Happy New Year!
We actually celebrated with friends and I was still awake as the clock struck twelve… I slept late the next morning.
A new year and time to finish a quilt that had been sitting on the side. Quilted, trimmed, fabric for binding chosen but not cut.
Done! Now it hangs in my Zoom studio behind my seat. It makes a great background for my white hair. Debbie Maddy fabrics for Moda and nine sashiko style stitched panels, approximately 46″ x 50″.
A new year means new classes to prepare for. I have four wool appliqué classes on the schedule in the next few months. I set to work on assembling kits. I need over 100! All hand cut and packaged by my fair hands. Lots of different color combinations… Everyone gets the basic kit.
Enough wool to make the pincushion, with co-ordinating embroidery threads and notions. We add wool thread and my Embroidery Stitch Guide in class.
I needed to make a new sample for the South Bay Quilters in Redondo Beach (April). Beads are an optional extra.
Looks good, complete with stuffing?
Scrolling through Instagram something caught my eye and I needed to investigate further!! I’m teaching rope bowl making twice in February but this didn’t need rope, just fabric strips and I have plenty of those?
I had several Zoom meetings to attend so I decided to try fabric twining/ making twisted fabric cord.
And then I made a little bowl!
And a coaster…
Less substantial than bowls made using rope but, with a basket of fabric strips at the ready, I will make some more.
Back to the kits! It snowed.
I had a Zoom lecture with the Indianapolis Quilters Guild. We took a Trip Around the World over Zoom. The ladies were good sports and their prizes went in the mail.
Time for Craft Napa and Walking Foot Quilting – Take the Scenic Route. Some of the students had left before I took a class picture.
It was a busy day!
I wasn’t too worried about the snow because I was knew I would soon be heading out of town.
If it’s the third week of January it must be Road to California. Lots of flights were cancelled because of the weather so I was very glad to arrive in Ontario just an hour behind schedule, with all my bags!
I was ready to teach five classes and two Handwork Learning Lab sessions, along with a bit of this and that in between…
I didn’t take very many pictures but here’s a few to give you an idea.
All of my Walking Foot Quilting classes filled. We were making beautiful organic curves in this one. Please note everyone is sitting upright in their chairs with their hands on their work!!
Richard is still stuck in Canada but Cay, Marie and Sheila had everything ready to go four hours ahead of schedule.
I was definitely surplus to requirements but that didn’t stop me hanging out in the booth and helping people find all sorts of things they needed!
Here’s Eloise from Clover in the Handwork Learning Lab, back for a second year. She was showing off the Fabric Tube Maker in this one.
Those wool appliqué pincushion kits were well received on Wednesday evening!
And I took a class! Sheila and I enjoyed a day with Australian quilter, Helen Godden on Friday.
Sheila was a model student stitching away on the sit down mid-arm machines.
We both stayed right to the end of class and finished our projects.
It’s always good to be a student for a day and remember what it feels like working on a strange machine. Helen was a great teacher, skilled, knowledgeable and super friendly. A wonderful combination. She has lots of online classes if you want to try her style of quilting!
Time to return to the snow? I was able to fold down one of my suitcases and put it inside another one for my return journey. The kits went down well?!! Steve met me at the airport with the news that the cupboards were bare so we went grocery shopping before going home. 🙂
Another successful year at Road to California. I’ll be back in 2025.
Meanwhile, we had an ice storm yesterday so plans to go out were delayed until today. I need to mail some packages!
I have added Panama City (Panama) to my Weather App. I need to remember that this time next year I will be preparing to cruise somewhere warm! Here’s a look ahead to the third of the classes I will be offering on the ship. Inspired by traditional Molas, this project is definitely suitable for beginners but will be a fun project for anyone who wants a souvenir of their trip. Kits will include the printed design, threads, and notions of course!
As it says, next year you could be here! (Find the details on the Quilt Seminars at Sea website)
