Sewing

I would have said I don't enjoy paper-piecing. But I have been working on my Judy Niemeyer quilt top, and I really enjoy doing them. The blocks just go so fast, and they keep my mind occupied. That's good so I don't keep mulling over the things that bother me.

These are the pieces I did at my class last summer at NQA in Columbus, Ohio. The teacher, Karen Conley, put together a kit. Made it so much easier, she also cut the pieces, and put them into the correctly numbered baggies the way Judy directs. Judy's patterns are so well organized, she walks you thru every step. I appreciate that.

These are the start of the blocks I've been working on this week. I was holding off on this project. I thought I would work on it while we were in the trailer, but I just didn't do that much sewing this year while in Florida. So I'm getting back into it now. I am really enjoying watching the progress. Since it's all batiks, and most batiks are brightly colored, this is gonna be a wowser of a quilt!

Thanks,
Lin

MAIL

Getting stuff in the mail is pretty exciting. (I guess I live a very boring life. I confess.) I received the batiks I ordered. Look at all the gorgeous colors.

I had ordered fat-quarter packs of batiks from Connecting Threads, and they arrived today. For some reason, I'm guessing price, CT sent them by UPS to US mail to our house. Lots of other companies send just by UPS, or just USPS. It took 8-9 calendar days from order to delivery. Seems long when Canton Village got things to me in 2 days. Well, I'm thrilled with the selection and anxious to see how they'll play with Desert Sky. Here is what I have of Desert Sky so far:

This will be the stunningest quilt I've ever made! (What? You don't think that's a word? Huh.)

Thanks,
Lin

I TOLD YOU SO!

I told you I would have something to post "soon." Well, here it is. I sewed last night (Tuesday) and today (Wednesday). I got a lot more squares for Desert Sky done. Have a lot more to do, since I want this queen sized. But I'm going to put it away to take to Florida to work on. I have a lot of quilting to do, and I can't do that in Florida, so I better get going!

I see some right in the middle that I have misaligned. Oops!

The colors are in no particular order, and a little haphazardly arranged. I wonder how I managed that. Good thing this is just for Show, and not for Go.

The teacher in the Judy Niemeyer class I took, told us to glue the convex and concave pieces together. This works out quite well. Here are pictures of what I did.

Convex and concave pieces

Pinning the very edges

Laying down  a line of glue just to the seam allowance

Matching the cut edges

And, voila! Stitched together. No creases.

Sharon Schamber has great tutorials on using glue for attaching bindings. She uses Elmer's School Glue however. This is a fabric glue stick. Mine is Fons and Porter. I understand Clover or someone has one also.

Thanks,
Lin

DESERT SKY

Because I decided to make my Judy Niemeyer Desert Sky quilt larger than the pattern I used at the NQA class, I needed more batiks. DUH, right?

I really wanted to go to a LQS and pet some batiks to make sure I liked them. Quilt shops are not local here. So I had to order online. The pattern is written to use fat quarters. Shops didn't sell fat quarters of chosen fabrics, only packets they had made up. I needed high contrast, 6 of lights and 6 darks. I was running into difficulty.

I saw beautiful batiks at Canton Village Quiltworks, so I sent an email asking if they could accommodate me. Jackie responded that they did not cut fat quarters to order, because they would have an odd packet left. However she worked with me, and they picked out beautifully contrasting batiks for me and sent them off.

Such fast--lightning-fast, service. Here in two days! I'm so impressed!

Aren't they awesome?? Now I can't wait to get working with them. And to praise Canton Village Quiltworks.

Thanks,
Lin

Desert Sky, cont.

I worked merrily on Desert Sky, my Judy Niemeyer quilt. I got all the squares done that I have pieces and part for. I ordered more foundation papers yesterday, and will get more batiks. I never would have agreed that I like foundation paper piecing, but, guess what?? I DO! These babies have just gone together so well, and so easily.

The layout will be changed completely when I'm done. I'm just enjoying seeing how they look. You can see that the top 3 rows have dark points and light circles, and the bottom have the opposite. I love it!

HAPPY BLOG-A-VERSARY TO ME!
Yesterday's blog was my 100th! I'm surprised it has gone so quickly. With this New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop, I'm learning so much. Now, I'm trying to put tabs on this blog. I want to clean up the bottom and side bars and put my links in a tab. I'm getting closer, but no cigar yet.

Send me an anniversary cake!

Thanks,
Lin

New Quilt Bloggers

I have joined the New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop. It is very exciting. I have already learned quite a bit. Since I'm a newbie to this whole blogging thing, there is a lot to learn. I'm kinda proud of myself for all I have learned, but realize there is a world of other stuff I need to know. I expect to be making my blog a lot prettier with a little help from my friends.
We will be having a blog hop every week, and I hope you will follow. You can read all about it at Plum and June's. The first day is Today! Please take a look at the above link to check us out.

I have been busy on my Judy Niemeyer quilt. Here are a pic where I am right now. I have the next section half-completed. That will have light points and dark circles.

I'm pretty sure I will order more foundation sheets and make this a queen size quilt. I'm loving it so much, I want to see it every day!

Thanks,
Lin

Judy Niemeyer Quilt

I took a class at NQA from a Judy Niemeyer Certified Instructor on Judy's Desert Sky quilt. Judy's patterns are so *involved*, I wanted to have someone telling what came next on my first one. I was very glad I did. I also bought a kit, so the instructor had all the fabrics picked out, and preliminary cutting done. As you probably know, Judy's quilts use paper piecing as her means of making those sharp precise points. Here are some pictures from the class. Karen Conley was the instructor. I would rate her as very good.

The bottom picture is from Desert Sky, the others are different Judy patterns. Karen said after making this pattern, we should be able to make other Judy patterns without someone step-by-stepping us thru it. It actually was not difficult when you do it step by step.

Here are some pics from my pieces:

The red/blue quadrant is my favorite. The colors really pop for me. It will have a background, like the bottom picture does, of the blue raindrop fabric. Putting on the background piece is pretty easy too, because everything fits so well.
Can't wait to work on this again. Soon. Just a few things in front of it.

Thanks,
Lin