching projects with black T-shirts and have seen bronze/rust colours come from them. Never would imagine peach and purples. Those classes looked like fun and have a great time shopping and sightseeing.

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  10. They look like great seminars - both skills I need to perfect - applique and curved piecing.
    I hope you have a wonderful time on your Oregon vacation. Be sure to take us along with your camera!

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  11. I make appliqué with the needle turn technic and I think its works fine. You learned a lot of things on the weekend. Now it's time to apply them on new projects :). Happy trip.

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  12. Wow, what great classes! Sounds like a great road trip to me! Don't forget the 4 bottles of wine you can bring back. Of course, you can enjoy as many as you like while in the US! LOL I can't wait to read about your road trip! Have a safe drive! Enjoy!

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  13. I bought some shorter applique needles from Suzanne Marshall when I took a class from her and my stitches improved a lot too. The straw needles are nice and thin but way too long for me.

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  14. What a super guild weekend. How nice that they plan such great events. Thanks for sharing the pictures, too. Are you going to do something with the curvy you made? It looks great!

    Love that you picked layout #4 for your African quilt. The colors on that are just yummy.

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