Innovations 2010 – Second Day, and beyond!

Wow!  As they say, time sure flies when you're having fun!  I can't believe it's already the Wednesday after Innovations and haven't posted since last Wednesday night!  I haven't had a chance to tell you yet about all the fun things I learned on Thursday or about the great dinner I had that night.  Here’s our photo after dinner, from left to right:  me, Debbie Wendt’s mom, Debbie Wendt of Wendt Quilting, Marian Drain (CuddleTime Quilts), Marion Carmickle, and Edie Eliott (CuddleTime Quilts).

Marian Drain taught her Incredibly Easy Techniques for Success class for the first time…and it was a hit!  She talked all about grain line of fabric and how it affects the quilting process and those waving borders, as well as how to tame them.  Way to go, Marian!

I took a Baptist Fan class from Laura Lee Fritz, who is also the author of four different books.  I’ve had my eye on at least two of them for some time now, and I had ordered Creative Classics before I left for Innovations.  What a great class!  Not only did she explain the technique, but we got to go up to the whiteboard and draw out the patterns.  Some were shy and didn’t want to go up to the board, so they stayed at their desk and drew, but I really needed the feedback and it helped a lot.  What a treat to get to take a class from the author of a book!

I also took a class called Bluming Background Designs from Irena Blum, an award winning quilter, author and teacher.  This was also a hands on class and we drew for almost 2 continuous hours, going over the techniques and getting feedback.  Some creative students came up with their own unique variations, creating people and animals from the designs which were quite wonderful.  The time just flew by!

I flew back to Boise on Friday morning, as I was trying to get ready to sit at a booth at the Hyde Park Festival that weekend, but it didn’t work out.  However, I was able to finish a Bronco quilt!

I’ve been looking for a blue and orange variegated thread to use on Bronco quilts and finally found it!  Wonderfil, a Canadian company, was at the show and has a line of variegated rayon threads called Mirage.  I also bought a spool of their Deco Bob thread, but didn’t use it this time so I could test each separately.  Mirage quilted up perfectly, not one thread break!  I discovered, however, for this sort of project, that the variegated colors disappear too much for my taste.  It’s sort of cool that you see a “shadow” of the football design, but  I am going to stick with either a tone-on-tone or solid color that is opposite of the border color.

I’ve got another Bronco quilt top in the queue, I just need to decide if it wants a fleece or cotton backing.

Back to work this week, lots of homework, and quilts calling my name…there’s not enough time in the day!  Sigh….