Creating a Quilting Community-- Come Sit & Sew with me!

Hey Long Island!  Are you free this Saturday?  Want to come sit and sew with me?

 

I have the opportunity to start a new quilting group at the Rockville Centre Public Library and I'd like all my quilting friends from real life and blogland to join me. (10 am - noon)  Everybody's welcome, any experience level.  We are going to talk about quilting, not just focus on learning a new technique, so the more people in on the discussion, the better.

 

Why did I want to do this, you may ask?  Well, I've been thinking..

What I need right now as a quilter is not more images of quilts through social media, more fabric,  more patterns, over-inspiration, but time to focus on what's in front of me.  I'd like to pay more attention to actual quilts and quilters, focus on and study specific patterns, and try to figure out what appeals to me and why.  Are you interested in being part of a quilt discussion group of sorts? 

Come sit and sew with us and discuss the craft of quiltmaking.

 

What we'll do:

Please bring some hand sewing to work on.  If you're new to hand sewing, I can teach you how to EPP.  This is going to be mainly a discussion group.  There will be show and tell, of course, and opportunities to get to know other quilters but not just what they're making, but how they feel about what we do.

Everyone is welcome.  No experience necessary.  Quilters are always happy to teach and share.

 

The schedule looks like this:

November 8  --   Quilting Communities

November 22  --   Shapes and Patterns

December 6  --  Process, the steps of making a quilt

December 20  --  Dating quilts, quilt labels, gift quilts

 

Please come ready to share and learn.

If you have questions about techniques and what you're working on, that's great, but it's more of a sharing group than a teaching group. Please join us.  We will also spend some time each week exploring the library's quilt book collection.  You can find inspiration or give inspiration. 

For more information and directions to the library:  http://rvclibrary.org/

You can totally get there by public transportation, it's only a 3 block walk from the Rockville Centre LIRR station! (or a $4 taxi)

Monday Morning Star Count 2014/41

Someone gave me puppy dog eyes at this weekend's NYC Metro Mod guild meeting and asked me to keep posting the star counts.  Of course I want to, but the weeks just get away from me.. but I'll try to be better, because there's a whole community of EPPers out there!  And you guys need a place to connect and be accountable :)

I've started taking my EPP box with me everywhere again and I've been lucky to find some stitching time at Tae Kwon Do.  This project has a deadline fast approaching, so it has been bumped up on the priority list.   Is anybody else working on something with a deadline?

So, who's been stitching?

Hello from under the pile..

of quilts?  of fabric?  of paperwork?

Thanks to everyone who checked up on me this week.  I've been in such a whirlwind I hardly even know when it's Monday anymore, and then it's Tuesday, and all the sudden it's after noon on Thursday.  I love that my friends miss me, and I'm sorry for missing the Star Count this week.  I did baste triangles..

but I think it's time to let you in on what's really going on down here, under the stacks and piles, the toppling fat quarters and the roll-away spools..
I've been working on something, a new project, a big project.  The kind that will have its own ISBN number.  I can't share details yet, but now you can understand why my relaxing EPP time is so limited.  This is what life looks like these days..
(Frantically binding project samples at the playground)

 (never ending stream of clutter and ideas across my desk) 

It is fun, thrilling, exciting, frustrating.  And it never ends.  Until it's done, the pressure is constantly there.  Everything else falls to the wayside-- eating, sleeping, emails, remembering to send birthday cards and call my mother.. I pop in on IG every once in a while and see things for quilt market, and I'm like, what?  that isn't until.. holy crap!  it's the middle of October already?!

So yeah.  Thanks for bearing with me.  I'll try to schedule MMSC posts for the rest of the Mondays in the year, but if I slack, know it's for a good reason.  Thanks for worrying.  I truly appreciate your support. 
I do have other new and exciting news too, but I'm waiting to get some details finalized.  If you're local (Long Island) there will be some events soon, and even if you're not, you'll hopefully be able to hear me talk about quilts via the internet in the coming weeks.  Details once they're available.  XOXO.

Ladies and Gentlemen

I think I'm in love...


with Puzzle quilting.

This is the puzzle edge to edge pattern in Christina Cameli's book, First Steps to Free Motion Quilting.  I have wanted to try it since I first opened the book last year, but I was scared.. (why does FMQ frighten me so?!)  I had to wait for a project small enough to be manageable and to not care if I didn't get it right the first time.  I tried it on a mini quilt last week, and yesterday I tackled these string pillows.  And I'm not kidding when I say I am in LOVE with this pattern.

Once you get into a rhythm it is such a comfortable movement and so satisfying.  Each little dip or blip just has it's own curved wonderfulness.  The intersecting lines at the corners of each puzzle piece make me almost giddy.  I think you have to be a quilter to understand. 

Anyway, I think this is my new default quilt pattern.  I just need to test it out on something big..
Have you tried anything new that completely excites you?  Please share~

Tuesday Morning Star Count 2014/40

Who are we kidding here, this post never gets up on Monday mornings anymore.  For some reason, the kids get the best of me, every weekend.  Here's what our Sunday night looked like..

Second ER visit in 24 hours.  He's fine, but gave us quite a scare.  Would you believe I brought my sewing kit in my bag, just in case they kept us over night?  Thankfully I didn't have a chance to use it.

Before all the drama, I did manage to find time to stitch at work(!) a bit on Friday..

 I know I've been adding stitches to this same block for weeks, but I finally got the outer ring attached.  Now to see where it fits in the rest of the puzzle.  Part of me wants Travel Quilt #5 to "read" chronologically, but that may not work, color-wise.   I guess I'll have to lay it out again and see.

Has life been getting in the way of your stitching too?  If you've made any progress at all, even just basting, please show us!

Monday Morning Star Count 2014/39

I sat with Christa as she stitched today after lunch.  I should have remembered to bring my sewing kit, but I haven't started carrying it with me to work daily yet.

This week I took lots of pictures of quilts, and did lots of hand stitching, but only made a little EPP progress.  My sewing kit is a mess..


Has your stitching been more focused than mine?

Monday Morning Star Count 2014/38

Just a few more plum blossom hexies this week..  Savor each stitch.