The Whirlwind of Classes and Talks

It's no secret that I've been a busy girl as of late.  I'm decent at spacing out my commitments and making sure I don't have too many things pressing at the same time. My calendar usually looks well-balanced and responsible. However, I often forget to leave room for the incidentals and unschedule-able things, like illness, vehicular issues, and Acts of Nephew, among other things good and bad. A particularly crappy inclement spring has seen more barometric changes than the weather network* and left me with less energy and fighting spirit than usual. Renovations have meant my sewing corner has moved, rotated and/or been inaccessible since January - tricky when keeping up with two guilds and two bees! And then, of course, there's been hockey. Glorious hockey. Junior, Olympic, NHL, KHL, AHL, WTH?... I will admit that while I sometimes drop the ball on keeping up in quilting blogland, I never go more than two days without checking in on the hockey blogs. In fact, I was caught at a guild meeting streaming a game during a presentation.  I was LISTENING, of course, to the presenter and looked at all her slides, but I also didn't want to miss any changes in the score.  That being said, if I'm the presenter and you are in the audience, feel free to live-stream sporting events.  Just keep me updated on the score!  (NOTE: this does NOT apply in the scholastic setting - secondary students are required to pay attention in class, even if I'm boring.  Therefore, if you by any strange chance or coincidence are a high school student who has me as their classroom teacher at any time, I will not accept any excuses of "But Ms. M..... !You said on your blog....". So there. You have been warned. Also - how did you find this blog, anyway? Get off the internet, go outside and/or do your homework, please and thank you!)

Speaking of giving talks, classes and presentations...

I had the distinct pleasure of leading a workshop on improv piecing at Saskatoon Quilters' Guild spring retreat at the end of April. I do a lot of improv piecing (crazy piecing, free-piecing, what have you) These were the samples that I made up plus more that I made during/after the workshop:

Most of my job was just to give encouragement and provide a little guidance on making such unusual pieces cohesive. Here is all the beautiful work they did!

I was a proud, proud teacher, (though truly I think an improv workshop leader is really more of a permission giver and 'can't' preventer than instructor.) They all had such different styles; not surprising since they've all been quilting for years. Having never given that workshop before, I was quite pleased with how it went. The gals gave me some great and constructive feedback, too.

At the last meeting of Saskatoon Quilter's Guild, I got to see some of their work continued but wasn't able to snap a pic. I had the privilege that night to give a talk on modern quilting. Of that, I have no photos but since no one fell asleep, I think it went well, too. Put a mic in my hand and I can talk, boy!  Only trouble?  When you're the speaker - you can't stream the hockey game...


*As one of many folk around here with climate migraines, I can say that spring is not a great time of year, especially with the yo-yo of sun/snow/sun/snow/rain/snain/snow/sun/rain we've had this go-round. If these manned missions to Mars advertised a permanently consistent air pressure in all compartments, ships and colonies, migraneurs would risk experiencing every bad thing that's ever happened in a scifi film.... Aliens, schmaliens!

Busy. Compulsive.

Ha! We all knew that "three posts a week" thing wasn't going to hold up for long. :-)

In all fairness, I had other things taking up my time.  Like teaching, and spring, and play rehearsals, and vehicular accidents (no injuries!), and general life stuff.  Priorities.  We all have them, so no apologies, no obligations.  However, other than keeping up with the hockey news, I haven't been reading anyone this past week.  So you know what I'm doing tomorrow. :-)

I have been sewing, amazingly enough.  A paper-piecing workshop at last month's Modern Guild meeting led to a scrap-busting explosion of hexagons in my living room. This is what 400 of them looks like.

All from scraps. Randomly pieced.

Yeah.  Since I ran out of my purchased hex papers about a week into this, I ended up making a crap-ton (yes, a crap-ton!) of my own.  You can read more about how on the guild blog here.

I still have some edges to fill in and a border to do but I'm pleased so far.  It's going to be a table topper.  You'd think after all of this hand-sewing, I would have mad skills when it comes to the whipstitch. I should have a wicked whipstitch. But nay, good folks, nay.  It still looks a little like I did it with a chicken bone for a needle and with my eyes closed.  Oh well, maybe some day...

