Chatsworth Show and Tell

I was at the thrift store yesterday and came home with a few things, which I'll share as time passes. Most of what I bought was to make samples of different stitching types. I had been there a week ago and needed to check if I had some specific books, and I did that, but didn't get back to the store until yesterday. Surprisingly, most of what I had looked at last week was gone! Yep - even the books. So that means there is a turnover at the thrift store. And why does someone else want the same puzzles and books I like? 

Lots of other things happened as well. Remember what I said about making noise while DH is away? Well, there I was last night at 9:30, washing samples in the washing machine! It was a late night for me, but after my productive day and the need to continue writing, I needed to get those samples washed. 

Here's one thing that I found at the thrift store that I did NOT purchase, but I thought it was neat. There were two tea towels, and this is what was on them. 

Great saying on a tea towel

How cool and appropriate is that? I don't need more tea towels, so they stayed at the store!

Well, Microsoft Word and its AI have become extremely annoying. Now, when I open a blank document, there are FOUR prompts about what I want to write. I do not need a prompt. I only open a blank document when I need to write something, so why do I need a prompt? Good grief! 

AI prompts in Word

Anyway, I've realized how important it is for me to document the quilts I teach and make, so today is all about Chatsworth, a quilt that I taught and was hosted by the Hobby Hose Quilt Shoppe. We started in January and were supposed to finish in April, but I extended the class so more people could finish the top. 

Chatsworth quilt by Doug Leko

Here's an FYI for you: If you want to make the quilt, you don't need the foundation papers that are available for purchase. The instructions are in the book and very easy to sew together without the papers. However, if you like foundation piecing, by all means, the papers work very well. 

The foundation papers

And having said all that, let's see the show and tell. I'm not going to comment on each quilt as I don't have time, and well, that's what attending the class is all about! Sit back and enjoy the show. Some people didn't quite finish the tops, and that's OK. Sometimes, life interferes, and we do the best we can. Some people did much more work, but I only grabbed ONE of their photos. 

Tracey

Shirley

Monica

Karen

Elaine (not me)

Diana

Catherine 

Catherine - back

Catherine - scrappy binding

Cathy

Kathi

Joyce

Renee

Andrea

Louise

 

Maryke

Shelley

Mary

Donna

Connie

Elaine (that's MINE!)

And yes -- did you notice that the quilt is quilted! I used Kansas Troubles for my quilt, and it just begged for feather quilting. That day, I purchased about 10 feather patterns for the long arm as I didn't have any. I really love how it turned out with the scrappy backgrounds. 

Bountiful Feather quilting pattern

It's been a long time since I've used the same fabric for the background of a quilt. And there are several reasons for that. 

1. I often don't have enough of one color, so I use multiple fabrics. 
2. That prevents me from ever running out of fabric, as adding a different fabric is a simple matter. In some blocks, I didn't have enough fabric to complete a block, so I just added more of a different fabric. In the scheme of things, who is going to care? Not me! 

There were twenty people in the class, and here's the breakdown:

1 quilt is completely done

1 quilt - quilted but not bound

10 quilt tops complete

7 partial tops

1 no-show and tell

That's a pretty good turnout. The quilt is easy to assemble, and several mentioned they will likely make it again! 

It's a challenge when there are new people in any quilt class. They are not confident and often second-guess their color choices or their skills. I get that—I was once there. But I wish I could communicate to people that it's OK to mess up the colors. It's OK to make mistakes—that's how you learn. I have several quilts where the colors are wrong. I say, "Get over it, and don't repeat the mistake!"

Well, it's going to be another busy and productive day. I can feel it, and I must get started. 

I'm off to spin class. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!