Quilting in Bloomington ~ Part 2

Last week I enjoyed sharing part of my adventure at the Indiana Heritage Show. This week I’d like to feature my wonderful students. I was invited to teach my three favorite classes (although it’s hard to pick favorites 😊). I started the show with Architectural Repliqué, arriving early to arrange everything.

None of the students had done this type of appliqué before ~ and they all caught on fast!

Because I was able to drive to the show I had room in the car to take all the samples I wanted. Each time I teach this class I make a block along with the students ~ and I have quite a collection of them. In 2015 I did a post about the 70 blocks I’d collected up to that point (click here to read that post). I’ve added many more since then. Hopefully they’ll become a “neighborhood” quilt (or 2, or 3) someday.

The following day I switched gears and jumped into drafting and stitching Mariners Compasses. It was a special group of quilters for many reasons, not the least of which was the kindness they all showed me when I tripped over my suitcase and landed face first on the floor. I’d never done that in front of a class before, and I don’t plan on doing it again. Thankfully I only had minor injuries and I learned some good lessons (“watch where you’re going” and “slow down”). After a brief break we were back at it and the students did great.

I have two additional sweet memories from that class. Prior to it I ran into Mary Ellen. She and her friend Maureen traveled with me to the Tokyo Quilt Festival in 2020. A few years later they invited me to come to Indianapolis and teach Mariners Compass for their guild. Mary Ellen didn’t need to take my class this time, because she really caught on the first time (see photo!) I’m so pleased she thought to bring her quilt so I could share it with my students. Isn’t is amazing?!?

And this is her label. Thanks Mary Ellen!

Also, I had a husband/wife sewing team in class. Bryan and Denise were so much fun, and their compasses were each beautiful ~ but definitely different. Don’t you just love Bryan’s red background?!?

It was a wonderful day in spite of my clumsiness ☺️.

The Saturday class was “Where Do I Start With Fiber Art”, and it was the perfect finale. I was joined by a group of very creative quilters.

And here are some of the fascinating designs that resulted.

I’m so blessed to be able to share my passion for quilting with wonderful, creative people.

Each day we were blessed with a long lunch, and I was very grateful because I wanted to visit the vendors too. I was able to catch up with a few of them who have become friends over the years, simply because we’ve met at different shows. One who was new to me was Chris Schulte who owns Green Light Quilts. Her patterns and quilts were lovely, but what intrigued me was a new line of fabrics she’s designed for Marcus Fabrics.

Each segment of fabrics on the sample card above represents what is printed on a bolt. The segments are 8 different fabrics in one hue (color). So, when you purchase yardage, you get 8 different coordinated fabrics. The card above was for her brights, but her more muted pieces were lovely too. The collection is called “Strip-It”. According to the Marcus Fabrics website the brights won’t be available until July,

but the softer colors were in her booth. I decided to buy a yard of off-white prints. It will be a blessing the next time I want a variety of background fabrics in a quilt (I apologize for not pressing the fabric first).

After class on Saturday I went for a walk and had a lovely stroll on part of the Indiana University campus (praise the Lord ~ the rain had stopped). A block away from the Convention Center was a parking garage with oodles of half square triangles decorating the outer walls. I started my post about this show last week with quilt designs on carpet, and now I’ll end with more hanging from buildings.

Sunday’s ride home was bright and sunny! It was a wonderful trip!

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And one more note for the ladies in my fiber art class on Saturday. I mentioned a fused binding technique that I like to use on my art quilts, and I said there was a tutorial on my blog. I was so sure I’d written one, but I can’t find it. One of the quilters in the class wrote to tell me she’s finished her piece and wants to know how to do the fused binding (I hope this encourages others to complete theirs 😁 – atta girl Tearle!) Since the technique is not original to me, I went online and found a video that’s similar to the way I do it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrrARxm9JH0. The only change I’d make is to use a wavy blade cutter on both sides of the strips so that none of the long raw edges fray, on the front or the back.