Sunday, June 7, 2009

Fireworks Class!

It was a long and tiring day, but in a very GOOD way! I had a lot of fun, and I think my "students" did too, judging by the chatting, laughter, and the headway made on the quilts.

The class was full with 12 quilters--13 including me, but that doesn't seem to have been an unlucky number. Several of the "regulars" came as well as a few new faces. In particular, I was quite tickled that Ruby, one of my blog readers, drove 1-1/2 hours from home to attend!


Here's a basket stuffed full of the little "gifties" I made and couldn't show you before:


I think I mentioned in a previous blog post the Studio e Classmates pattern I'd bought and made. Well, I modified the size a bit, making it a little larger so it would hold the pattern. I also tucked a pencil and a half sheet of paper inside for class notes, and I added an extra copy of the block layout sheet. A few people are making the quilt using different colored fabrics--I brought crayons so they could color the extra layout sheet to match the fabrics they were using.

A couple hours into the class, we took a lunch break. I didn't get too elaborate with the table decorations this time, because I knew we wouldn't have very much space. You can't see them in the photo, but I had hot dogs heating in a crockpot. I took this photo an hour or so before lunch, so not everything was laid out, but I knew we'd get busy and I'd forget to get a picture. Colleen was thoughtful enough to bring a cake to add to our feast!


By the end of class, just about all the food was gone!


This is where I sat. (Notice the nearly empty Starbucks iced latte? Yep! You just knew it was MY spot, didn't you?! Oh, and those were my sunglasses--it's always important to make a fashion statement, even when attending a quilt class!) You can see I had a good view of all of my students, and I kept them hard at work! I was sitting next to Gran, my embroidery teacher, so what did I do? I embroidered, of course!

We took another little break later in the afternoon for some show and tell.

Imelda had brought her Hat Party quilt top--it's not done yet, but she had it pieced. Pretty, isn't it?! And much prettier in person--my photo doesn't do it justice!


Bev brought her tulip quilt from the Spring! class--she opted to leave off the bunny and added garden bugs. I think it turned out great!


Imelda was the first to finish her center. Ooooooh! Aaaaaaah!


Followed soon after by Julia! Oooooooh! Aaaaaaaah! Julia marked her rows with Post-It notes--given the limited room we had, we weren't able to lay our blocks out, so marking the rows helped.


By the end of the day, we were all starting to get tired, and a few of us made errors in positioning blocks or sewing the correct row on. But just about everyone either finished their center or came pretty close. One of my friends, Jackie, wasn't able to get to class until we were a little way into it and so she didn't get quite as far, but since we work together, I'll be able to help her if she thinks she needs any more help.

And I finished my "M." But not in class--I brought it home and finished it here.


Thank you all for the comments saying you wished you could be in class--I wish you could too! I asked Hubby to pick a number and he picked--gosh, I can't remember what it was! I guess I'm tired too! I think it was 26. No matter, though. I counted up and figured out the winner of my "honorary student" giveaway before my mind went numb. The winner is Melissa from Cornbread and Beans who said, "I sure wish I could see you in action in one of your classes, I bet you would be a hoot! Thanks for hosting this give-away JUST FOR ME!! hehehe =)melissa." Congrats, Melissa! Please email me your address and I'll get your "student packet" in the mail to you!

10 comments:

dianne said...

i walked the dog early so i could sign online and see how the class went - the fireworks tops are coolie-boolie and it looks like everyone is having fun, fun, fun! my heart went kerchunk when i read that the winning honorary student was Melissa 'cuz i thought that MY Melissa had won ... but Melissa from Cornbread and Beans is not MY Melissa - congratulations to her ... and now i'm going over to your etsy shop to order a couple of patterns (for MY Melissa - so she won't get too sad when she finds out that she's not a winner) ...... i love your scarlet letter!

Greenmare said...

what a fun class!! I'd love to have you for a teacher.
by the way, that M is very cool looking. I'm assuming it's for MARE???

Anonymous said...

Yippppeee! I am so excited! Are you are mailing yourself too? I promise to feed you lunch while you give me my own personal class! LOL
Thank you so much Kim!
melissa

Ruby said...

Kim, thank you so much for a fantastic class!!! It was so much fun, what a wonderful group of women who made me feel right at home. And what a darling quilt shop, next class I'll have to get there much earlier to shop!!! It was well worth the drive! Can't wait to take another class from you. Did I mention how fabulous the pattern was and how easy it went together. I have plans to make one for Halloween
and Christmas.

Karen said...

I think being in your class would be awesome - looks like you treat your students wonderfully

Hugs - Karen

BTW - love the M

Karen said...

I think being in your class would be awesome - looks like you treat your students wonderfully

Hugs - Karen

BTW - love the M

Julia from Thimbleberries said...

Ruby was right! The class was great fun. I enjoyed meeting the new people--Jackie, Theresa, Ruby, Linda and Colleen--who I had not met. This pattern whould make a spectacular Christmas table cloth.

Julia

kcenya1950 said...

Looks like once again your class went great. Your students results look terrific. What is the quilt that is your tablecloth? Looks lilke some Thimbleberris fabrics. That is a great quilt too. Hope you get some time to relax before the work week starts up again.

Sharon said...

I think the all had a good time and seem to have gotten a real good start on their quilt. I'm really glad that it works up fast. Now, about that "M" what took so long to embroidery that? Apparently, you weren't using a machine so does that mean you are learning to embroidery or is it some unique way that I am not seeing? I love the look of it, I like the curves. The quilt on the lunch table I have, it is from TB's Club 2003. Is it yours? Thanks for sharing and all the pictures.

Greenmare said...

oh it IS that bag under your projects!!!! how cool is that? so part of me was with you anyway! yeee haa