Sunday, April 23, 2017

Quilting Class Review

Hello there!  Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  I did!  It started off with a 3 hour drive up to Hailey, Idaho to take a quilting class.  It was SUCH a beautiful day!  I stopped once to take a picture of the scenery.  Should have taken more!

Bellevue and Hailey are such cute little towns!  Bellevue is the home of Barb of the Mountain Quiltworks blog  (hi Barb! ).  Barb's quilting bee, the 5 Bee Quilt Guild, was hosting Cynthia Brunz (hi Cindy! ) of Quilting is More Fun Than Housework fame.   I was curious how the 5 Bee Quilt Guild got it's name.  It turns out Hailey is in Blaine County which is 5B in Idaho . . . so 5 Bee Quilt Guild.  Makes sense to me!

So here are the three bloggers, me on the left, Cindy in the middle and Barb on the right.  I was a mess.  Forgot my brush and this weekend was a makeup free one for me.  So there ya go.  Anyway here we are!
The first thing I learned in today's class is that Cynthia actually goes by Cindy.  She has the most beautiful, deep, rich voice and we loved her laid back, easygoing style.  (Barb had been in a class where the teacher said as long as I'm teaching this class, you're going to do it my way.  Yikes!)   The class was a lesson in color value and Cindy was using a pattern she designed called Geese Migration.  It's a mini lesson in color wash design.  She even brought a bunch of 2 1/2" squares for us to borrow from.  She found some clear plastic silverware holders which were the perfect size to organize those by color.  Great idea!  I forgot to take a picture of that so borrowed one from Cindy's blog (thanks, Beatrice for finding that!)


We all made about 2 or three blocks using her method and then threw them up on a design wall in no particular order.

Then she started putting them together, on point, by color family . . .


And here's the final version . . .
None of us had any idea what the other class participants were going to be making but when we put them all together, it would actually make a pretty nice quilt.    I have often considered joining in on the Rainbow Scrap Challenge and this block would be a great one for that!

Here are the blocks I made.  The green one hadn't been finished yet when we put them all up on the design wall.  These finish at 10 inches.  By the way I had some serious stash envy going.  Some of the other participants had the most BEAUTIFUL fabrics!  My stash is filled with old fabrics anywhere from 5 to 20 years old and this is a great way to use then up.  But I still enjoyed myself and like Cindy said, it wasn't about the fabric design but the color on the fabric.

So thank you Barb and Cindy for inviting me to join in your class!  It was a wonderful getaway for me.  Barb, I enjoyed getting to know you while we both stressed our way through picking out the right fabrics for our blocks.  This was outside our comfort zone as it is much easier for us to just follow a pattern and do what it says.  Picking out this many fabrics for every block was a challenge!

If you have a chance to invite Cindy to do a class for your quilt guild, I highly recommend this class in color!

I would have a house update picture to show you but it's dark outside and I forgot to take one.   The framers got the floor joists in and floor added onto the foundation while I was gone this weekend and tomorrow, we should see the walls start go to up.  Things are moving right along! 

Oh, guess what!  My daughter's track team had a "for fun" meet within their own team on Friday and everybody had to do a sprint event, a jumping event, a throwing event, and a long distance event.  She was so excited to actually get a personal record in the high jump on Friday at five feet!!  Too bad it doesn't really count for anything; however, now we know she can do it!  I didn't get a picture of the high jump but here is one of her doing the 100 meter hurdles at a recent meet.


Hope everybody had a wonderful weekend!  What did you do this weekend?
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20 comments:

  1. Thank you Janice for your inspiration today and your link to Show and Tell Monday !! Bambi hug

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  2. I've never done a class on colour value, it sounds interesting. It's unlikely I will ever do a class with Cindy it's a bit too far to travel, but it's great reading about it. I have a lot of older and traditional stuff too, I plan on cutting it all up into small pieces and making a scrap quilt, or two, waste not want not. I'm looking forward to your next house update.

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  3. I love taking classes and learning new techniques and seeing the way others think/work. Sounds like a fun day for you! Thanks for sharing on MCM!

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  4. Fun hearing about your weekend, Janice, I can almost hear all the chatter that was happening:)

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  5. I hadn't seen Barb's blog but I do follow Cynthia (Cindy) it must have been a great class and to meet up with fellow bloggers. That part of Idaho is just beautiful and thanks for posting that photo of the scenery it brings me back to the days when I lived near the area (near in Idaho can be 100 miles away lol).

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  6. As much as I like to take classes and learn new things. I'm not sure I could have left that beautiful view on your way to class. I may have just sat and gazed. Thanks for sharing about the class.

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  7. That is definitely a cool block. Sounds like you had a great time. Isn't fun to meet bloggers in person? Next year you need to join in on the RSC -- you could use this block.

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  8. I might be wrong, but I think her Migrating Geese pattern was in an older issue of Quilty magazine. The funny part is I was drooling over that quilt this weekend thinking about how much I want to make it. Sounds like your class was a blast and a whole lot of fun was had :)

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    1. Tish - you're right about Cyndy's pattern being in Quilty magazine!

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  9. That sounds like a fun class. I haven't taken a quilting class before. I know The Fabric Depot here has them all the time.
    That block is pretty amazing. I love all of the ways to use different fabrics. Maybe some that aren't so great on their own.

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  10. It looks like a really fun class and that block with the geese is fabulous.

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  11. Hi, Janice - what a fun class that was! And Cyndy didn't even yell at her students (thank goodness, lol.) What a great day. I'm already picking out more scraps for future blocks!

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  12. It looks like a fun class. I have actually been to that quilt shop when my hubby and I visited Sun Valley, ID a few years ago. What a beautiful area. Blessings, Melva

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  13. It was a great day filled with scrappy quilting! I really enjoyed meeting you. I hope you make more blocks and finish a quilt. I would love to see it!

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  14. The more I quilt, the more I think color value is the key to it all! So taking a class on that is such a great idea. I'm tickled that I recognize Cindy and Barb's blogs. To see you all together in a photo...it's like you're all real people, ha ha! In all seriousness, this sounds like a fantastic weekend of learning, quilting, and gorgeous scenery.

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  15. Oh, wow, wish I'd been there! I'd have loved it. Thanks for sharing your experience. XO

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  16. I love it!! I love that design from Cindy!! and that you got to take a class from her! how awesome. Love the shot of your jumper!!!

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  17. I would love to attend a class on color value! What fun blocks you made! Hmmmm....great idea for RSC! Pinning to my RSC board! Thank you for sharing!

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  18. Thanks for sharing your review of the class. It looks very interesting! I actually found a picture of the plastic silverware organizers on Cindy's blog:
    http://quiltingismorefunthanhousework.blogspot.fr/2017/04/save-our-scraps-blog-hop.html

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  19. I'm late to your blog but found this post and I know Barb! That is probably how I found you in the first place, from her blog. I love this block. What a great idea to use up scraps. And I love that 2.5" square holder! I have lots of those squares and they aren't organized in any fashion. Carol

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I LOVE meeting new quilting friends and always respond to comments so I'd love to hear from you!