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Quilt Nebraska 2011, part 3

Saturday, September 24th, 2011

The white is the freezer paper pattern piece (the Ulu or breadfruit block), the red will be stunning!

Teaching Hawaiian style applique is always so much fun, waiting to see how the designs look in the different fabrics.  I offer students a choice:  dive in the deep end of the pool and begin with a block that finishes at 18-19 inches, like the one above, or give the technique a test-drive on a small 6 inch block before moving to a larger piece.   Many students like the somewhat fiddly smaller pieces because they can practice on it in class, then work on their “special” full-size block at home where they are comfortable and have all their fabric stash and thread.   As you can see… we had happy students…this is good!

The pink thread (top half is stitched) really adds a nice dimension to the blue and white pineapple block...well done!

then

Here is the same block being stitched, plus the "negative" or "opposite" block, white pineapples with a deep blue field

For the small blocks, students have a choice of the Taro leaf or a turtle.

Really vibrant taro leaves

And some turtles--really love the pattern on the batik of the turtles, looks like water currents

More Taro leaves being stitched

And turtles AND taro leaves!

Here’s a picture of the classroom:

Sewing, sewing, sewing! As you'll notice, we requisitioned another table from the hallway to go down the center... the narrow tables were not roomy enough for three students each! Thanks to all the ladies for being so gracious about the cozy quarters.

And a few more of the larger squares… I just love the variety in the fabric selections!

This photo doesn't do justice to the beautiful fabrics!

One student used her "positive" cut-out to test various decorative stitches, then wanted to work on the negative (white pineapple, dark background) at home. Great way to test...she did what I always suggest, writing notes right on the white fabric to remember which stitch, what settings. Really like that spike-y stitch!

Lovely range of pinks in the Ulu block

The cut-outs from the plumeria pattern started to look a bit bat-like on this print

(Oh…. tacky moment:  these patterns are all from my Nourish the Body, Nourish the Soul pattern available here.)

And finally, two rousing red blocks.  This student looked at various threads to satin stitch, from black to white to red, and settled on an orange that will set off the edges but not scream:

You cut one square of red (carefully) and fuse it onto two white backgrounds--two blocks for the price of one!

I had a total blast teaching in Nebraska.  The students were great, the many volunteers who put this event together were great!  Thanks so much for inviting me, ladies, and hope you my readers have enjoyed visiting with me!

The state of the studio

Monday, February 28th, 2011

Just a quick update…the WALL IS DOWN!  It is so much better already.  The painters primed that dark icky brown, and even with just a few lightbulbs down there it is much improved.  Stay tuned for further improvements…

Woohooo....in one morning, John Bailey got the wall down, neat as can be!

Here’s a view of the colors and the gap at the other end of the studio….

Looking from the studio to the open area at the base of the stairs. Not the loveliest of colors, especially with a flash!

And primed….just covering that dark helps so much!  Final color will be a pale warm yellow or pale peach:

a better shot

Next, the electrician will order the lights (nine 2-bulb fixtures in a 3×3 grid, flanking the beam that holds up the house!–the beam will be painted the color of the walls) and finish the wiring.  We added a dedicated outlet for the iron, a phone jack plus another for the fax machine (there wasn’t a single phone jack anywhere in the basement!  Needed one to run my office down there!), plus the co-ax for the cable TV (well, DirectTV).  Then John will patch up the drywall and Jeff and company will paint.   We’re gonna skip drywall on the ceiling (kaCHING $$) for now and just spraypaint it with primer).  Then paint the walls.  Then I will paint the floor (Sea Turtle green the color is called…think grass green), THEN I can move furniture and unpack….. and oh yeah, John’s going to make me design wall / closet doors all along the long no-window wall…… WOOT!

Life happening

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

A quick note:  due to life happening, I won’t be near my computer and therefor won’t be able to do the drawing for Susan’s pattern and pattern-book until Thursday morning….  I’ll restrict the drawing to those who left comments before noon on Wednesday!   Thanks for understanding and stay tuned!

Getting ready for Houston

Thursday, November 5th, 2009

Last minute preparations for going to Houston included packets to give to the major distributors (the folks from whom Quilt shops buy their patterns, notions, books and whatnot) with my line of patterns and letting them know about my book, ThreadWork Unraveled.  Of course, none of the regular envelopes was the correct size..too large, too small, none just right.

So I decided to think like my friend Deborah, who is amazing at putting together lovely package presentations.  I decided to use cloth ties or tags or something…and went looking for white envelopes, not boring manila.  I wanted my package to stand out. Then I measured and sewed up the tyvek envelopes so the contents wouldn’t slop around, punched holes to add the tag which has a custom “Sarah by the Sea” stamp on one side and a hand-written “thank you” on the other side, and tied things up!

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So far, EE Schenck (out in Oregon) gets the prize for the most prompt reply (alas a thanks but no thanks).  Will have to follow up with the others.

And, inspired by Margarete Steinhauer’s jewelry bag in the current 2009-2010 Quilting Arts Gifts magazine, I decided to make my own.  Margarete’s cinches up into a little snug ball.   Of course, my suitcases are always crammed, and I am so intensely visual I want my jewelry case to open up flat.  So I made this:

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Here it is open:

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I used an idea from Diane Rusin Doran (who had two awesome projects in the same issue, won a third place in the same category as I did in Houston, and is just cool and fun!), to wit:  paint white velcro so it matches your project—reject the tyranny of white-black-beige!  Diane suggested using a thin, ink-consistency paint.  I didn’t have any so I thinned some leaf green Setacolor.  Kinda blotchy, so while in Houston I bought some Jacquard Ink! From Jane Davila’s Flourish booth to try next; you can find these items at her website store, here (if you don’t find it on the website…e-mail her….they have it and you can order it for sure!).

This project is definitely a prototype…the long zipper (which I had on hand) allows the bag to open flat but is a nuisance in real life, so I’ve got an idea for an improvement.  Then maybe I’ll submit it to Quilting Arts Gifts for next year’s issue and see if I can finally get a pattern in it!

Back next with pictures from the show floor and my classes!

Pre-Orders begin to ship!

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

At LONG Long last, the cases of books have arrived and I will begin shipping pre-orders, with the first orders being shipped first.  All items will be sent via US Postal Service (USPS) Priority Rate Flat Mail envelopes, both domestic and International–the equivalent first class mail.  Since this service is eminently reliable in the US, I won’t contact each of you individually; please DO let me know if there is a problem!   For international orders, the USPS tracking ends when the package leaves the US, so I will send each person living outside the US an e-mail to let them know the package is en route.  I hear that these envelopes take 1-2 weeks to be delivered to Canada, but not sure about Australia.  Someone let me know?  THANKS!