Quilting Class, Part 1

a quad section

Sara here ... after years of being in awe of Sarah's quilting skills, I finally decided to break down and give quilting a whirl. When I made these tablerunners, Sarah said that was "string quilting" and I got to thinking, hmmm, maybe I could be into quilting?!? And then, I tried some coasters and that wasn't too hard. And then it was at the recent Sew Sampler class at Scrapbooks, Etc. that I discovered that you can make a quilt in a month with classes!


the center squares - minky, ahhh!

So, I signed up for a beginning quilting class with Louise the the month of April. The class is four Monday nights in a row. And at the end of the class (end of April!!), I'll have a finished quilt. Oh, and I roped a friend into taking this class with me - bonus!


another favorite quad combo

 The Pattern: Market Square Pattern by Sweet Jane’s Quilting & Design

The Fabric: Robert Kaufman's Daisies & Dots (LOVE.IT) from a jelly roll. I'm making my center squares from an aqua minky. The border and binding are up in the air right now, but I have some ideas in mind. The quilt backing will also be aqua minky.

The class started Monday night, and despite my machine's best efforts to derail me with its bobbin issues, I am making serious progress. Our "homework" this week is to complete the 20 blocks for the front of the quilt. That means: cutting all the pieces, sewing them together and constructing blocks! Yikes! I was freaking out a touch after the first class ... but some work each night has kept me on track. (That, and the gold at the end of the rainbow: a finished quilt in the near future.)


all my pairs in a row ... ready to be used up!

 So far these are my favorite things about quilting:

• excuse to buy fabric
• systematic nature of the process. You have a plan and it's clear ... you cut, you sew, you press. Repeat, over and over
• all the neat & tidy pieces
• and of course, the scrappy remnants!

all the quads cut & ready

So far, so good. Quilting & I may make a good match after all!

One interesting thing I learned this week: steaming fabric can distort it! So, when quilting you should NOT use the steam in your iron! I had no idea .. .

...and that for the near year I've had my sewing machine, I've been loading the bobbin backwards (despite the pictoral diagram on the machine). Oops.