You Can Quilt! Blog Hop
Good morning! I'm back from the show in Houston last week, and I have a lot to tell you in the coming weeks. I had the opportunity to meet several of the other Island Batik Brand Ambassadors while I was there, and attend Schoolhouse for the first time. I love it when I can combine several things at once. In this case, it was a trifecta - Schoolhouse, IBA and a great new book to teach quilting.
This was the schoolhouse session to introduce "You Can Quilt! Building Skills for Beginners, by Leila Gardunia and Marlene Oddie. My first thought was that the book on the table looks very familiar. By the time I got there, I was pretty familiar with the book - at least my chapters - and it was great to hear the presentation done by each of the authors. I love their thought process, and I think there'll be something for everyone in this book, no matter what your skill level.I had asked for the Challenging blocks in the book - Chapter 12. This was based on the fact that I love a challenge, and the schedule for the blog hop. I can say that the instructions for each block were clear cut and easy to follow - but I can also confess here it's been a while since I've worked with templates, and I had never done a Feathered Star...so there's something off the bucket list at the end of the day.The firs
t block I made was the Compass Block. I love the dimension that the block has, and I already have plans for using this block in a piece later this year. The fabric I was given to use for this project is the Sea Salt Sandy Collection by Island Batik, and the background is their Swe
et Georgia Peach.The next block I took on was the other paper piecing block in the chapter, the Feathered Star. There are a lot of individual pieces to work with, but like any other complicated process in life...one step at a time. The block construction notes use partial seams to put the feathers together, and it really made it quite easy to do. One thing I did note on this block was I manually wrote "G" for green on the paper templates so that I had the fabric placement to consider.
And then we came to the block I found the most Challenging of all - the Butterfly. This one has templates, curved seams and inset seams - all in one block. This one has a bit of personality, but once again - if you take it slow, it's doable. It's also the one that my husband likes the best - go figure.I know in reading the comments by the other bloggers on the hop, that this book has taught several of us things we either never knew or had forgotten. I've actually contacted my local quilt shop to see about putting together a 12 month course for beginning quilters.AQS and Island Batik are sponsoring a giveaway a copy of the book and a fat eight Island Batik fabric bundle. See the Rafflecopter below and enter the giveaway.a Rafflecopter giveawayIf you've missed any of the other postings on this blog hop - it's not too late to drop by for a visit! The links are below:Oct. 9 – Leila Gardunia http://sewnbyleila.blogspot.comOct. 12 –Tammy Silvers http://www.tamarinis.typepad.com/Oct 14 – Connie Kresin Campbell http://www.conniekresin.comOct. 16 – Maryellen McAuliffe http://teachpany.blogspot.com/Oct 19 Christine McCrann Martinez http://madeinscraps.blogspot.com/Oct. 21 Connie Kauffman http://kauffmandesigns.blogspot.com/Oct. 23 Joan Kawano http://moosestashquilting.blogspot.com/Oct. 26 – Marlene Oddie http://kissedquilts.blogspot.comOct. 28 - Bea Lee http://www.beaquilter.comOct. 30.- Barbara Gaddy http://bejeweledquilts.blogspot.com/Nov. 2 – - Pamela Boatright http://pamelaquilts.blogspot.com/Nov. 4 – - Linda Stewart Pearl www.onequiltingcircle.comNov. 6 – Marlene http://kissedquilts.blogspot.com