Quilting

Since teaching my first class I have had the opportunity to Long-arm quilt some quilts for the ladies in the class.

The first quilt I quilted was the quilt we put together in our first class. Rather than quilting an all over design, I decided to break the quilt up into its elements and quilt each element with a different motif. I quilted leaves both simple and a tropical leaf in the green corner squares and in the Orange boarder I quilted  large flower and leaf design.  I found 3 wonderful block designs which I free motion quilted in the large blocks, a gecko, a fish and a tropical leaf pattern.

The next quilt was one that many of you can probably identify with.  (I know I can!)The woman who made this quilt had this beautiful top finished and in her sewing room.  It had been in hiding since her daughter was in high school, it was intended as a graduation gift.  That was 15 years ago!  When her daughter asked about it, mom went on a search.  Low and behold the top was complete it had just never been quilted and bound!

Problem solved!  Now her daughter is getting a beautiful, long overdue gift for Christmas.

Teaching

I taught my first beginning quilt class this summer.  Oh was I nervous!  Having never taught a class I wasn't exactly sure what to expect.  I have 14 years of quilting under my belt yet somehow I didn't feel qualified to 'teach'.

I had just three students in my class, which was just perfect for me.
Two of the ladies had sewn before which helped.  One student was a very new sewer but I was quite impressed with her willingness to learn. (It was nice that I wasn't the only beginner in class.)

I had sewn up this quilt, which I used as the class sample.  I had the students use 9 pieces from a layer cake and pre-cut the rest of the strips for them.  I planed 3 hours for the quilt assembly.  Can you believe that it took almost 4?  I need to plan a longer class period next time.

The quilt measures 42" x 42" when completed.

Here are my students and their completed quilts!  Thanks for letting me have the opportunity to teach you what I know.  And for being patient with a newbie.