I'm Going To QuiltCon - Are You?

WOW, what a start to the day!!!

Up, ready for the off and counting down the seconds to 10 am when QuiltCon registration opens.  

Checklist ticked:

• Spend hours pouring over QuiltCon course and lecture catalogue
• Make list of 1st, 2nd and 3rd choices for courses
• Watch QuiltCon youtube videos detailing 'how to register'
• Discuss all options with friend, M
• Book plane tickets
• Book accommodation

So at 10 am I'm all prepared and madly hitting refresh on the registration page waiting for it to go live.  And here we go - so I quickly tick my four courses for the four days, pay for them and anxiously wait to see if I've been registered for places on each.  Instantly I'm informed that only two of the four courses had places available - wow, it's less than three minutes since the system went live and two courses are already full so the system throws me back to the beginning of registration again and tells me to find alternates for the two full courses and, worse still, they haven't booked me on to the two courses that do have places.  

As quickly as I can I tick my 2nd choices to add to my two 1st choices and then have to enter my credit card details again ... hit the payment button and wait to see if I've been successful this time ... NO - I'm not booked on anything because my two 1st choices that had been available first time around are now fully booked also, so guess what - the system throws me back to the beginning of registration again and tells me to find something else.  Well it's a good five minutes since the system went live and I can see that most of the courses are now full so I just select pretty much anything that still has places - yes I've already got flights and accommodation booked and paid for so I'd better find something, anything, to do for four days in Austin in February!!!

Well the final outcome is that I'm going to Texas for seven days - M and I are going to have a bit of a presidential road trip for three days before QuiltCon and I'm looking forward to extending my very limited knowledge on aspects of US political history.  Once I get to QuiltCon I'm booked on four courses, a different one each day of the conference - yes, they're not my 1st, 2nd or even my 3rd choices but I know I'm going to have an absolute ball and I also have a four day lecture pass and four day show pass.

Here's a list of my courses - if any of you are on them too be sure to get in touch, I'd love to hear from you.  Also if any of you are going to be at the show on any day let me know about that too and we can try to meet up, which would be fun.

Thursday, 21 February 2012 (9 am to 5 pm) - Modern Block Improv with Sherri Lynn Wood

Start with a favorite traditional block pattern and transform it through a series of improvised repetitions into something uniquely modern. We will brainstorm the possible range of alterations and then practice putting our blocks through a series of rhythmic iterations using basic improv piecing and compositional techniques. All skill levels.

Friday, 22 February 2012 (9 am to 5 pm) - Perfect Circles with Cheryl Arkison

Add a new dimension to your quilts with circles. Appliqu_d or inset, full, half, or quarter circles. Circles are a great way to showcase favorite fabrics or add movement to your quilts. This class will cover a number of different ways to add circles to your quilts.

Saturday, 23 February 2012 (9 am to 5 pm) - The Signature Quilt with Valori Wells

The "Signature Quilt" will give you the opportunity to discover the magic of simple free form cutting and piecing. You will create a one-of-a-kind quilt that is truly "your design." In a short period of time, you will learn to cut freehand and piece gentle curved lines, giving you the confidence to design your quilt.

Sunday, 24 February 2012 (9am to 12 noon) - Playing with Sheer Fabrics - Silhouette Pillow with Yoshiko Jinzenji

Yoshiko is known for using sheer fabrics to add dimension and interest to her minimalist quilts. Work with Yoshiko to learn how to integrate sheer fabrics into your everyday quilting. Students will make a silhouette pillow featuring sheer fabrics. 

 Is anyone out there very excited that they're going to QuiltCon?  

Yes, ME! ME! ME! ME! ME!

Two Quilts and Making Progress

This last week I've made great progress with my Double Irish Chain quilt and also my Dad's Memory Quilt.

The Double Irish Chain quilt top is now finished and I've also pieced the back using some left over strips from the quilt top.  The rest of the quilt back will be more of the Oval Elements fabric in Petal Pink by Pat Bravo but, as I want to keep the ovals all running in the same direction, I need to buy more so I'll pick this up when I go to the final class at my LQS in Manhattan this Thursday.  Now I've added the borders the quilt is much larger than I'd realised.  The book said I'd be making a 50" x 70" quilt but this turns out to be the size of the Irish Chain section without borders (if I'd put my thinking cap on I'd have realised this - 5 x 10" blocks = 50" but I didn't) so the finished size is actually going to be about 66" x 87".

