Sign-ups have begun!

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Registration for next year’s Empty Spools Seminars has begun and I would love to see your smiling face in my class! I’ll be teaching a colorful independent study.

‘Independent’ means that you can work on any project you like. It can be one of my patterns or someone else’s design. It can be any style from traditional to modern to art, pieced or appliqued, by hand or machine.

‘Colorful’ means that I’ll share lots of information about color for an hour on set-up day. The next morning we will spend some no-sew time playing with color before you jump into your project. This is a simple, yet powerful, exercise that my students always love. What you learn will help you make fabric choices during the rest of the class.

If you’ve never been to an Empty Spools class, it is definitely time to treat yourself!

Click here for more information.

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Now that we’re home from the Grand Hotel…

Elanor spent the day catching up and shipping orders. Three big bags of packages will go to the post office first thing tomorrow morning.

There’s one order from class with no name or contact info for side-threading needles. If you think that’s you, please email me at becky.pieceocake@gmail.com.

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I spent part of my day going to doctors. This morning I saw my foot doctor. I have a toe that curls under its neighbor and it has begun to hurt. For now, I can wear a tiny little silicone sleeve on it. In late July, he’s going to do a ‘1-stitch’ procedure to fix it. I think that means he’s going to lop off the offending underside of that toe. If it works, the other foot will be having the same thing.

My mother told me that when I was a baby she did her best to straighten up those two toes, wrapping them to make them grow straight. It didn’t work but, Moms, they know so much.

I went to the dermatologist this afternoon. I have a line under my thumbnail that a physician/student suggested it would be good to have it looked at. My doctor looked at it and my other fingernails. Turns out, I have a similar thing going on under other nails, just not so pronounced.

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After much deliberation we both decided that it was probably not melanoma, but that it was prudent to watch it. I’ll be going back in 3 months. He measured but didn’t have to do a biopsy today. That’s all good news. The bad news is that I need to forego polish for 3 months. Dang!

Donna, who takes very good care of my nails so that they always look good on camera, will make even unpolished nails work for me. I’m sure of that. However, the transition from one to the other might not be so lovely so it’s good that I’m not on the road teaching again until August.

FYI: If the line under my nail gets wider and irregular, that’s bad. If you have that, go to the doctor NOW!

Side note: I wore a dress in case he needed to look me all over. Turns out, he did. Nothing of note, thankfully.

And, lastly, I should show you this room at the Grand Hotel. I took the photo as we walked by and the door was open, between guests. All of the rooms are decorated differently and I didn’t see that many, but I really like this one!

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The predominant colors at the Grand Hotel are green, red, and aqua. This guest room also has a touch of periwinkle which is very nice. Many, if not most, of the ceilings are pale aqua… just like my very own bedroom at home. Sweet!

So much pattern! Big prints! Strong colors! I don’t want to bring it to my house now but it is loads of fun to visit :-). You should definitely visit the Grand Hotel and Mackinac Island. It’s an amazing place.

 

Show and Tell

You all are finishing things right and left! Judie Fleming made a Magical Unicorn 18” pillow for her granddaughter. Judie reports that her granddaughter really likes it, as do I!

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I have to admit that I never thought of making the block into a pillow, but that is a fantastic idea! I asked Judie how she got the pattern that small and it turns out that she enlarged the color photo and traced the pattern from that. Quilters are such creative thinkers!

Thank you, Judie, for sharing!

Show and Tell

Laurie Schierer took my Pick-Up Sticks class at the Hands All Around Quilt Guild a couple of weeks ago in Normal, IL. Not only is her quilt amazing, it is also quilted and bound! Way to go, Laurie! (The Pick-Up Sticks pattern is in my book, The Quilter’s Practical Guide to Color.)

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During the design part of this class, we put together student blocks in a variety of sets. It occurred to me that you could add triangles to the blocks to form a center (wonky) square. Laurie ran with that idea and I’m so glad she did!

Here are just a few of the other settings, combining student blocks, that we played with:

 

 

A gift from Caryl…

I’ll bet every one of you knows and loves Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry’s quilts. They are stunning works of art that make you smile all the way through to your heart. Recently Caryl sent me this email:

Since I have retired from teaching and retail, I am, as time permits, offering my patterns and digital workshops free of charge on my website.

I have just uploaded my most complete workshop ever, showing in minute detail how I made my quilt, Soaring Compliments, from start to finish. You will find it and all of my other free patterns and instructions at: http://www.bryerpatch.com/faq/faq.htm

Caryl’s sharing of her knowledge and techniques is so very generous. I know that I am grateful, as are you.

Thank you, Caryl!

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Show and tell…

Lisa Corneilson sent me pictures of two of her (amazing) ecently finished quilts. The first quilt is Tulips in the Park

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I love the setting Lisa used on this quilt. I would never have thought of using those stars in the block corners and they are an excellent choice. Well done, Lisa!

Here is what Lisa wrote:

I started “Tulips in the Park” as a block of the month back in the 1900’s, lol, and I finally finished quilting it! I decided to hand quilt it with this curly Q whimsical, free hand quilt design, and it got old fast, so I put it away for years at a time taking it out and quilting for a few days and then back it went to the abyss of unfinished quilts.

 

This year I decided to finish things up so it’s my first finish of 2018 and I am so happy with it.

 

I love your patterns and this is one of my favorites. I changed the setting and created my own border and luckily I saved material for the binding, using the stripe from your collection of fabrics at the time. I can’t tell you how many times I wanted to use that fabric. Now it is free to use in other projects. I learned a lot about appliqué from your books and I thank you for your inspiration and wonderful patterns!

 

This blue one was a guild challenge – monochromatic while including the guild block which is “Country Roads.”  It’s been awhile, 2000 I think, but I also used your flowers in this one. I won the challenge.

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This quilt is also very well done. The flowers are taken from Stars in the Garden and it is an excellent example of how you can use elements of pattern in new ways. I especially appreciate the pieced background behind the flowers.

Lisa, you made two lovely quilts AND they are finished. Way to go, you!