I was working on this piece at my other guild meeting (there are two different guilds in town - I belong to both) and a fellow member, whom I'd never met, snarked me, "Well, that's just compulsive!"  Fair enough - there is a nugget of truth in that, my mother would certainly agree with her, but handwork helps me focus and keeps my hands busy during stretches of time where my attention would otherwise wander, like the occasional guild meeting, and I'm therefore less likely to run around like a four-year-old dragged to a tupperware party for lack of a babysitter. To my credit, I did not snark back, because I don't know her and wouldn't want to inadvertently offend her while trying to crack a joke to prove I have a sense of humour. (However, blogging about it might have devalued that credit somewhat... Oops!) I couldn't help but feel though, while not offended, that there was a different way to offer that opinion that didn't make it a personal attack.  "I personally don't have the patience for something like that" or "I can't be bothered to do hand-sewing or something that small" or even "that kind of thing is not for me" would all have come across as more supportive or polite than the undertone of "there's something wrong with you!" implied with the word compulsive. 

Of COURSE it's compulsive.  Look at this.

I had a pretty good laugh about it.  I'm fairly sure she didn't mean any harm. I'm not generally bothered by criticism. In fact, I think constructive criticism is key to growth and development, and our tendency to over-nice each other, particularly in the quilting community, detracts from our ability to deliver or accept such criticism without taking something personally.  What made me laugh was that the comment wasn't even about the work (too  many colours, poor whipstitching, inaccurately cut or sewn hexagons, or not to someone's personal taste), but that the statement was a value judgment on ME, and not the work. Now, I get called crazy all the time, (there probably IS something wrong with me - lol) but usually by people whose first names I know, and who I have an established rapport with.  I have called fellow bloggers crazy in a loving way, particularly when they are exceedingly prolific or unjustly hard on their own work. I guess I've become more aware as a teacher that what we put out there can have a impact on people.  Imagine if I'd told another artist, a potter, that pottery was a useless art, or a child whose room is covered in pink, purple and sparkles that only losers like unicorns (or apply it to weightier subjects that I won't get into here). It might roll off them like nothing, or it could stop them from enjoying something that had previously.  For the record, I think pottery is amazing and the skill level some people have achieved is staggering. I also have no problem with unicorns, though I don't embrace them as strongly as would your average person on the street.  And I LOVE constructive criticism. It helps me get better at the things I do.  I could not survive as a teacher without giving and getting constructive feedback. But this has been a reminder for me not be conscious of applying value judgments in that criticism. 

I guess you can say I DID learn something from the comment after all. 

I've got other things I've been working on but that's what's tickling my mind today.  Hope you didn't mind the musing.  Maybe it gave you something to chew on.  

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

The QAYG Guild Bag: Tutorial

Our guild participated in the Madrona Road Challenge.

The rules were we could add more of the same line or solids.  And we preferred that whatever it was be quilted.

I needed a bag to take all my guild stuff to and from meetings in so the idea of using Madrona Road for it made sense to me. To make sure I kept it within the "rules", I made it quilt-as-you-go-style, which actually lent a lot of support to the sides and bottom.  Works for me!  The pocket design was inspired by that fabulous herringbone print.

It's got two exterior pockets, an inside zippered pocket, a large notebook or tablet pocket, and a divided pocket for little things and pens. There's plenty of room for my binder, clipboard and various supplies.  It's been working really well so far and keeps my all my guild stuff in one place. Handy!

I didn't follow a pattern - just a sketch I did quickly before I started. I've posted a tutorial  for the bag on the Saskatoon Modern Quilt Guild page, if you'd like to check it out!

TUTORIAL LINK: Click Here

Visit Your LQS Day: Periwinkle Quilting

(I know.  Three posts in the same week - I'm as stunned as you are!  But today is important...) 

I can't go to my local quilt shop today.

So I went yesterday. :-)

It's no secret that I love it there. They know me by name and I get a chorus of "Hi, Carly"s when I walk in; it feels a little like my Cheers.

When Periwinkle Quilting opened, years ago, I was drawn like a moth to wool, or a quilter to cotton.  I hadn't even made many quilts in my life.  I didn't know yet that I was a quilter.  But I was driving down the street, saw the sign and made a bee-line for the store. (Moths, bees, I'm mixing my insect metaphors here...)  A shop just for quilting?  Here?  It was exactly what I never knew I'd always dreamed about...

