Something About Nothing

Tadah!   Swirly Whirly Twirly is finished . . . . . .and made it to the quilt show in time! Usually black is a great background for a quilt to be hung on but not so much when your last border is black.  Oh well.  I'm very glad I spent the time picking out the other quilting. It really was a big job, but well worth it! Why didn't I take a close up of the quilting?  When will I ever learn? Don't forget to stop by Nina-Marie's blog to see all the other things people are creating for Off-the-Wall Friday.

I always like to ask my students why they took my class. I want to know what they hope to learn so that I can guide them and hopefully satisfy the reason the took the class.  My Painted Book Cover class was held the last morning of Quiltfest and to my surprise many of the women were very honest in their answers as to why they were there. . .  ". . .my friend was taking a class this morning and I had to find something to do. . ." ". . .It was a half day class. . ." Hahaha!   Not the answers I was expecting but I'm so glad they were honest with me.  Despite these reasons everyone left with a smile on their faces. (Gloria, how did I miss photographing your final painting?  If you are reading this please send me a photo to include on my blog!)  Creativity has a way of doing that to a person. While painting this student asked if I would feel like a failure as a teacher if one of my student's projects were ugly.   I laughed ...

 Anne and I taught a class on fabric dyeing at the Utah Quiltfest last week.  We had a great group of women in class.  Anne demonstrated all the basics of dyeing. . . (here she is showing how to do the magic of dyeing!) . . .stamping and painting. . .  . . . ziplock bag dyeing. . . . . . gradation dyeing. . . . . .and marbling. I loved Sylvia's marble dye over. It goes so well with her gloves. ;) I taught how to do ice parfait dyeing.  The ladies really enjoyed this method.  The results from everything were gorgeous!        The St. George weather was perfect and we were so happy to have a bright beautiful spot to let it all dry.

I took a class from Ann Fahl while at Quiltfest. I learned all about Metallic Threads and how to use them for thread play and quilting.  My sewing machine did NOT want to cooperate.  I was one of "those" trouble maker students who didn't have all her materials and whose sewing machine wasn't in prime working condition and needed extra attention.  I was so embarrassed!  Fortunately I have fabulous friends and after a phone call one of my friends brought me another friend's sewing machine!!!  I was able to catch up before we started the afternoon session.  We all made one of these flowers in class.  I forgot to photograph mine before it got packed away. I learned a lot in class about metallic threads but the most important thing I learned was that I have great friends.

A few photos from my first day at Utah Quiltfest in St. George Utah. Anne and I taught "Catch the Surface Design Bug" and I think everyone had a great time, I know we did! All the class members made beautiful pieces! We are hoping to have a place to do another wet class at next year's Quiltfest!