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!

To continue the story of my trip to Quilt Nebraska….

The next day, Friday,  I was in the new convention center located a short walk (less than from the far reaches of the Hilton in Houston to the convention center floor, and they are all attached!), which was lovely.  The rooms had not been completed when they toured the facility (it was still under construction, the place is SO new), so some of us ended up in rather cozy classrooms.  The students were incredibly gracious about the tight quarters…not one single person complained (at least to me) and they all just figured this was what we had, so work with it, and we did!  I moved my stuff to the floors to create more workspace, and the rooms had these really nice counters in back which we appropriated for work and cutting surfaces.  They also has an awesome front-of-room thing with a white board, pull down screen, and two “doors” that covered it that could hold either a large pad of paper or on which you could PIN stuff… PERFECT!

Friday, the second day, I taught one of my all time favorite classes to teach:  Fine Finishes.  I teach four basic techniques, but share a number of others.  Depending on how quickly students work, they can explore some of the other techniques… I just have them tell me which one, then I explain that one to them….there are enough hours in a class day to teach all the techiques, so I cover the essentials then let students learn what they came for.  My theory is that I am there for them to pick my brain and learn as much as they can and as I can teach, so I share as much as possible!

One of the best moments was toward the end of the day when a student asked something I’ve never been asked before:  how to bind an *inside* corner.  Fortunately, I remembered how.  We used one of her quilt mini-sandwiches to do up a sample.  I liked this so much I’m going to make up a sample to have on my own to add to the offerings!

Two students shared their bias strips to try piping with a binding…they look great!

This striped fabric looks a bit bold, but when used as a piping it was subtle and fabulous!

And on Saturday, another totally fun class, Hawaiian Applique by machine!  Stay tuned for the many photos in part 3!

The last week of July, I headed to Nebraska (with trepidation given the weather forecasts for 100+ days everywhere in the midwest).  I left a cloudy Maine and snapped this photo on the way out of the midcoast:

Outbound...love the picture of the land through the clouds.

To get anywhere, I either drive a long way and spend the night (more expensive for the guild) to catch a plane out of Portland or Boston, OR I leave from Rockland/Owl’s Head, which is about 30 minutes from home.  Mo bettah!  Still not inexpensive, but less costly than an overnight.  The plane is small — here is a blogpost from last May — perhaps 9 passengers total, one of whom sits next to the pilot.

Once I got to Nebraska via Rockland to Boston to Detroit to Omaha to a car to 2-3 hours to Kearney (phew), I taught three classes:  Art Uncensored, Fine Finishes, and Hawaiian applique.  Since there are a ton of photos (and I’ve skipped a bunch), I’ll break it into two posts.   I must say, I seem to have taken cooler weather with me.  The 100+ temps abated and it was a quite tolerable (thanks to A/C) 90-ish during the days.

The first day I taught in a conference room in the Holiday Inn since the class was small.  This is the first time they have offered classes on Thursday, and I think many were low on students.  We still managed to fill up the room!

three students filled up the entire conference table (along with all the STUFF I schlep for them to try)

They did a great job and produced a lot of nice surface-designed fabrics, using both my carved blocks and the raw materials and ideas of their own:

An end-of-class collage of pieces made

And even more end-of-class samples by the students; techniques include lino-cut rubbings, rubbings with Shiva painstiks, stamping, printing, stenciling.... lotsa fun!

I particularly liked how the student used the sequin waste and shaded colors to create the berry clusters here:

The green-on-white is a "paper snowflake cutout" stencil, the other two are the berry/grape/hydrangea (take your pick) clusters... really like them!

And one lady actually made a postcard…

collaging fabric to make a landscape

I’ll be back in a couple of days with the final two classes:  Hawaiian Applique and Fine Finishes.

On Sunday between teaching in Harrisonburg and teaching in Floyd, I used my morning to work on my final two pieces for the Frayed Edges Letters challenge.  I knew which photos I wanted to use, but needed to do my tracing and drawing.  I then slowly tootled my way down to Floyd, only a couple hours south of Harrisonburg and maybe 30-35 miles north of the North Carolina border.  Talk about beautiful country!   I turned off the interstate to a rural highway to a rural road to my hostess’s house, and snapped this view:

Virginia is so beautiful....

