Philippa Naylor - Empty Spools Seminar

I just returned from a 5 day workshop with Philippa Naylor.  She is absolutely amazing as a quilter and a teacher.  The class was design and different techniques of machine applique, but she offered so much more.  I can hardly wait to bind or face my next quilt just to try her technique for corners.  She uses embroidery (hand) needles because the eye is the same width of the shaft.  Just changing needles made basting for the turn back method much easier.  I wasn't fighting to get my needle through fabric.  Lots of ideas, lots of technique bits.  My project is a long way from finished but I'll post a photo soon.  Right now the pieces are only pinned to the background.  I'm already researching who I will take next year.  This session will be hard to top!

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Melinda Bula finish

Don't get too excited - I haven't finished my rose!  (But I'm getting closer.)

I took a two day class with Melinda last fall.  Rather than make the detailed design everyone else made, I put together a simple top so I could work on Renegade Thread Play instead.  With Melinda's guidance I finished the flowers in class, but just recently finished the background and border.  I actually have to sew down the facing, but it is attached.

26 x 19 inches

Detail of the flower.  Notice the little swirl between the leaf and the flower.  

The border design is a free-form leaf.
The background had echo quilting and fill feathers.

For my label I stitched my name, city, and year in the fabric I used for the facing.  It was very easy to set up with the Destiny.  It's a font in the regular stitches, not the embroidery unit.

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Happy Friday the 13th.

Long Arming again

I have been back for days two and three of long arm rental.  I did another "practice" baby quilt and today quilted my one block wonder.  For the baby quilts I did overall fills, but today I tried to do a pattern.  It's very different.  I found that if I used my whole body rather than just my arms I had a little more control.  Luckily the top is very busy and the thread does not show on the back at all.  I keep reminding myself of how my quilting looked when I first started on my domestic - it was just a LONG time ago.

 

Two of the fill designs I used on the baby quilt.
These are two different solid blue fabrics but I used the same thread on both.

I did melons around the block.  This shows one center.

Another view of the quilt design.  (One of my better spots!)

Very busy.  The quilting will not show unless you're up close and personal.

I have a long way to go, but I'm having so much fun.  Just today I watched a video of Angela Walters regarding quilting.  A quote from her:  A finished quilt is better than a perfect top.  (I think I got it right)  I have another quilt that I would never get around to finishing, but now I'm going to use it for day 4 on the long arm.

Thanks for checking in.