Once through the doors, I was exposed to a whole new world.  It was the first time I'd seen non-traditional patterns, and fabrics specifically made for quilting.  And en masse, in beautiful colour-sorted sections and entire fabric lines designed to work together.  Overwhelmed? Indeed! But pleasantly so.  I think it's fair to say that without Periwinkle, I might not have discovered the wealth of the quilting community.  (Not to mention that it was Michelle at Periwinkle who started the ball rolling on the Saskatoon Modern Quilt Guild...!)

The staff is incredible there - always ready to help you pick a project or find the right fabric.  They love Show&Tell and have smiled through my many chatty ramblings as I meander.  Everyone is so friendly and it's fun to exchange tips and ideas; I consider the shop a place to recharge my creative batteries and my positive energy.

However, I don't think I've ever gotten out of there with less than a fat quarter...


Periwinkle Quilting
105-2105 8th Street
Saskatoon, SK
(306) 933-3072

Nominated and other news

I have been very busy the last little while and most of my internet time has gone towards checking in with folks who were close to Hurricane Sandy on the east coast or near earthquakes on the west coast, OR soaking up the fabric beauty of the quilt festival! Speaking of the fest...

My quilt, Homespun, has been nominated in the Favourite Scrap Quilt category in the Bloggers' Quilt Festival hosted by Amy's Creative Side.  Thank you so much to those people who did the nominating.  There were 621 quilts entered this time and there wasn't a dud in the bunch so I'm very flattered!

It's blushing!

Voting for favourites goes on for another three days - and you don't have to have entered to participate! Vote here.  And I won't take it personally if I'm not your favourite - there are some amazing quilts.... :-)

Other than that, I've had my hands full over here - mostly with stuff I can't show up until January - but there is the odd thing I've managed to complete/start/ponder.

I finished up my name tag for the local quilt guild and am very happy with it.  Except for the back. Because I'm just that neurotic.  The Newcomer Tea is this evening before the meeting.

Bad tension....

And it looks like the Saskatoon Modern Quilt Guild is a GO! If you're local and interested, get in touch.    It was great to meet some people in person that I'd only known through the internet before (Hi, Patti!) At our meeting, we also pestered the proprietor of our LQS for details about the fun in Houston last week.

Tiny piecing looks almost as pretty on the back...

I'm working on a randomly pieced background tutorial.

I'm battling a cold.  Again.  I tell you - I had an iron constitution and aggressive immune system.  Then I had a nephew.  Tiny people come with exposure to germs heretofore unknown amongst your regular circles. Viruses fierce and treacherous!

There was some luck related news this weekend, too, but that will have to wait until later this week.

So, yes, this post wasn't much more than a pop-in but I felt like posting a little and wanted to keep myself from a tangent.  I hope everyone affected by the hurricane and earthquakes are doing okay and life is quickly getting back to normal for them - you're in my prayers!

Playing with Fabric

This post is a few days behind schedule. Good intentions, blah, blah, shift in weather, blah, blah...

Firstly, this is what happens when you get fabric by mail and your nephew is handy.  He tears into the packages, is fascinated by a charm pack and the two of you make it rain patchwork for twenty minutes of pure fun. Regardless of whether the fabric ends up in anything, I've got my money's worth.  But now, all of Seester's quilt fabric has arrived.

I've got it separated in to darkish-lightish.

Secondly, I went to my first guild meeting on Monday and was pleased to finally meet a blog friend of mine - Flo, of Butterfly Quilting! Very exciting and fun! (Ps - she's a good hugger. :-)

The guild gave me homework.  I have to make a name tag/signature block to wear at meetings. We're allowed to use the block provided or to use our own fabric, as long as we stick to the format.  So, as I have been delighting a tiny piecing lately, I grabbed my crumb bag and my rotary cutter and went to town.  I haven't been able to sew them together yet but here's the preview of the top pieces and the back.

The squares are 1" so they will shrink up by half once the seams are sewn.  I know it seems like a lot of work, and it kinda is, but it mostly isn't. It's also gosh-darn fun and oddly satisfying. Order from chaos!  I whittled an entire  XL ziplock of scraps down to a series of 1", 1 1/2", 2" and 2 1/2" squares was pretty satisfying, too.  I have a really great stash of little squares coming along. Potential is brewing!  My scrap pile is getting smaller, too.

Speaking of guilds, people are talking of starting up a modern quilt guild in town here and I'm so excited I could squeal a little bit.  In fact, I did.  A little bit.  So, yeah, I'm all over that!  You can read more about it here.  PS - Periwinkle Quilting is my local and I love it there.

Okay, I've got get another Diet Coke.