I write from Ann Arbor, MI. A hotel room. My suitcase is packed and I’ll be leaving soon, excited to get back, unpack my sewing machine, and dig into projects.
I’ve spent the last two days in a hotel ballroom with 130 other modern quilters. We’ve learned from four different teachers – BIG deals in the modern quilting world. Everything from sewing curves, to tiny foundation paper piecing, to appliqué techniques, and the art of a disappearing block. We were divided into quadrants and the teachers shifted with each three hour class period.
It has been wonderful. The women around me were super fun. A couple were local to MI, the two gals down the table were from St.Paul, and one had even flown in from New Zealand. It was awesome to be with people who understood that quilts are not blankets. NOT blankets. One woman told the appalling story of creating a intricate quilt for her son using video game characters … and she came home one day to find him wrapped up in a fleece blanket instead. Unacceptable! These are my people. They understand.
The free-form appliqué was my least favorite class, but I still walked away with new skills and appreciation. The tiny foundation paper piecing was by far my favorite and the most terrifying to start (It was our group’s first class!) – the square above measures in at 4.5”. I also – for the first time – made flying geese. (A common quilting technique.) I’d just never done it … and now I’m in love.
I’m coming away realizing that I am capable of more than I thought I was and with the itch to start quilting again. My sewing life has been more dedicated to dog collars and sewing booth goods of late. It’s time to quilt. And make a sew-together bag. EVERYONE had them; I have the pattern but have been scared. It’s time.
there's no place like gnome. 