Weekend Workshops

This past weekend, we had the pleasure of doing a trunk show and teaching 2 workshops for the lovely ladies out at the Berrien Towne and Country Quilt Guild in Bridgman, MI.  Janine and I both agree that teaching workshops is one of our favorite things to do.  We have never had a group of students that did not inspire us in some way.  After all of the years I have been quilting, I am still astounded at the different perspectives people bring to quilting.  These perspectives influence the way they look at fabrics, how they put fabrics together, and even why they are sewing in the first place.  And, there is nothing more satisfying than the sound of several machines humming, constant laughter and companionable chatter, accompanied by the smell of steam irons and cotton.

Here are a few accomplishments we witnessed this weekend--

On Friday, the pattern was Curved Log Cabin.  As always, one quilt can have so many different looks! Everyone used different looking fabrics in a wide range of designs from traditional to contemporary....

Reproduction type prints in a neutral palette with a tone on tone chocolate print:

Reproduction prints with a neutral alternate print:

Scrappy fall prints with a gold alternate print:

Batiks on both sides!

Some students even decided to make both sides of their Curved Log scrappy.  This takes some tenacity but is well worth the effort...

And there is always one combination that I love and wouldn't have thought of myself--like this quilt using Amy Butler, etc prints on the scrappy side and Kona stone on the other.

Saturday's pattern was Around the Block.  Again, we were blown away by the different fabric combinations and people's willingness to step "out of their box".

Of course some people started with their quilt already finished!

Brights and dots....and one of my personal favorite colors:  lime green

A mixture of various types of prints in a controlled palette.....we liked the selective cutting for the center in this block...

And this quilt using garden themed fabrics.  Centers here are also selectively cut and each has a butterfly, flower or a bee....

Both days, everyone got some blocks finished and were well on their way to having a finished quilt.  And Janine and I had such a good time!  So, thank you Berrien Towne and Country Quilt Guild for a wonderful weekend.  We hope to see you again in the future.

Book Shelf

The above is a picture of the greater part of my collection of quilting books.  Yes, I did arrange them in rainbow order....not an original idea...I saw it in a home design magazine a couple of years ago and have wanted to try it ever since.  So as soon as they finished the bookcase above my desk in our new basement, I arranged most of my favorites as you see here.  I have to admit it does make me smile every time I look up from my work (which is often!).

So, other than their colorful arrangement and the fact that these books made it through the final cut when I was purging my quilting studio of all extraneous objects, this collection of books would not normally be something of note on my blog.

But wait....what's that book at the end of the row?  The one at the end of the purple section??

Oh, yes it is!  It is a copy of our first book, Colorful Quilts for Fabric Lovers published by C & T!!  And, it will be available for purchase any day now!  I have a spot on my own bookshelf!

We are obviously REALLY excited about the release of our first book!  (sorry for all the exclamation points!!)  I can remember when I first became aware of sewing.  I used to swear up and down that I would never sew.  And now, I am up there with many of the quilters I have come to admire!