Curved Piecing

It was a busy weekend. I am tired today, and it is only Monday! Saturday I did my Quilting 101 workshop for my quilt guild. Our focus for that meeting was curved piecing and hand piecing. I have two tops that I have pieced by hand, and one quilt that is basted and ready for quilting that I did by hand. I am working on a charm spool top. It is big enough right now to be a table runner, but I have lots more pieces cut out that I want to use. So I don't think it is finished quite yet. Sunday my hubby and I drove up to Sonora to visit with his dad and step mother. While we were there, we stopped at Bearly Quilting in Sonora. It is a fairly new quilting store (2-1/2 years old). I had not been in it before Sunday. It is a nice shop with lots of fabrics, kits, patterns, books, and fun stuff. There are many finished quilts hung on the walls and hung from the ceiling. While I was there, I wanted to grab some fabric and use one of the little sewing machines they had on display and sew up a storm right there in the shop. If you are ever in Sonora, be sure to stop at Bearly Quilting. I am sure you will find something to tickle your fancy. On the way home we stopped at our favorite Mexican food restaurant in Escalon, the Cancun Restaurant. We think they have changed owners, so everything is not as we remember it, but it was very good just the same. At the workshop on Saturday, I presented three different patterns of curved piecing. This first one is the mismatch of pieces that I literally threw up on my design wall. When they were spread apart on my design space at class, they looked much different. When I brought them home and attempted to put them together in some semblance of order, I found I needed a lot more light fabrics. So I am looking through my stash and pulling out lights and light mediums. This quilt will not be a fast one to put together. I haven't even started to sew any parts together yet. I want to get some idea of a design first, then I can play with my fabric. Maybe I should do a paper mock up including some coloring with colored pencils to start the designs flowing. I thought it would be a breeze to put this quilt together, but not so. More thought needs to be put into the design element, then the color placement before I can actually sew parts together.

This is a four block unit of a Drunkard's Path design that I took out of one of my Georgia Bonesteel's books. This is the more classic design, I think. These pieces were very easy to piece. Since I made them out of some of my favorite fabric, I think they turned out great. Although, I am not sure I would want to make a large quilt with only these two fabrics.

This is a class sample from a class taught by Peggy True for our guild back in 1999. We drafted our own pattern with her guidance and instruction. Then we cut some pieces and sewed some blocks together. This sample is nine blocks sewn together in "no particular order" other than to try out some of the designs we came up with in class. Peggy also had us do a paper mock up with little squares with her curved design. I found that I could actually sew curves without having pleats and tucks!

It is almost time for Dancing With The Stars. This is the last show of this season, and I must see whose dance will win the prize!

Take care, have a good week, and.....

Happy Quilting