Month: January 2011

Yesterday, as I mentioned, I went to CQFA AND the Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild Meeting. I was a little concerned about spending so much time away from home, because I had hurt myself earlier in the week and wasn’t sure how my body would handle it. It turns out that I was fine. I wasn’t 100%, but I had healed enough not to be cranky and miserable.

I headed down to CQFA after performing some family duties at the crack of dawn. I was a bit early so I stopped at Starbuck’s and caught up on a few things. The meeting wasn’t as serious and busy as the last one, which was nice. We organized the meetings for the year and will have a social/big show and tell in July. We were able to spend a lot more time on Show and Tell, too, which is my favorite part. People at CQFA do the most unbelievable work. I wish I had taken a picture of Dolores’ quilt as it was GORGEOUS. She made a sun out of silk tie fabric. The sun was yellow, but then the piecing was a colorwash from green to purple radiating out from the sun. It was beautiful from close up and far away. A real stunner.

This was but one of a number of gorgeous quilts. I brought the Zig Zaggy top  and the Flea Market Bag since I haven’t really finished anything else that wasn’t given away. I was also really busy last week and even though I started getting ready early I was still racing around at the last minute trying to get stuff together.

I didn’t get to go to lunch with everyone, because I wanted to attend the Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild Meeting. Yesterday was the first time the meeting was on Saturday. The President jumped through whatever hoops she needed to jump through to get the community room for us on weekend days, so we were able to have a sew day. It is a nice room – big, has power, good lighting and some space for food items.

I didn’t want to bring my sewing machine, but I brought my FOTY 2010 project so that I could work on the side and bottom/top triangles. Sadly, I forgot the actual diamonds, so I had to improvise with a paper pattern.  I’ll write a separate blog post about cutting the triangles.

It was very informal so people walked around and looked at what everyone else’s projects. The projects are really different than the CQFA projects and it was good to see a different side of quiltmaking.

I brought the Stars for San Bruno to show everyone and people pledged to make some. They were also interested in my FOTY project so I talked to people who stopped by my table.

Angela had a nice bag. She made it from a pattern in the book from That Patchwork Place,The New Handmade.

I have a vague memory of hearing about this book, but don’t remember seeing it. I looked through it briefly and found the bag pattern Angela made to be best one. There were a few others that were interesting, but wouldn’t be on the top of my radar. They don’t have it at my  Library, so I will have to see if I can find it at another one. I am interested in making a bag like Angela made.

First, it is a good size.

Second, the pockets are great. Angela had her actual small, leather purse in the top, large pocket, but her cell phone and other devices are in the front pockets for easy access.

Third, I like the way it stands up.

Fourth, the design had a long enough strap to wear across her body.

Fifth, I really like the shape, because it is a useful shape! While I still want to remake the leather, saddlebag style handbag I curently, this pattern has some possibilities for interim hauling.

Finally, Angela used a great combination of fabrics. This has nothing to do with the pattern, but I think that is part of the reason I looked at it twice.

There were a lot of other projects going on. Lynnette was making whirligig blocks and I got a little lesson in how she was doing that. Angela was in the process of getting ready to quilt a 9 patch she had just finished basting, so we chatted about quilting it. She had also made a Little Wallet, but she put a loop with a clip on the outside so it could be clipped to a larger bag. GREAT idea! Joylily was working on samples for a book. Julie had a Sizzix machine and was telling us about the variations between the Sizzix, Go and one other brand of cutting machines. Ruth was combining some embroideries she and her sisters had done with some quarter log cabins she had gotten from a swap. She found some out of copyright designs on Flickr. Another great idea! Someone was basting a table runner. People brought books so others could look at them. Lynette did a 10 minute demo on the tube method of making bias binding. She made me want to try it again.

One great thing about watching these folks work is that they use all sorts of tools I haven’t used. Ruth was using one of those square rulers with the slices in it to make strips. I had never seen anyone use it, though I have looked at it in shops numerous times. Julie uses the Sizzix to cut appliques and other shapes quickly.

Aside from feeling like a complete geezer at the meeting, that group is a real working group with a nice feel to it. And nobody calls me a geezer! 😉