A Super Seminar

 I spent last weekend with

 Alex Anderson

and

Ricky Tims.

 It was the kind of seminar 

that makes your head explode.

Not in a bad way, but

in a way that gets your juices running.

We heard about 

improvisational patchwork looking at 
Caveman style Convergence quilts

to

radial symmetry using his
 Bohemian Rhapsody (2002)

as an example.

This is Ricky's current project

a string quilt using all the leftover pieces from students
from the last 7 years of teaching classes.

It's being  machine quilting on his Bernina  home machine.

Then there were some his  prize winners

Linelines III: Can Something Come from Nothing
 Houston, 2012

I loved the couching technique,
all done on a regular sewing machine.

Alex shared her techniques

for adding squiggles into her patchwork.

 

 and much more

These two wonderful hosts from the Quilt Show.com 

have a great chemistry, bantering back and forth

and sharing their quilting techniques,

as well as, sharing their passion for quiltmaking and

stories of life.

The main thought I walked away

was the idea that you have to

find what you like and

follow your heart.

There's no one right way to do things.

There's no one style that is better than another.
Just make what you love, and
make it your passion.
 

It's not that I have to get out of my "box",

but maybe be willing to invite some new things

into my comfort zone and see how they might fit in.

( Bears in Bertie's Log Cabin.)

I like that idea.

Until Next time-

Listen to the Rhythm

 All week I have been trying to think

of something interesting to write about.

I've been a bachlorette for the past 5 days,

so I was using this time

 to work on a number of projects

without too many interruptions, except

for the ones I created for myself.

But as much as I thought I would actually

finish something, it didn't happened.

Instead, I found myself doing more

prepping than anything else, 

which is not too exciting or clever to write about.

I kept hearing rhythms in my head.

Quilters rhythms like,

 prep, prep, fuse,

A-Z with Ewe and Me

Finally the borders.

 I was also hearing

cut, cut, sew a little,

I wanted to use some of the leftover fabrics

 from the A-Z with Ewe and Me sampler

 in the Falling Charms pattern from the 

Missouri Quilt Co. that

Paulette was using for a baby quilt, 

(I'm making two different sizes)

and

I had to make a few more nine patches to go

with the ones I'll be getting in the mail soon

from the nine patch swap that Barb organized.

 

 How about

trace, trace, cut

(more Noah and Matilda blocks)

I had to recut two of the blocks from

last month because I left them on the AIRPLANE!

and

pin, pin, sew together.

The Home for the Holidays quilt

Today, though, I will be doing something

very interesting.

I'm attending Ricky Tim's Quilt Seminar

with guest appearances with Alex Anderson.

So maybe next week,

I might be quilting to a whole new rhythm.
Who knows.

  Until Next Time-

Back to "Normal"

After being on vacation it always

takes a few days to get back to "normal".

That definitely means 

laundry,

 housecleaning, 

a trip to the grocery, and then

checking the garden and

finding that all those

 green tomatoes have now ripened. 

Got them peeled, cut up,

and thrown into some freezer bags. 

***

It also means finishing up

a commitment to my daughter, 

the 4th grade teacher.

I've been researching and labeling 

all of her personal classroom library books

with the reading level and a point system.

It's been about 400+ books.

All finished.

***

But  despite settling back into the routine,

I did squeak in a bit of sewing time.

 Nothing too exciting,

a lot of chain piecing

in order, to finally to get the blocks done 

for this quilt.

***

But while I was gone,

and the tomatoes were ripening,

my machine quilter, Karen A.

did this

 and this.

Just a couple peeks

 until I get the binding on.

Hopefully, that will happen next week.

Until Next Time-