Emerald City–Vicksburg Style!

Old Man River Quiltfest – Day 3!

Do you see how gorgeous this Emerald City block is in PURPLE?! (Pattern from my book String Frenzy)

That is the one thing that thrills me the most – when folks take my quilt designs and interpret them in their own color and fabric choices, making their project more of a reflection of THEM, than of me.

Besides, there is no way that I could possibly make this quilt in all of the wonderful color plans I’ve seen it in as finishes have started cropping up over the past few months.

It’s a two color quilt – so choose your favorites!  Or, as Connie and I talked about last night – do your “Dark” areas in Scrappy Everything, keeping the neutrals (or grey, or yellow, or whatever you envision) as your background.  It would be FABULOUS!

Something about these greens with the pink mat and cutter!

We spent our morning with triangles cut easily from pairs of strips using my Essential Triangle tool for speed, ease and great accuracy.  With 1080 triangles needed for the whole quilt, we broke it down in small batches working on just enough for one big block quarter – 30 triangles.

But variety is key, so don’t cut too many from the same pairing or you’ll regret it later!

But if you are super speedy – just keep piecing.

Now before you freak out about 1080 triangles – remember that they are short seams and do sew up rather quickly!

Loving Judy’s mix of greens with a but of turquoise thrown in.

A very busy day with 54 machines humming!

I think you need more triangles – just keep cutting!

Needing this lunch break!

The mighty Mississippi river is just beyond the trees.

During our lunch hour, my salad consumed and needing to phone home to check on things – I stepped outside the convention center and wandered over to a patch of grass under the shade of a tree.  

I found myself kicking off my shoes and stretching out on that bit of shady hillside to just enjoy a bit of quiet while taking care of a bit of home business.  Call finished – I stayed for 10 more minutes just to center myself before heading back in for a great round of show & share and on to our afternoon session of string blocks and block quarter assembly.

Sometimes you just have to step away from the busy – and enjoy a moment of solitude. Then go back in refreshed and ready to handle the rest of the day.

Oh aqua things!

These are coming along great!

And some blue to purple?  Yes please!

For the rest of our day’s fun, Click to Play:

I've now taught this workshop enough to know that MOST students will accomplish the completion of one block QUARTER - but once they've got that done, that block quarter contains everything they need to know to finish the other 8 3/4 blocks when they get home.

And those 1080 triangles?  Break those down into batches of just enough to complete ONE BIG BLOCK at a time.  It’s less intimidating that way.  And what about using those triangles as Leaders & Enders in between the rounds of chain piecing other things?  Short seams stitch quickly – they will add up before you know it.

Thanks for a fabulous day, everyone!

Downtown Vicksburg Street scene.

Do you see it?  On those posts?

Coffee cup and bottle art -

With a touch of yarn bombing for good measure!

Today is our last workshop – Wonky Wishes day today!  And we should be close to 60 strong.  What a way to make a big finish of our time spent in beautiful historic Vicksburg, Mississippi.

There are only 2 days left to enter our Quiltmaker Gift-Away drawing – did you enter to win ON THAT PAGE?  About half way down the page you’ll see the blue button.  Click it, and leave just your name and email address to be entered to win.  I’ll be drawing for our winner bright and early on Monday morning after my return from Mississippi.

Quiltville Quote of the Day

If you want to get things done, get in there and do it! Scrappy trips quilt from the free patterns tab at the top of the blog.

Hove you made one? Or two? Or three?

Happy Saturday, Quilty Friends -