STITCHES Midwest! and more…

I have been in a bit of a deep hole the past couple of weeks but I’m climbing out for a few minutes. It’s time to catch up and look to the future.

I taught at STITCHES Midwest! at the beginning of the month. I think my luggage was quite well co-ordinated?Perhaps I need a purple cold bag? I have found that pink bags are often the economical option… not too many people want pink/purple luggage. That’s OK, it lets me get a good price!

Each bag had a theme. The one in the middle at the back contained everything we needed for our Naperville Modern Quilters Guild booth.Those banners are a blast from the past! We made them before we had to change our name but we used them anyway. We were selling tickets to win the quilt hanging at the back. All the money went to the People’s Resource Center in Wheaton. (We made $370)

We also had our very own exhibit on the show floor, 25 quilts on the theme Seeing Stars. They looked good hanging together.On to the classes…

I always get so busy that I don’t take many pictures but here’s a few!

I started Friday morning with an Introduction to Folk Art Embroidery class, lots of chain stitch and embellishments.Not so many in the more advanced class in the afternoon.We kept smiling 🙂Saturday morning started with 25 ladies making Dorset buttons.Let’s see what the back row were up to?

I think they got it!

Ninety minutes is just long enough to learn how to make a Dorset Cartwheel. That left another hour and a half to get to grips with the basics of English paper piecing but there were no pictures in that class…

A quick lunch and then back downstairs to another classroom. This one was set up with 20 brand new BERNINA 430’s for our Walking Foot Quilting workshop.The machines purred along nicely.That was a busy day!

Just one more Dorset button class to go on Sunday morning. I got myself organized and managed to check out of my room before I went to meet the students.

Here are some of my Dorset buttons on display.There were not so many students in the class but they worked hard. Here are a couple of their buttons made with fingering weight yarn on a one and half inch ring.

Variegated yarn,Two colors with a variation!

Good times.

I spent the rest of the day with a demo in the Playground, shopping (!!) and sitting in the booth on the show floor. We pulled the winning ticket (the lucky winner was very happy), dismantled the booth, took our exhibit down and that was that for another year. Four days goes very quickly when you are having fun!

That was two weeks ago. Since then I have been in the book writing hole with just a few breaks… we welcomed visitors from England and I had a conference to attend. Wednesday through Friday we were taking pictures. I’m going back for the second half tomorrow… All will be done by the end of September…

And after that?

I still have Fall Paducah, two STITCHES shows, the Chattahoochee Evening Stars, Quilt Market and Festival to prepare for (details can be found by clicking the appropriate button at the side)

AND I’m teaching at Camp Stitches at the Saddlebrook resort just near Tampa October 18-21. I have mentioned it before. It’s a three day retreat where my class will be exploring Folk Art Stitchery… The best way to find out more is to click that button but here is a picture to give some idea of what we will be doing.

Students can bring their own motif or choose one of mine to embroider. We will also work on a Kantha style stitched background using gorgeous Indian sari silk. We’ll try beading and a little English paper piecing. There really will be something for everyone, all in beautiful surroundings in Florida.

Just for you I can offer a coupon code… who doesn’t love a coupon? It’s valid on bookings made through September 27th. (Find it under the camp button at the side) Bring a friend and enjoy a peaceful yet productive few days before the holiday season begins?

But first I’m back to the hole…