I met again with the Des Moines Area Quilters and friends, filling up our massive workspace with 52 quilters from all over!
Our project this day was Blue Ridge Beauty, a long time favorite from my book Adventures with Leaders & Enders, fabulous in ANY fabric combination, not just blue and neutral!
This quilt was made with 2’’ and 3 1/2’’ strips using specialty rulers like the Essential Triangle Tool for half square triangles, cutting them easily in matched pairs from strip sets instead of odd sized squares.
I love the exclamations of “Hooray! It’s perfect!” that come from students as they sew and press and measure.
Oh, sometimes there may be a bit of sliver trimming as we are hand guiding our fabric and wobbly seams can happen, but it is way less than other methods!
Four-patches come first!
We all love Meliza’s turquoise featherweight!
Chain, chain, chain baby!
4 patch parts going on forever!
Lunch for 52 is served! Yummy!
After lunch we added in some half square triangles and….
Playing with everyone’s blocks!
I found it easiest to lay this quilt out by starting in the center and working out in rounds. I love the barn raising layout, wherever I find it in a quilt it just captivates me.
But these were also fun:
Zig zags!
Hearts!
I love little simple asymmetrical blocks like this as there are so many different ways you can twist and turn them – try ANY log cabin layout and see what you come up with !
You’ll find the rest of our workshop day in the video below. Click to play and enjoy:
We had to bug out a bit early, it was Maundy Thursday and the church had an event scheduled for last night -- we got busy cleaning up and making sure that all of the threads and dog ears were off the floor. So grateful for the use of this space - it truly was fabulous!
A happy reunion with the “Olewein Girls!”
Last Summer during retreat in Oelwein, Iowa - these gals all got to know each other, and it was so great to see them here in Des Moines for a reunion. So great to see them all again!
Irons cooling outside while we pack up to leave -
Thank you, Des Moines Area Quilters for such a wonderful few days together!
I’m packing up what’s still left to pack – I’m headed home today, and will have my feet back in North Carolina by dinner time.
Two weeks home. I’ve got two weeks home! I have a feeling that at least half of it will be spent at the cabin. AT LEAST!
Quiltville Quote of the Day!
It really is this plain and simple. Your happiness is up to you!
But it doesn’t hurt to find happiness stitching with a group of quilters who understand your love of fabric and thread!
Have a wonderful Good Friday, everyone!
6 comments:
Quilting friends are just the best!
Love that photo of the irons!
Have a wonderful time resting at the cabin!
It looks like a good time was had by all! How can it not be a good time when friends and quilting get together? Enjoy your time at home!
Hoping you can do Quilt Cam sometime next week. Enjoy your cabin time, too.
ah yes... two weeks to rest, rejuvenate and repair... you go girl, breathe, in and out and i love the keys to your happiness!! Thanks for being you!
I know we go in cycles of colors and am sure glad to see that brown is coming out to play again. It reminds me of my early years of quilting in the 1970-1980s.
Love your way of expressing things. No pretensions, just beauty and enjoying the moment. Thanks for sharing.
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