Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Lectures, Workshops and Possibilities


Back in early January I received an invite to be the speaker at MAQ 2015 retreat. I was flattered, honored and little nervous all at the same time. Opportunities like this don't come often... Especially when it's been only a month after the release of your book! I asked the president of MAQ, Ann Giglio to give me 24 hours to think about it. I thought long and I thought hard during those 24 hours. How could I pass this up?

I gladly accepted the chance to meet other teachers and quilters! This will be my first time teaching at such a big venue. I am super excited about that.    

Visit MAQ website  http://www.maqonline.org/  for my classes and other information about the organization.   

In preparation for the next weekend, I took all of my quilts out and aired them on the line in the backyard.

I also have been working on some possibilities from a specific free-form block.



Exploring is more fun than simply making the same quilt over and over again. 




Can you guess which free-form block makes all of the above?

Last couple of lectures have been a lot of fun. I have had chance to meet quilters of many talents. I am also learning to carry on under stress that comes with dependence of gadgets and gismos. Hopefully next weekend I won't be facing any of that but will be ready for anything and everything that may come my way. 

Today, I am also excited to announce the list of my workshops and lectures. Just click on the workshops and lectures under the header. 


Here are some of the quilts I will be teaching in next few months.

Did you guess the right free-form block with so many possibilities?

 

I am excited to explore more with my students next Saturday.
   
There are few spaces left in this class. If you live around Philadelphia, Maryland or D.C. area, come join me for some hourglass fun. 

I will be also signing books. 

Be sure to stop by and say hello!

I know you all are seeing nothing new on my blog lately.. I really haven't been working on a specific project just yet. Many ideas come and go, some I transfer right away into fabrics and some are just staying in my head or disappearing as soon as they are formed. 

Soon enough some of them will shape into something good.

Meanwhile, 

Have a safe and happy4th of July!
Sujata



Thursday, June 25, 2015

Distractions

A new idea is being explored...


With gentle curves of free-form hourglass blocks there are so many possibilities, it is hard to stop.


I see a new quilt evolving at a very slow pace. I am spending much of my time these days in the back yard.


There are many sweet distractions in the garden I must tend to.



For some reason this corn flower today reminded me of the triangle quilt from the book. I needed to see it and once I got it out, it ended up on the clothesline.


That made me think of start of another quilt.

You know how it is. 

If you give a mouse a cookie......


Distractions can be a good thing.. At least it is for me!

Have a great weekend!




 



 

Friday, June 19, 2015

Win a Quilt by Gwen Marston

This never happens! Two posts in one day!

I just received an email from Gwen Marston asking if I would help her spread the word about a cause very near and dear to her and her daughter Brenda Marston. Gwen has made this quilt  to help raise funds for the organization A Quilt of Dreams

Please click on the link to find out more about the organization.


Here is what she wrote in the email , ''I just donated a quilt as a fundraiser to a outdoor camping organization that works very sincerely at providing a safe, inclusive, inner-racial  summer camping experience for poor inner-city kids. It's just outside Ithaca and it's run by a close friend of my daughters so I know they do fine work. I am hoping there are people out there who would like to support this effort and also perhaps win a Gwen Marston quilt and I'm wondering if you could send this to friends you think might be interested, or post it on your blog, or share this in a way you feel comfortable. - Gwen Marston 


Please visit the link to read where your money will go.

http://cec2015.peaksmaker.com/?campaign=1762



Help a good cause and a chance to be wrapped in a Gwen Marston Quilt! How can we go wrong?


Decisions..Decisions..Decisions

It isn't easy to take a decision with too many options available. I went through tough decision making process while working on my quilts for the book.

Can you recognize these blocks? These are the blocks from Hourglass Twist Quilt.

This layout never made it in the book because sadly, I never went through with it.

I am going to show you some rejects today.


At this point I was clueless on how they were going to be used in a quilt. Too busy? Actually I liked this setting a lot but I wanted to explore more.


I thought this layout was too plain.


By grouping them in fours I saw the movement...


I thought I should extend the movement into waves... I liked what I saw!


I thought, may be this quilt could use a border because It looked a bit simple and plain. So I arranged few blocks into borders. It still looked too plain and simple.


Add another color? White? Ralli quilters add white to their quilts.. I thought I could pretend to be a ralli quilter.

It did not do a thing for me.


How about green? And not just any green.. the richest green I could find in my stash. Yes, that did the trick. 

Something was still off a bit.


May be the corner was looking strange.


I switched the green to the outside and continued with green into the corners. It looked just right.


It was perfect with all the imperfections I can pack in the quilt along with some perfections.. I don't want anyone to think I can't sew perfect.. I just choose to mix both my worlds..That's the only way I know how to do things. It keeps my life interesting.

And that's how Hourglass Twist was finished!


I still like the first layout. Will I ever make that quilt? May be! These blocks are so fast and fun to make, making multiple quilts is quite possible.

Then again, there is so much else one can do with these blocks.

Here is a small sample. 

Irregular/organic shapes, freedom of size, movement and endless fun - All in one!


Decisions... decisions!  I don't blame you if you can not choose just one.. I would want to make all the quilts all over again too!

Did I mention I am teaching this quilt at MAQ? 

Three more weeks and only couple of spots left in each class. I am humbled by the response my book is receiving. Can not wait to meet all of you who have already signed up. If you haven't and would like to join the fun, click on the link below to sign up for a class at MAQ
http://maqonline.org/classes.html

I am also going to be at Thimble and Thread Quilt Guild in St Louis in August.

Click on the link below for details on their website.
   
14 August - Presentation - Thimble and Thread Quilt Guild of Greater St. Louis
15 August - Workshop - Thimble and Thread Quilt Guild of Greater St. Louis

Have a great weekend!









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