Straits of Mackinac in Denton TX!

I’ll not soon forget these happy faces and the crazy antics

that come with a heavy dose of scrap over load!

These ladies don’t even know how much they have added to MY life!

I love talking to folks, finding out a bit about them, their family, their former jobs if they are retirees, family life if they are still raising kids, or supporting kids through college – listening to the discussions of every day life with jobs, plans, grandkids, upcoming weddings, babies on the way – and usually there is a quilt in the planning or sewing stages for each of these occasions. 

Quilting is how we mark the momentous events that dot the timelines of our lives, isn’t it?

This was also the maiden voyage for Straits of Mackinac as a workshop – and starting out with 53 in class?  HOLY MOLY!!

We broke all demos down to manageable groups!

Cutting corner triangles from strip sets with the Essential Triangle Tool.

String piecing demo in progress!

Photos thanks to Deb Hayter!

I knew this day – day 11 of my whirlwind End-of-February-into-March Texas Two-Step would be pony tail required as I was running from group to group all day long!

I shared three different ways to make the star point unit.

1. paper piecing following the lines on the templates included in the book. (Slowest method by far, and all the units turn out the same. Call this the SLOW MO!)

2. Speed piecing the center string pieced pyramid over foundation paper, cutting to size with the pyramid ruler from the Tri-Recs tools, placing the pyramid on the paper foundation and just “paper-piecing” the star point units either side of the pyramid so units could be perfectly trimmed to size. (We called this Medium Speedy!)

3.  Cutting the pyramids from string pieced sets and star points from strips using BOTH Tri-Recs tools and just piecing them as in normal piecing - (The Super Speedy!)

I encouraged the students to try each method and see which one they liked best.  I love it when students are happy with what makes them feel successful in their quilting.

Deb and her long boa of corner triangles!

String piecing panels to “speed cut” center pyramids!

We were wowed by Sherry’s blocks in beautiful red!

Saska came down from Oklahoma without telling Sherry she’d be here!

We had a wonderful tearful reunion in the lobby!

(The relationships built through quilting are even better than the quilting itself, don’t you agree?)

Sue was using her grandma’s stash from the 1970s;

I LOVE THIS!

What a terrific way to keep her grandma close to her heart.  This is going to be a fabulous memory quilt to snuggle under.

Click to play:

From my time in San Antonio, to my wonderful retreat weekend at Brazos House for some R&R, and then to the 4 days of busy workshops full of creativity and friendship in Denton - 

Dear Quilters, I thank you one and all for enlarging your circles and including me!

Adios, mi amigas!

God Bless Texas, and all the quilters within!

BBQ stuffed potatoes at Rudy’s for dinner!

Deb stayed behind at the end of class to help me get one box off to Fedex, and grab a bite to eat while we waited for rush hour to die down.  I was so happy for just a spot of company as it really would have been a sad end to spend my last night solo!

When I got back to the hotel I wandered into the sewing room, now vacant and empty – the cleaning crew hadn’t been in yet, but let me tell you, black table cloths and sewing thread, lint, dog ears, snippets and debris made it look like a vacuum cleaner bag had exploded all over.  

I didn’t pity the housekeeping staff having to clean that up, but it was a subtle reminder of the fabric flurry over the past 4 days – echoes of machines and chatter and all of that memory making still filling my ears.

Sleeping sweet under Xing from String Frenzy!

I’m giggling to myself as one comment on Facebook asked “Do you always travel with your own sleeping quilts?”  She must be a new follower! 

My reply?  “I travel with 100 lbs of quilts for lectures and workshops and I get my pick of the lot!  It’s one of the perks of the job.”  LOL!

As soon as this posts I am loading up the last of my luggage in my rental car and making my way toward DFW airport.  The plan is to swing by the curbside check in and drop off the bags, then return the car and take the shuttle back.  I really don’t want to deal with 3 50 lb bags and a backpack on the rental car shuttle.

I’ve got plenty of time – but was told I-35 may have construction delays so I’m out of here as early as I can.

My feet will be back in Greensboro, NC by dinner time!

I’m being picked up by son Jeff, and I think his mom will be treating him to dinner for his efforts.

Quiltville Quote of the Day.

It all starts with you, right where you are! Happy Saturday, everyone!

This girl is clicking her heels 3 times and heading home!