And we have a finish

My beginners class wrapped up this week.  They were all enthused and wanted to know what the next class would be I was teaching, unfortunately they weren't into needle turn appliqué. By the end of Tuesday's class they all had their quilts basted and were starting quilting in the ditch.   We had a bit of fun with all the various walking feet and having them work out how to go on the machine.  I have to say a couple of them were not exactly easy.

I think next time I will have a follow up class in the pipeline.  I will be running another beginners class in the new year, so if you have been thinking about learning to make a quilt and want to know all the basics contact Patchwork by Sea and put your name down for next year, who knows if they get enough interest they might run another one next term.  However with my beginners in mind I have been working on something in the background.

Mid September I will be launching a free sampler BOM.  I have a bit of a sneak peak.  It will be called the Chocolate Marshmallow Sampler and will run for 6 months.  Patterns will be available for free for one month and once the month is up the blocks a new set will go up and the previous months will be available sale at my Etsy shop as an instant download.

I should have most of the details finalised on the weekend so watch this space.

It's nearly Thursday and I have a busy day planned

Don't think I am going to fit everything in tomorrow.  I was thinking this morning on the way to work it would be wonderful to slip back to the 3 day working week and go back to having a day dedicated to sewing, unfortunately the amount of work at work especially this time of year and the bank balance really needs that extra day.

Maestro found out his braces can come off "at the next available appointment" which is in 2 weeks time at which point we have to pay off the balance.  As he has only had them on 16 months and payments were calculated for 2 years there is still quite a bit to pay off and the permanent "gold" wire isn't included so that's more on top.  Every time I look at Squid's smile I know she will be following down the same path in the not too distant future.

Have to say that my Beginners Class is going great guns, and the girls are in various stages of finishing their first ever quilts and all enthused to learn more.  As I think I have said the first week I was pretty nervous but I have been doing my notes as the weeks have gone by to make sure I cover everything they need and I am sure they will come away with a completed (or nearly completed) quilt at the end of the course which they will be able to finish on their own if they need to.  

I am really pleased with how this weeks lesson went as I had girls on 3 different stages in the process.  I did a bit of show and tell with my quilts to show different border options - No borders, pieced borders and plain borders.  We did pin baste one quilt this week and we talked about spray basting (my preferred method) and had the other girls start to add their borders.  The class went really quickly  for me as there was talking on my part and helping with the various stages instead of just watching them sew blocks.

I'm heading to the class room this weekend as a student, I am doing a class on foundation piecing at Hetties Patch as the kids have a break in tennis this week.  Maestro is finished for the season, and Squids team went straight to the Grand Final so they get a weeks break so I get to play this weekend with my sewing machine.

I'll leave you with a picture of Maestro's footy team, it was team photo time.  This was straight after another loss ... only one more game to go not that I am counting but it will be nice to have Sunday's back again.

 

Christmas in July Trio

My last pattern was unveiled today.   Here are the 3 patterns made from Home for the Holiday fabrics by Riley Blake.

 

Feeling Inspired

Feeling really good about my Beginners Class this week.  I wasn't a bit nervous starting out this week and we got into learning about half square triangles.  It has got me thinking about what is the next step for the beginner once they have made their first quilt and it has inspired me to start another project in the next few weeks.  In fact as soon as I finish this blog post I am going to have a play in EQ7 to start drawing a few blocks and put a plan of action in place.  So watch this space over the next few weeks.

Christmas in July at Quilt Fabric Delight's continues this week and my second project was unveiled you can catch all of weeks 1 action here.  I have to admit I drafted this pattern not really thinking about how the blocks would come together and ordered the fabric then realised it might be hard to piece and get it right.  However I did a couple of test blocks and they came together amazingly easily. I think I am going to do a jelly roll friendly version down the track and I'd love to do a scrappier version of the big blocks as well and of course make it just so much bigger.

Well that's it for this week, who knows I may have further news next week on that other thing I'm going to be working on.

Another Busy Week and Weekend has passed us by

Had a great time teaching my first beginners class this week.  As it was the first time I have taught it I wanted to make sure that all those vital bits of general info that you don't get from a Youtube video got passed on to my students.  Like rotary cutter safety, the right way to look after your equipment and other general bits of info about the wonderful world of patchwork and quilting.  I admit at first I was a bit nervous but soon got into the swing of things.

I really should be getting my stuff ready for Tuesday night, but I think I will leave it till tomorrow night to get myself all together.  I actually just feel like sitting and stitching tonight.

It was back to full time kids sport this weekend with a chunk of both Saturday and Sunday taken up with watching the kids play.  Squid played a couple of really good games of tennis and her team won every one of their matches.   I think all coaching over Winter is paying off and she is growing in confidence. What was great was that she came from 0-3 down to win 6-4.

Maestro's footy team has really struggled this year and they have only won 1 match all year and most of the other matches have been mercy rule.  They are also struggling with players as some have dropped out.  There were no subs this week and Maestro played with a recovering sore shoulder, he'd hurt his hamstring at tennis and managed to get kicked in the ankle during the game, but he had to stay on.  The coach sent him to the forward lines for a rest, but 5 minutes later he was working his way down to the back lines.  To their credit the boys didn't once look like giving up and played out the game and tried right to the end.  All I can say is the ice packs have been well used this weekend.  There is only 3 weeks of the season left and it can't come to soon.

Time to finish up now, have to give DH a hair cut then I'm sitting down with another cuppa (T2's limited edition brew Chunky Chocolate mmm)  and some appliqué stitching for the bottom border of my quilt.