In Floyd, thanks to quilt artist Susan Brittingham, we were able to work with the Shenandoah Valley guild to share the expense of my travel so that I could teach in both venues…way cool!  There are some pretty impressive artists and quilters in the Floyd guild, the Old Church Gallery Quilt Guild (I was only a tad nervous ahem!).  Again, we did a lecture, a half-day (Balinese Garden) and full-day (Tame Fiddly, Fussy Threads).

I love it when students look this happy!

Here, a student is testing various stitches on her sample on the left, then decorating her block at the machine

I encourage students to make a practice sample, then if you don't like the stitch or your thread choice you don't have to pick it out! This student was smart, saving fabric by using the cut-out bits (the darker blue) for practice

After the end of the first day, a few of my students kidnapped me and took me for a drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway....thank you Sallie and co.!!!!! Here we stopped at the Chateau winery

Looking east from the parkway to the Piedmont (which in French means foot of the mountain)...sigh...so beautiful!!

Stenciling with paint...some new variations

LOVE the copper on black

Two ladies busily painting; we start the class with the painting, then do the talking about threads and needles and tension and fussy thread while the paint dries, then move on to stitching

Several of the students were in both classes, and decided to combine the projects into one...cool!

The students cut out leaf shapes from the freezer paper, then stencil

Another "combined" project with bright happy colors

The silvery green is lovely!

Stitching with the "cranky" threads isn't so difficult once you learn the tricks and tips

That green one, stitching begun

Remember the lady who used the cutouts for practice stitches, ditto for the stencils; you may be able to see she has written notes to herself about stitches and threads

Quilting happens! I like how the color-printed black cloth works with the metallic paints

More quilting

And my hostess's piece...wonderful! (PS...Hi Pauline!)

Here's a soul who loves quilting as much as I do!

Another practice piece...fun to see the differences in the stitches

Stunning colors and stitching

And on the start of my trip home, I was headed toward the rural  highway that would take me to I-81 and rounded the bend to see this…luckily no one was behind me and I could stop and grab the camera!

Leaving the Floyd, Virginia, area

Thanks so much to Fran Miller and the Shenandoah Valley Quilt Guild and Susan Brittingham (who teaches for QuiltUniversity.com by the way! You’ll see the gorgeous countryside in her quilts) and the Old Church Gallery Quilt Guild for inviting me, their hospitality and kindness.

As we packed up on the second day in Floyd, one student came to me to say thanks.  She had told me earlier that her husband had died last summer, and at the end of class she told me that her sister had passed away a  month before, and this was the first good day she had had since then.  What a gift she gave me by sharing that…  that’s what quilting is about.  Sharing, comfort, joy in the making, learning–and it’s not just quilting that you learn.  Here’s to more good days.

The Shenandoah Valley Quilt Guild (Thank you Fran!)….invited me to teach in Harrisonburg, and I was thrilled to be able to return to an area that I used to love to visit when I lived in DC in my 20s and 30s.  We scheduled a lecture, a half-day class (an abbreviated version of Balinese Garden) and a full-day class (Art Uncensored).  The guild was so charming and welcoming, and had a lovely venue in a retirement center with a large, well-lit room–with good a/c since it *was* Virginia in summer!

Although it has taken me too long to get to posting these photos, I hope you’ll enjoy the students’ work:

The view from my hotel in Pennsylvania where I-80 crosses I-81...wow!

For a treat, rather than going fast I took the old Shenandoah Valley highway 11. Love the old stone and wood buildings...

And the rolling fields of the Shenandoah valley (snapped quickly through the window)

My corner of stuff displayed at the Harrisonburg class

In Saturday's class we played with paint! and veggies and other fun stuff...

Our youngest student, going into 7th grade, made this lovely flower with the bottom of celery!

And more...she really liked the painting!

Printing with leaves (from the grounds of where the class was held!)

And using stamps...this time gold on a dark cloth

Fran, the program chair, and her great grand daughter

Love the "fuzzy caterpillar".... And one student asked if I had used the "Dashed" stitch, the one she used on the green spikes. I hadn't, but I sure will now!

And playing with decorative stitches

Thanks so much to Fran and the wonderful ladies and gentlemen of the guild–I hope I get to return to Virginia and West Virginia to teach!