As regular followers will know, I can't post any photos of my Dad's Memory Quilt on my blog as it's a present for my Mum and she wants it to be a surprise so again I've posted some photos to my facebook page as my Mum doesn't have facebook and can't see it there.  If you want to see how it's looking, just click this link :D

Related Posts:
Double Irish Chain Quilt - Strips All Sliced
Will Blogging Help Me Sleep?
Two Quilts and Making Progress
Project Update And Shout Out for The Agitprop Quilter

Double Irish Chain Quilt - Strips All Sliced

A quick update on today's progress ... I've sewn and sliced all the strips for my Double Irish Chain quilt - what would I do without June Tailor's Shape Cut Plus Ruler? If you haven't seen one in use then check out a tutorial I posted previously showing how to use it to cut charm squares - and you can cut all your strips out with it too:

Tutorial: Charm Squares - An Easy Way To Cut Multiples Quickly

I'm thinking there's a lot of work involved now though in lining up all these seams perfectly to create the blocks!  Best if I leave that for another day :)

Related Posts:
Will Blogging Help Me Sleep?
Two Quilts and Making Progress
Project Update And Shout Out For The Agitprop Quilter

Will Blogging Help Me Sleep?

I'm pretty sure the answer is "no" but here goes!

I'm currently working on 2 quilts - one is my Dad's Memory Quilt made using his shirts.  I can't post any photos as it's a present for my Mum and she wants it to be a surprise but, having spent many hours cutting the shirts into usable fabric (I really can't believe just how long that took!), I've now started the piecing and I'm making quite good headway with the top. I think it could take a while as I have lots of other projects I'll have to crack on with alongside it but I'm pleased with progress so far :)   Update: I've popped a photo of my sample block on my facebook page as my Mum doesn't have facebook and can't see it there, so you can just click this link and take a look if you're interested :D

The second quilt is a 50" x 70" Double Irish Chain quilt as part of a class at my LQS in Manhattan. I've chosen a new fabric called Oval Elements in Petal Pink by Pat Bravo as the main focus and the 2 chain lines are Kona Solid White.  If you're interested in doing an Irish Chain quilt, single, double or triple then the book I'm using is called TIME for a Chain II by Lynda Milligan & Nancy Smith

Here's a couple of pictures of the strips that I've made up ready for cutting and sewing into 9 (unequal) and 20 (equal) patch 10 inch blocks.

Some of the strips look a bit strange - sewing the same fabric back to itself but it looks right in the finished quilt as each seam creates part of the pattern and it doesn't have the same effect if you use a whole piece of fabric rather than a seamed piece.  I'll post more photos as I get to that stage so you'll see better what I mean.

When I've made a bit more headway with both of these quilts I really want to get going on some whole cloth baby quilts using the fabrics I bought at Liberty on my recent trip to London. I've just had delivery of my chosen Kona Solids for each quilt back and my bolts of batting have also arrived so really now I've no excuse. Here's a few photos of the fabrics I'll be putting together.

Oh, and before I go, I can confirm that an hour into writing this post I was able to go back to sleep and then finished it off this morning.  So I was proved wrong - blogging does help you sleep!

Related Posts:
Double Irish Chain Quilt - Strips All Sliced
Another Busy Week
Two Quilts and Making Progress
Project Update And Shout Out for The Agitprop Quilter

Hot In The City

Know Your Bernina Class at my LQS, NYC

Another hot day in Manhattan but plenty of time to cool off at the Know Your Bernina Buttons, Buttonholes, Hems & Zippers class at my LQS, Manhattan.  The class title speaks for itself really and the 3 hour session was full of fab instruction and tips from the wonderful tutor, Christine Janove.  I'm off now to find a project that I can fill with corded buttonholes and machine sewn buttons!


Good news today for my friend, Ivete - she's had one of her knitting designs published in the Twist Collective Fall Magazine (a knitting publication) and made it also to the cover!  If you're a knitty type person (and even if you're not!) why not check out her knitting website Chiagu as well?

Liberated Log Cabin - My August Bee Block

Bee Block time again!

My August Queen Bee is Binita and she's asked us to create a Liberated Log Cabin.  Binita's instructions are so open and flexible which made it an incredibly fun block to create.

I've made a Log Cabin block before but never a wonky or liberated one so I started out by making a muslin sample block.

I did think that this sample block isn't quite as 'liberated' as maybe Binita would like so when I got stuck into the actual block I tried to put more pieced sections into each side and to do some narrower widths to give more interest to the block.

I simply love this block.  I had it all sewn up in no time at all - no measuring or figuring out what should go where, just working around the piece as I pleased until it measured more than 12.5" on each side at which point I cut it back to a 12.5" square.

Great fun, great block and I'm sure the finished quilt will look amazing.

I've posted the block to the NYC Mod Guild Blog and you can take a look at it here.

New York Beauty Block News:

Speaking of finished Bee Block Quilts, my Queen Been for June, Kim has completed her New York Beauty quilt top and sent it off for quilting.  I was very excited to see the photo she posted on the NYC Mod Guild blog and had fun spotting my 2 blocks in amongst the others.  If you'd like to take a look at it just click here - the colours are fab.


Related posts:
Stop Blogging; Start Making
New York Beauty (June Bee Block) - Sunglasses Recommended!

And you can click this link to see all of my NYC Mod Quilt Guild Bee Blocks and Challenge Blocks/Quilts.