Monday Musings - My You Can Quilt Project

I had the chance to meet several of the Island Batik brand Ambassadors this past fall in Houston, which is always a treat because we've worked on several projects together over the past year. There were two of them who held Schoolhouse presentations - which is where you get a platform (and a short amount of time) to showcase what you're working on. Marlene Oddie and Leila Gardunia have written a great book to teach people the basic principles of quiltmaking, called You Can Quilt: Building Skills for Beginners.I had worked on some of the blocks for a blog hop earlier, but when I listened to their story behind the book, I knew that this was a great way to teach beginners the principles of quiltmaking - and I set off on my own You Can Quilt Journey.I went to my local quilt shop with a proposal to teach a year of classes using the book as a guide, and the Block of the Month model.  The book is designed so that you have the simpler blocks in the beginning, and the more complicated techniques later on in the series. The palette that I used is a bright, vibrant color scheme designed to help the student fall in love with the process of quiltmaking.  We start in February, and I can't wait to see how the students work the process out.We'll be holding classes the second week of February at Quilting Away in Amherst, if you'd like to join us.