Week in Review

Wow...
a week, already?!!  Didn't I just finish the last week in review?  Time is going way too fast anymore!

So here it is, in absolutely no order:

I am delighted to be teaching at the East Coast Gammill/Statler Conference in Richmond, VA in January 2015!  I will be one of only a few hand-guided instructors there.  The event is being run by Threads Run Thru It - pre-registration starts in early July.  You can view the preliminary details here, or contact the shop and sign up for their newsletter so you don't miss anything.  You'll definitely want to save the date and start planning your attendance -- it is going to be super fun and full of educational goodness!  I'm hoping to see many of you as well as meet many more -- who is thinking about attending?

My Wicked Challenge for Cherrywood Fabrics -- it is finished!  Should I share a peek... how about three?  I'm not sharing much as I have a super long share-it-all post already written and waiting until after the entry deadline.  I really want it to be a surprise!!

some green...

 marking the edge at 20"

the label

Hmmm, what else exciting happened this week?  Oh.... I totally thought I lost a quilt!  I woke up crazy early one day, way too early to run the machine (peeps still sleeping) so I decided to organize some of my quilt pics and put them all safe and sound over on Dropbox.  Oh no, the folder for Clouds in My Latte is missing?  Really?!!  So I go into the quilt room to check the label for the exact finish date so I can pull up pics from around that time (I probably didn't separate them and they are in dated folders).  OMG... no quilt.  Go through the entire pile again, no luck.  Clouds in My Latte isn't there!  Sitting on the floor having a panic attack... wander around the house in crazy going nowhere pacing... where is it?  I sit down at the computer and boom, it hits me.  I lent it to Fil-Tec so they could photograph it for their catalog... phew!  Double phew!!  Crisis averted, crazy back to its normal level.  But then, I realize that not only is there no Clouds in My Latte pic folder, there are also no folders for Wonderlust, The Choice, and also Stella Luminosa!  Apparently my crazy was at an all time high in 2011 as I didn't create pic folders for any of the quilts I made.  It's all good now, pics are organized and in their proper folders -- its all on Dropbox -- I am safe, apparently from myself!

On the somewhat calmer side of the week...

I'm planning a wedding quilt, not a super jumbo king-size, a nice usable everyday quilt, probably throw size. It's not due for quite a while, but then again, I'm insane busy so it's probably cutting it close anyway! I'm again attempting the two birds one stone theory. I can make the quilt and we (the cronies) can each piece one during our Friday night sews. The pattern we chose was the Sessoms quilt by Carolyn Friedlander:

  

It's paper piecing -- it'll go great for a Friday night gab-fest, just sew and chat, not much thinking involved. Now that's my kind of piecing! Nancy chose brights with a white background, Natalie hasn't decided yet, and I chose to part with some of my beautiful aubergine Gees Bend fabric. Technically it is called Concord. I'm using a Bali Pop called Cotton Candy for my stars.  I love how these look together!

So, anyone that knows Gees Bend fabric knows it bleeds.  And it doesn't just bleed... it bleeds forever! But it is beautiful, so we adapt and adjust.  I pre-washed it five times!  Still bleeding.  Here are the color catchers to show my progress:

On the right is after the first wash, on the left after the fifth wash.  I know, things are supposed to go left to right -- blame the lefty in me!

And here is the washed fabric next to the unwashed fabric:

Again, with the washed (5 times) on the left and unwashed on the right (darn lefties)!  I ran out of color catchers- I may try washing it a few more times once I get to the store for some more.

And of course, a client quilt -- it's hard to quilt when you're dodging storms.  Pictures on the client blog.  I'm hopefully finishing up another one today!

So, what amazing and wonderful things are YOU working on?  Tell me all about them!  My main goal in sharing with you is to inspire that creative spark - it's there, I promise!

And to end the post with a little piece of beautiful, our newest hibiscus, called Hawaiian Tiki Torch: