Tuesday, February 06, 2007

I bought fabric; classes; playing

Jackie (my quilt buddy) and I ventured out in -25 to -30° wind chill temperatures on Sunday for my favorite quilt shop's (Sew Many Antiques, Pearl City, IL) yearly Super Bolt Sunday sale. We got there before it opened and waited for the doors to open, then made our way quickly to the $2 a yard sale bolts. The bottom 4 fabrics below are 30+ yards of $2/yard fabric -- all for backings. The top two fabrics is about 11 - 12 yards of 25% off backgrounds (normally $5.20 and $6 a yard). And that was all I bought! But I think I done good and should be set for backings for awhile anyway. I needed some background fabric for Judy's Hour a Day quilt which I'm going to do in patriotic colors and make as a QOV. I did manage to get all this fabric washed today. Hopefully by the end of the week I can start cutting into it.

Yesterday was my first longarm class at the Quilt Center in Janesville. It was an all-day class and we learned how to do pantographs -- edge to edge quilting. We learned 3 different ways: row by row, interlocking, and point to point. The last couple of hours of the day were taken up with machine maintenance and troubleshooting -- we had one machine almost completely taken apart! My daughter, Stephanie, came with me -- she has no quilting experience, no piecing, etc. She was a natural at the machine! And, she wants to learn to piece now! YAY! I'll get her hooked on quilting! I bought three new pantograph patterns before we left about 4:30. This first one is called "Bellflower" and this view is the practice that I did today:
The second was called "Ivy Leaves" and is an example of interlocking that I also played with today.
I didn't try the third one yet. But I did try some freehand feathers. I bought a book last week from Sherry Rogers-Harrison called Formal Feathers 101. It came yesterday while I was gone, so I went through it last night and then played today. It was so fun! I need to practice, practice, practice, but I really enjoyed playing today. I'm going to try to get a real quilt pinned by the end of the week -- time to start actually quilting, I think. Before then, we have appointments and I have some catching up to do, but looking forward to quilting makes the work a lot easier to finish!
Gratitudes:
1. I'm grateful we didn't have class today, as we got 5" of snow blowing like a blizzard this morning. We stayed in all day and the neighbor even came by with his snow plow and plowed the drive for us.
2. Having my daughter take the class with me yesterday -- so much fun.
3. Feeling more comfortable with my machine today after the class yesterday.
4. Leftover chicken and rice soup for supper -- easy.


12 comments :

Evelyn aka Starfishy said...

I really like the simplicity of Ivy Leaves!!! And Wow- that is a great bright yellow backing fabric you have in that pile!!! Great job for shopping for what you need and will use soon! You will have to make a scrap bin for your daughter if she starts to piece!

Cheers!

Evelyn

Silverthimble said...

Nice backings! And at that price who could resist? Your pantographs look wonderful!

Debby Brown said...

I'm glad the quilt class went well.

Sherry Rogers is amazing. If you ever have a chance to take a class with her, jump at it. She's a talented quilter, a gifted teacher, and an all-around neat lady.

sewprimitive karen said...

Wow, wonderful quilting activities!!

Melanie said...

You're getting so good!!! What fun--- your daughter going with you.I think that is wonderful. This is a great thing to have in common to work on together. Stay warm.

Laurie Ann said...

I especially like those ivy leaves. Very classy!

Carolyn said...

Looks like you're making great progress with your machine. Have fun with it!

Laura said...

Great buys on the fabric! Lucky you getting your daughter into quilting.

Quilts And Pieces said...

Great purchases and how fun are those quilting designs you learned!

Jenni said...

It is obviously never too cold to go to the quilt shop! Good buying.

Shelina said...

Sounds like a heavenly time - inexpensive pretty fabric, time spent with your daughter, quilting, passing on the quilt bug to your daughter, getting beautiful stencils.

Anonymous said...

Great choice of fabric look forward to seeing the finished project.