April's Been a Busy Month

I've managed to get quite a bit done this month, thankfully.  First up was taxes, of course.  It's never a fun process, but it's done for another year.  I taught another bag class, and I've been busy sewing.  Yay!  Always my favorite thing to be busy with.  I'm having trouble deciding where to start this post.

My purple azalea

We've mostly had lovely weather this month, and we've had some beautiful flowers too.  A week ago today our high was 86 degrees!  Today we had a high of 54 degrees with alternating rain and sunshine.  Pretty chilly after that warm spell.  But really we can't complain.  Except for the allergies - they are brutal this spring, because we've had so much rain.  Everything is yellow and sticky, and everyone is sniffling and sneezing.

I made another  bag sample for the quilt shop.  I finished it and got it over to the shop so quickly that I completely forgot to get a photo while I had it at home.  Here it is at the shop:

front of bag

back of bag

I had 5 students for this latest class, and all but one got their bag completely done.  C. just had to finish the top edge when she left.

C's bag

J's bag

S's bag

Same fabric as mine, just in the red colorway

I forgot to get a photo of N's bag.  I'll be teaching this class again at least one more time this month, possibly twice.

Forget-Me-Nots in my backyard

I finally decided on what fabrics I want to use to make one of Sujata's Rail Fence blocks from her book Cultural Fusion Quilts.   I decided to use my DaGama 3 Cats indigo fabrics that are made in South Africa.  (I collected these fabrics for many years at Pacific International Quilt Festival).  I only had 15 fabrics large enough, so decided to make 4 half-size blocks with the smaller cuts to fill in for the last block to make all 16 blocks that the pattern calls for.  So I figured out the math for the half size block, made one to test my math skills and it worked!

the first 8 inch block - isn't it cute?

While making the first block, I discovered that my indigo fabrics are not 40 inches wide but 35!!  So, I wouldn't be able to get enough fabric from my 1/4 yards (not fat quarters) for the 16 inch blocks that the pattern calls for.   So, more math skillz.  I figured out that with the 35 inch fabric, I could make 14 inch blocks.  I have yet to test that theory.

Then I finished making the other 3 half-size blocks, since I had already cut the fabric.

all 4 of the 8 inch blocks

So, now what to do with these?  They wouldn't work with the 14 inch blocks.  So I decided make a table-runner.  

quilting the table-runner

And here it is, all finished!

It just fits my coffee table in the living room. I love the way this looks!  Rather traditional fabrics, but a very modern vibe to it.  And I can see and enjoy those wonderful DaGama indigos!  I can see that I have a little wiggle in my border that I'll have to deal with.  Oh well, finished is better than perfect, right?  *grin*  

Here is a pouch I made for my Secret Sister in the Tacoma Modern Quilt Guild.  I used Noodlehead's tutorial for the Open Wide Zippered Pouch.  I love this pattern and have made a number of these useful bags. 

fun fabric for the inside

I had to do take-down of my DH's pottery display at the Spring Fair for him as he was traveling for work.  I saw this photo and had to snap it to share with you.

Roy Rogers

Roy Rogers was one of my heroes when I was growing up, and I love this photo of him!  Look how young he is!  I'd love to know the story behind this photo.

Google to the rescue!  I found this from a search:  "In 1938, a youngster named Roy Rogers opened the show (he returned with his wife, Dale Evans, in 1973)".

From an article in The Seattle Times, dated 1997, about the history of the Puyallup Fair.

I hope you get to do something creative this week!  Happy quilting!

Rhododendron in bloom

Liberated Medallions with Gwen

At long last, here is my post on my 3 day class with Gwen.  I had so much fun!  I can't believe it's taken me so long to get this post done, but here it is.

Warning: this post is photo-heavy!

The class was offered by the wonderful quilt shop "Quilted Strait" over in Port Gamble.  They have a wonderful facility, and are very attentive to the students' needs and make every attempt to keep us happily sewing.  If you ever get the chance to take a class there, I urge you to do it!

I'm not going to spend a lot of time "talking" about the class, I'll just show you my photos.  Right to the good stuff, OK?

I love the texture Gwen's hand-quilting adds to this piece.

These are some of Gwen's quilts that she brought to show.  Somehow I didn't get photos of her medallion quilts - doh!  

Another one with Gwen's beautiful hand-quilting.

One of my favorite parts of Gwen's classes is when the students have Show & Tell:

A whole cloth medallion (limited piecing),
made as a test before the class.

A "Ferris Wheel" quilt.
Pattern by Karen Griska of the Selvage Blog.

This is the back for the previous quilt top.

the back of the previous quilt

The next few photos are of Nifty Quilts' quilts.  You can see more at her blog.

The is the back of the previous quilt.

The back of the previous quilt.

Not really Show & Tell, I just loved this bag!

And now, here are my photos of the students' work, taken on the last day of the class.  Unfortunately, by the time I was taking photos, some of the students had already left and I didn't get photos of their work.  Trust me, it was awesome!

this one was being done by two sisters

Nifty actually got her top finished!

And here is the quilt that I was working on:

This is what I brought to get started with.  This has been languishing in the quilt studio for a few years, because I was undecided as to how I wanted to proceed with it. 

This is where I was at the end of the class.  Sadly, I haven't done any more yet.  Well, I took away the pink/yellow fabric because it seemed too overwhelming when I got it home.  It's up on the design wall, and I'm thinking.....