Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Return from Asilomar

I'm back...have been since 2 a.m. on Thursday morning. Then the laundry and the time change and unpacking and putting things away and the two quilts I've finished and the next one loaded have all taken time. I cannot get used to the time change this year. We keep having dinner at 8:30--not good. Especially since we still get up at 6. I need to watch the clock and not the daylight to figure out when to eat.

But...here goes! Judy Niemeyer's class was phenomenal! We had 25 (or so) students in the class, all working on various stages of their own projects. Several had begun projects and were finishing up and even more had never done a Judy quilt and were newbies, like Cindy and myself. I was the only one doing Agave Cactus, several were doing the Bali Wedding Star (more about that later), another started Judy's fun log cabin pattern and others were working on still different projects. We probably had about 12 different patterns going at the same time. I was a bit concerned that I'd be lost in the shuffle, but Judy's teaching method left no one needing attention or instruction. She's very down-to-earth and an excellent teacher.

Because I was the only one working on this project, Judy got me started with the outside border to keep me busy until she could help with the center star. The top left is a piece in the picture below shows one of the border sections. There are four of each of those in that configuration; then four more in the opposite configuration. By the time I had been there for two days, I was strip piecing those as if I'd been doing Judy's quilts forever!

Joyce was right; my center star probably would have looked better with batiks that read more as solids, but I'm okay with it. There is one mistake that took us a bit to figure out; bet you can't see it. We'll see if you can tell when I post the finished project (notice I said "when," and not "if.")


Judy's quilts are done in components. This shows all the border pieces, the center star, the "lone star" piece as well as the outer star bits. I have almost all my components done and plan to put them together soon! 


The last day at Empty Spools is a "walkabout." At 4 on the last full day (when class is supposed to be over for the day), everyone tours the other classrooms. A great idea to get you motivated and inspired for next year's project. Before folks started touring, Judy was at my design board and attempted to put the quilt together in some semblance of order. The darn thing is huge! She ran out of room rather quickly.


Other than the "lonestar" segments and a few border bits, I am ready to put this baby together. Its a bit intimidating, but I think I can do it. Then I have to applique on the little curved bits at the ends of the blue/purple/green sections. Of course, that means fusing...I don't applique.

While I was busy in Pacific Grove building a quilt, Dennis was busy in Port Townsend. He built this Greenland Kayak in 7 days! They built them using the stitch and glue method, so he was doing some sewing of his own.




PS...thanks for the nudge, Joyce--got me to post!!!

7 comments:

  1. Hi Dorothy. I have to disagree with the comment re: your batiks. I think this is looking quite beautiful, even with the 'error' (which, yes, I can see, but who cares?). Good for you for getting so much done.....between all the chattering that you and Cindy did. C'mon! I know you. Looking forward to seeing this as you start putting it together. And love Dennis kayak. I'm impressed with both of you....as usual. :)

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    1. Took Judy a bit, but she identified my error and helped me fix it. She's awesome. Cindy and I got a lot done because we couldn't sew and talk on this one. It required too much concentration!

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  2. Dory, you are so brave! I don't think that I would tackle that, but yours looks stupendous! I am in awe and can't wait to see it done. I think I see the mistake, but it still looks great. I do agree with Marei, I think the fabrics read just fine. Go Dory Go!!!! Your DH's kayak is really something too! Kudos to him, it looks pretty complicated to me. Sara

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  3. Looks great and it is only a mistake if you wanted to replicate her quilt exactly, it is much better to put your own spin onto Judy's design therefore you made it your own!!!!
    I can't wait to see this one finished it will be beautiful. Glad you had a great time and got so much done. I am taking a class with Judy at the end of the month, I am so excited especially after seeing your quilt and how much you got done at Asilomar, way to go!

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  4. The quilt looks good, but I feel that fabrics that had more consistant color would have been much more dramatic. I can't wait to see it finished.

    Hey, where are you 3 previous Asilomar finished quilts posted. When searching I did stumble upon the Sun Bonnet Sue family affair. What a great job your sister did! My sister suddenly died last year. I really miss her and regret that I did not take the time to go see her or call her more often. Joyce

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    1. I hope to finish this quilt at a retreat in WA coming up soon. Since this is my first one, choosing colors was a crap shoot!! Hope it looks good when its all together.

      My other Asilomar quilts are currently UFO's. Unfortunately, my Janet Fogg project still consists of only Emma's head. *sigh*

      I'm so sorry about your sister; that must be hard for you.

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  5. Other than choosing fabrics, this quilt really wasn't hard once you sat through a class to figure out how things go together. I really had fun with it and can't wait to see if the bits go together to make a great whole quilt. We'll see!!

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