Marathon Quilting Day

I forgot to tell you about this beautiful book I purchased yesterday at the craft fair. It is Mother Earth and Her Children by Sibylle Von Olfers, illustrations by Sieglinde Schoen Smith. On the cover is a picture of part of a quilt that Schoen Smith made. It is stitched and embroidered entirely by hand. It took her a year and a day. The illustrations in this book are various pictures of her quilt. Inside the book is a full picture of the entire quilt. It is incredible! The colors and the detail are fantastic. When you go to your next quilt shop or quilt show, look for this book. It is awesome!

Here is a picture of the quilt I quilted during my first machine quilting class at Sisters 'N Stitches in Fremont this morning. I had a great time learning how to use this machine, and I learned a lot. One thing I learned is how important it is to have a straight cut backing. I sometimes sew two strips together and they are not always even. I do not take the time to cut it straight across, or make sure it is squared up at the corners. The second class is next Sunday. At the third class I can bring my own quilt to work on. The first two weeks I work on Community Quilts. The owner donates fabric, batting, and thread, as well as the use of the machine, to make community quilts that she donates to our quilt guild. The last class I can bring my own top and backing to quilt. I have a crumb top (pictured in a previous blog) that I have been wanting to quilt so that I can donate it to our guild.

The bottom picture is of my four New York Beauty blocks that I completed for class this afternoon. I didn't even make it to my target of six blocks! I made half of another one in class today, but did not finish it. My sweet little Singer Featherweight machine was not working well for me today. It was working against me. I thought I should replace the needle since it was skipping stitches. Well, I put the needle in wrong and almost wrecked my bobbin case. I put that hummer in three times and finally got it right. I took a picture of the teacher's (Sue Wells) quilt, but it was too fuzzy to put in here. You can hardly see the spikes. So you only have my four blocks to view. Her quilt is really neat, too. She also brought her bed quilt. It is wonderful. She started with a center block, then added borders. Her last border is New York Beauty blocks.

But, I was so proud of myself today. I drove the green monster (my husband's Chevy Silverado pickup truck that he says is really mine since my name is on the registration and I worked and made all the payments). I had to drive about 15 miles to south Fremont where Sisters 'N Stitches is located. After my machine quilting class, I drove about 30 miles north to the quilt store, Quilt Fans, in Alameda for my afternoon class on New York Beauties.

After this posting I am heading into my sewing room and making some more New York Beauty blocks, maybe. Or possibly I will work on my feathered star class project, or make some house blocks for Bonnie. What I want to do is make some crumb blocks to send to her, also. I love to make crumb blocks. My Carolina Crossroads needs finishing, also. So many choices! And there is always my UFOs under the sewing table! No rest for the wicked!

Happy Quilting