In the past 8 days I’ve taught in 3 states and packed and unpacked suitcases 3 times! I’ve met so many wonderful quilters and my quilts have enjoyed getting out and being seen. I’m so blessed to be able to do what I love and have the energy to do it :-)!
In Princeton, IL I presented my lecture: “Journey With a Compass” and the following day they chose the Mariner’s Compass workshop. We found a large, oval platter in the church kitchen where the workshop was held and these 4 talented quilters really made great progress towards getting them done.
Kate did it all with her hand in a cast (I was impressed)!
From there I stopped home for a day to regroup and then traveled to Iowa City for a Threads Untangled lecture and a Parallelisms workshop. What a friendly and fun group. The fiber art created in class was delightful, but I was remiss and totally forgot to take a few pictures :-(.
I then returned home for 2 days to pack up for the Fox Valley Technical College – Sewing and Quilting Expo in Oshkosh, WI. I taught an all day Free Motion workshop on Friday, and on Saturday I did 5 lectures in 8 hours – Whew!
The toughest part was packing 7 bags and loading them in the car. I’m so glad I have an SUV that can hold it all.
The students were interested, and interesting, and there was so much information to share and many beautiful quilts to see. It really was great fun, and I slept very well last night :-).
One of the interesting things I learned was in the evening lecture with Karen Kay Buckley. She highly recommends serrated scissors for cutting out fabric. They enable you to cut through many layers without having things slip around. She has them available on her website: http://www.karenkaybuckley.com/store.php?cat=5. Her quilts are wonderful (you’ve probably seen them on the cover of a magazine or two), so do spend a little extra time checking out the gallery section of her site.
Thanks to everyone who made this past week so enjoyable!
Did you attend the Expo? Did you learn anything you’d like to share?
Sylvia says
Chris:
I attended the Oshkosh Sewing and Expo and was fortunate to have attended both of Karen Kay Buckley’s one-hour classes on Saturday. She had two ideas that I thought were really clever. To make a sand board for tracing applique pieces on, she purchased a peel-and-stick tile and adhered a piece of 180 grit sandpaper to it. I think that would make a wonderful travel sand paper board. The tile can be cut to any size you want with a utility scissors.
The other piece of “travel” equipment she suggested was cutting a piece of luan board in a size that was packable, and covering it with drill fabric. She said that she likes a really hard surface to iron her appliques on. The luan board is impervious to steam and will not warp; if the drill gets soiled it can just be replaced. Drill can be purchased at most fabric stores, but probably not at a quilt shop.
Other information that I found helpful: If you want to use a clear monofilament thread in a bobbin, only fill it half way. When beading, use silamide thread; it is stronger than regular threads. If you have difficulty removing marking pencil, try brushing it with a microfiber cloth. If you cut out a plastic template and find a bump the edge, instead of trying to trim it with a scissors (and probably making it worse), sand it off with an emery board.
clkquilt says
Great information, Sylvia. Thanks for sharing!