There actually was blood drawn….

NOTE: I’ve got two posts this week. It just didn’t make sense to mix them together so I’ve got another post here about quilting density.

Gimme a minute and we’ll get to the blood thing, okay?

It’s been a teaching kind of week, a fabulous one! 25 engaged, prepared and enthusiastic students joined me from the Charlotte Quilters Guild for a Saturday of Start With a Square. Hubby and I lived in Charlotte for 4 years when our boys were early elementary, 1995 – 1999, pre-Jenny quilting days. It brought back great memories of our time there.

Sometimes I get a gift as a teacher and this was one of those classes. I was especially thrilled with 17 students in mid-July. Class participation usually hits bottom in July. Oh we had fun, and the level of free motion quilting experience ranged from almost-new to experienced so that was a fun challenge. Debra already completed her piece and shared it with me:

Didn’t she create a fabulous piece? In Start With a Square we start with a NON-fussy cut square from a larger scale fabric of your choosing. We were able to work through 10 filler and border designs in class and students have access to short, clear videos of a total of 16 designs. I polled students before class as to their preferred choices so I was able to target the designs of most interest, making the class customized to the guild.

I love how Debra used the designs in her piece. The addition of the swirls in metallic thread add a lot of interest to the piece. Brava Debra!

I started my Tuesday with this view as I finished my walk:

I start my walk before the birds are up (literally). Tuesday I got a late start, with this nice reward.

Tuesday morning found me with a full class of beginning free motion quilters at my local quilt shop, Meissner Sewing. Oh what a delight to have filled the classroom with machines humming – I miss that sound! I forgot to get permission from my students to share photos. It felt so good to be back in the classroom.

Okay, this was a first:

Yes, I wounded a student! I was pointing with my stiletto and accidentally jabbed Cindy’s hand. She was a gem about it, lucky me. When I came around to check on her work and saw the blood and a bandage, well, that was my first clue. So, chalk that one up to “The first time I wounded a student”. I hope there are no more such incidents.

One fun thing about being a teacher is seeing the clever tools, notions and organizers that students bring. This is what I saw from the back of Sherri’s machine:

How cute, no? Around the front of the machine, I saw what it was holding:

A pincushion! How clever and cute.

This class was another gift – everyone was on time, prepared and full of energy and creativity. It was just a dynamite class, one that happens every once in a while. Lucky me!

But Tuesday was not done yet! I grabbed a quick dinner after packing up from class, and headed over to a local park for the first meeting in 19 months of my local quilt guild!

We met in a park, picnic style, with about 50 in attendance. The weather was kind to us and even though the day topped off in the mid-90’s, we were quite comfortable in the shade of the grassy park for the evening. It filled my heart to be with my guild peeps, it’s been too long! I’ve been active in the Folsom Quilt and Fiber Guild for (I think) 17 years and have been Program Chair (2 stints of 2 years each), and Wearable Art chair for the show maybe 6 years and put on the annual Fashion Show for maybe another 6? I love my guild and missed seeing everyone.

Don’t you love our Opportunity Quilt this year? I really want to win this one!

Tuesday was a long, wonderful and heart-filling day. Now, no teaching or lectures until Aug 13 when I’m teaching Yes You CAN Free Motion Quilt! at the Folsom Meissner. Locals, Meagan just opened up the class to more students (post-COVID) so there are currently openings. You can sign-up here or get on the Wait List if it fills. It seems like there are always students who end up having to drop.

As I write this, this is in my front yard. It is 8:14 PM and I wish you could hear how LOUD this is! They have been doing work on the street for weeks now and they stage in front of my house. I am so over this. Sorry to be grumpy:

There are currently 18 men out there, working hard. And yelling over the din of the beep-beep-beep of the equipment backing up, and pouring and pounding and jack-hammering and loudly compacting and street cleaning, sometimes all at once. I yearn for quiet…

I’ll link up with:

Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday
and
Finished or Not Friday