The Quilt Skipper

quilting makes me skip for joy

Jenny K Lyon

Quilting makes me skip for joy

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There actually was blood drawn….

July 15, 2021

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!

Our gorgeous Opportunity Quilt!

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

 

 

 

Filed Under: Life, Quilts and Art Quilts, Teaching Free Motion Quilting

Comments

  1. Carol Weaver says

    July 15, 2021 at 11:37 am

    There’s a way to get blood out of fabric. If it’s your quilt and your blood spits on the blood. Your enzymes will break down your own blood. I know that this sounds unsanitary but it works.

    • qskipad3 says

      July 15, 2021 at 1:44 pm

      Carol I have to chuckle because most of my quilts have had “donated dna” on them and I use the spit method for removal. It is kinda gross!

  2. Peggy Martin says

    July 16, 2021 at 1:26 am

    Hi, Jenny,
    I hope that the workmen are finished soon so you can have your usual peace and quiet!

    It is nice that things are getting to be a bit more “normal” these days, after all this time…

    Your guild’s opportunity quilt is gorgeous – love the beautiful quilting on it, too!

    I have something like 50 tops (!) in my quilt closet that I have been quilting in all this down-time from teaching. Some will be donated to various organizations, and I will keep some, too… (this is what happens when you actually have time to CLEAN your walk-in closet, and don’t have a zillion quilt guilds to travel to…)

    Hope to see you at Houston this year!!
    – Peggy

    • qskipad3 says

      July 16, 2021 at 5:00 am

      Ugh, those workmen – doing their job but after weeks of this I am weary. FIFTY TOPS??? Wow, that’s a lot of quilting to do Peggy. I WILL see you at Houston – yippeee!

  3. Elaine says

    July 17, 2021 at 1:26 pm

    A fan from Michigan. Love the guild quilt. Always enjoy your blog and find things of interest. Thanks.

    • qskipad3 says

      July 18, 2021 at 3:51 pm

      Thank you Elaine! I appreciate that you read and comment. I get excited about every comment!

  4. Rebecca Grace says

    July 21, 2021 at 5:40 am

    We loved your lecture for the Charlotte Quilters Guild and my friends who were in your FMQ workshop thoroughly enjoyed it. I can’t believe you stabbed a student with your stiletto, though… Yet another advantage of virtual workshops, right? Hee hee! I’m only teasing. Your guild’s Opportunity quilt is gorgeous and I’m so glad that in-person events are returning at long last!

    • qskipad3 says

      July 21, 2021 at 10:50 am

      Thank you! Yeah, never stabbed a student before, hope to never go there again. Lesson learned. I am so excited about in person workshops again!

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