Guild Meeting & Quilt Class

Last night my guild welcomed May Black, a certified Judy Niemeyer instructor. She shared so many quilts with us, including her first! She's come a long way, baby!!! Of course her Judy Niemeyer quilts were fantastic but I have to say I fell in love with her bear portrait. I'm not really into "art quilts" per se but I have to admit I admire the work involved. This one is probably the only one that has really put joy in my heart. It was so beautiful! Did I remember to take a picture? Of course not!

What this is all leading to is that, no matter where you live, if you are a quilter, you should join your local guild. My guild, Hearts 'n' Hands, is large enough to support several national instructors each year. In between, we have some very talented guild members that share their expertise with the rest of us as well. For less than $2.50/month, I have been entertained and inspired by so much talent over the years of my membership.

Whenever we have a national instructor, the next day a class is offered by that teacher, giving us the opportunity to learn their technique. Today I attended May's class called Cactus Flower Table Runner. I've been interested in Judy Niemeyer patterns for a while -- ever since my friend Dorothy entered her quilt called Clam Shells into our guild's quilt show this year. Anyway, long story short I thought I'd give a Judy Niemeyer quilt a shot and signed up for the class. Here's a picture of our pattern.

Yesterday was a long day of prepping for the class. I already had my fabrics picked out & starched (yes, I'm a starchie!) and was ready to cut the fabrics up for class. It was our homework and I was determined to have it done. It took almost four hours!!! Oh my, were my legs aching from standing & cutting for so long!

Today was the big day and I was excited. Several of my friends were also taking the class -- Millie, Judy, and Edna. We piled all together and got our areas set up. We were all very excited to be learning this paper-piecing technique that is world-famous (in the quilting world, that is!).

Here's what I accomplished today. I made three of these sections and started several more.

I also got two of the missing pieces in that left-hand corner sewn up.

And I got the first & second sections of one unit sewn up.

This is really a fun project but learning the technique was intense for a lot of us. Our seam rippers were truly working overtime! Lol! I am going on retreat this weekend and hope to finish this up while there. I was pretty sure that this would be a one-and-done project ... until there was a drawing. Guess who won?!?!? ME!!!! What did I win? A FREE pattern called Cotton Candy.

I'm thinking maybe a patriotic version? Or a Christmas one? Who knows but I'm clearly not going to be one-and-done! Thank you, May Black, for being a wonderful teacher! And thank you to my guild for bringing in such interesting, talented teachers!