I should say what a wonderful week! I got to meet our new grandson - he is so sweet and precious, I just can't get enough of him. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
I turned 60! Entering a new decade! My Diamond Jubilee birthday 😂
Best of all we enjoyed spending the week with this little cutie and her baby brother!! We enjoyed getting to see our kids too - a fun week all around. So thankful for family!! ❤️❤️
This little girl is going to be quilting like a pro in no time! Her play-dough quilt has contrast, it has texture, it's pieced together so nicely! I'm impressed! Future quilter! 👏😊
My young friend finished putting together her t-shirt quilt top, she's picked the backing and is piecing that together, and soon will learn the joys of pinning a large quilt! Another future quilter! 👏😊
Here is a peak at what is in the book barn this week! I'll try to get some different books in there soon!
Have a happy day everyone!! 😊❤️
My Zoom class with Jen Kingwell was SO much fun. There were only about ten people in the class so it felt very personal even though none of us were in the same city or even state and of course two were in Australia. Several different time zones. I logged in at 4:00 PM and Jen would say, "Good morning!"
She did indeed talk about all things hand stitching. She went over hand piecing, which I have tried before and am interested in trying again because it's so portable and you don't have to think too much about it, unlike embroidery stitches etc. She gave many, many good tips on hand piecing. She also went over several different ways of doing English Paper Piecing, which I've done quite a bit of and I like it "ok". I just don't really enjoy the prep work (gluing the fabric to the pieces). There seems to be a bit of prep work for hand piecing too, I guess there is with anything, so I'll have to decide what I like to do the most. A couple of nice things about hand piecing: it's very portable, it's kind of relaxing and once you do prep work, you don't have to think about it too much. Also, no paper pieces to remove, once you're done! One of the gals in class also brought up the fact that many of us have a lot of quilts and have gifted many quilts to our families so we don't need to turn out a large number of quilts, so taking our time and making one by hand is kind of nice.
The second class, she went over hand appliqué, which I've also done a lot of and really enjoy. And she mostly does the back basting method that I like! She will occasionally do other methods as well, and demonstrated several. Then she talked about Big Stitch quilting, which I've never done before and was very interested in learning. I definitely want to try it on a quilt - small to begin with. 😊
She finished up with showing a LOT of different finished edge techniques which I'm super excited to try. I need to go back and re-watch the video and take some screen shots like the one above, so I remember them - there were so many ideas!!
Here is a little piece I started hand piecing. I'm starting small, but she has a pattern called Daisy Do that I really want to do. I need to get the template pack and get going on it. This is one of her postcard patterns I will sew little squares in between the hexagons (you can kind of see them in the photo at the top). I'll make this into a pillow or a little doll quilt - it won't be very big. Maybe I'll practice some Big Stitching as well (see my practice piece below). She uses size 12 Aurafil and a chenille needle.
Anyway, fun, fun, fun! She is a delightful person and I learned so much.
Hope you're all enjoying a wonderful weekend!! ❤️❤️
I signed up for a quilt class in Australia! I have several Jen Kingwell patterns and a bin full of her fabric. When I saw she is teaching a class via Zoom through the Madeline Island School of the Arts, I felt like it was the perfect opportunity to dig into my stash and make one of her patterns guided by the designer herself! I'm so excited. She emailed and said this is her first zoom class and that she is excited about it too. So while I don't actually get to go to Australia ... I am super excited to take this class from this Australian quilter and fabric designer. Plus it's "All Things Hand Stitching", which I love. The photo above is my page in the meet and greet slide show. Class starts Tuesday! 😊
Um, Actually.....
We had a fun birthday party for my oldest son yesterday via Zoom. My son Jonathan (above) led a really fun game, Um, Actually, because "nerds really like to correct people when they're wrong" 😂. It was a fun trivia game, where incorrect information was given and we had to Um, Actually.... give the correct information. I discovered that my children have much better memories than I do for trivia facts!!
A big Happy Birthday to Jeff, pictured below!! I sure am thankful for my kids!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
I finished the last few circles on my stitch sampler! I really love the one below, with the Ladder Herringbone Stitch along the outside edge. That is not a stitch I've used very often, but I think I will now! The backstitch was stitched in size 5 Perle cotton and the Herringbone Stitch was stitched using a really pretty Silken Pearl. So fun. The same silken pearl was used for the Bullion Rose in the center.
So now the big question - wall hanging or pillow?? What would you do??
While in Springville, UT last Friday I got to go to one of my favorite quilt shops - Corn Wagon Quilt Co.! It's such an awesome shop with super friendly people. It was fun looking around. I picked up the magazine that this quilt pattern is in, it just looks so cute, fresh and simple! I also picked up a pattern for a wool nativity set 🤔. I'll share more on that later!
Right behind the Corn Wagon Quilt Co. shop is the Corn Wagon Too - a Quilter's Mercantile! It's a really cute little gift shop, plus a huge classroom and retreat space! So, if you're looking for a retreat space you can check online here:
https://www.cornwagonquilts.com
Here is a diagram of our busy quilter's brain, courtesy of Hancock's of Paducah! 😂
