Playing catch up and pattern for Organized Chaos

I am not even sure where I had left off. Almost three months after coming back from India, I have started sewing and I can say, that is a clear sign of being settling down. 

Greater Ann Arbor Quilt Guild asked if I could send them the samples for my upcoming workshops in July. Since I needed the original quilt for couple of presentations and workshops between now and July, I decided to make a new sample.

I pulled first box of fabrics out and it happened to be full of red and orange fabrics and so began the Marigold quilt. Needless to say, I got a bit carried away. There was no way I was going to finish another large quilt in time so I make a smaller sample and sent it it.

While I was working on the sample, I decided to make a smaller version of Rail Fence quilt too.. Just in case, I need another sample!

Yes, that's a shower curtain as a temporary design wall. These days, anything goes as long as I can continue working.

Gwen's baskets are in the making on the side too. I will come back with this post later because it deserves a post by itself.

Meanwhile there is a lot of work, social/family events and just plain old goofing around going on.
I presented at Stitch Modern event back in April, hosted by East Bay Modern Quilt Guild.
I also visited Baltimore Modern Quilt Guild and Baltimore Heritage quilt guild early in May. It was the best time I had on the east coast since I moved out.

I am looking forward to everyone's finished projects from both of those workshops.

Amy showed her finished Hourglass Twist quilt she made at my MAQ 2015workshop in Maryland.

Here are some pictures of wild life my backyard.

 

Oh and back to quilting for a very important news!

You can order Organized Chaos quilt pattern from my etsy shop.  Click on the link below.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/Rangolidesigns?ref=l2-shopheader-name 

It sure feels like I am back to sewing whenever time permits. I will be at Santa Clara Quilt guild in June and at Sisters, Orgeon and Ann Arbor, MI in July. I hope to see some of you there! 

Have a great week!

Sujata

Recap of visit to St. Louis and Lyme Disease

I had a wonderful time in St. Louis presenting and teaching this past weekend. The guild members were generous with their time and turnout was quite flattering. Total of 120 quilt enthusiasts including non members showed up for the lecture. I enjoyed showing my slides from India and sharing the stories behind them.

Thank you Thimble and Thread Quilt Guild for the invite and your hospitality! Mary Ellen did an amazing job taking care of me! Thank you Mary Ellen for spending time with me.

Julie Sefton of Me and My Quilts - Exploring the Possibilities also drove from Tennessee to attend the lecture and workshop. It is always nice to meet my blogger friends when I travel, it makes me feel like I am surrounded by family members. Julie also brought some of her quilts she has been making from my book. It was a pleasure to see them in person! 

In the workshop on Saturday we had some rail fence fun! We explored different possibilities with the rail fence units.

While some blocks were definitely intentional,

Layout shown in the book Explored by Jezalle

zigzagging rail fence by Mary Ellen

Layout shown in the book - Blocks made by participants in the class

There was one that was all about exploring the possibilities. Or as we call it a  happy accident!

This was made by Louis. She described herself as a very much of a straight line quilter, a perfectionist. She decided to take the class after my presentation wanting to try something new!

Fabulous ''mistake'' made by Louis

All of us liked it so much so that some decided to repeat the ''mistake''!

Most of my students ended up making at least four blocks. At the end of the class there were enough blocks to make a queen size quilt!

Photograph by Jaya Parker

Here is me in action! I decided to dress Indian for the presentation. I thought it would fit the theme better ;-) I also met up with couple of Indian quilting friends I know.

 
Here are my two helpers showing the difference between traditional and free-form half square triangles. Julie brought her dazzling hst quilt for comparison. Thank you Julie!

Quilts made by Julie Sefton and Sujata Shah

 Did I say it was a full house?

Five minutes before the lights went off

One of the things I always like to do when I am up in the air is to stare at the clouds. They calm me down, help me focus before and after the events. 

Somewhere over Washington D.C.

How about this shot? I had never seen the Washington Monument from this angle.

It's nice to be home. I definitely need to take it easy for next couple of weeks or as much as I can.

Something I don't believe I had mentioned here earlier. When I was in Maryland for MAQ, I had noticed a rash on my body. After coming home I rushed to the doctor and was diagnosed with Lyme Disease. I have had four weeks of antibiotics in my system and still have plenty of lingering effects. All in all, I work when I can and rest most of the time. That's also the reason I have been slow at responding to your emails, making quilts and starting new projects. Hopefully these symptoms will go away soon. Until then, I am dreaming of quilts and working on few bits of fabrics at a time.

Have a great rest of the week sewing, gardening, traveling and lazying.
Sujata 

My Presentation at MAQ

It's been already a week since my speech at MAQ. Friday the 10th was a long day! I was scheduled to teach a full day class followed by the presentation in the evening in front of a large audience. There were 270 quilters that gathered at the seminar. It was a successful event for the organizers and teachers. I taught three classes during the weekend.

I don't consider myself as an expert at public speaking. Some people are just natural at it. When I was in grade school, I loved participating in dance programs, which also involved annual presentations at an auditorium. I remember those days very well. Participating in more than two or three numbers,  being on the stage wearing makeup and costumes, I would become someone else. I do not remember fear or anxiety from that time of my life. But when you are older and not in your costumes - things can be different.
 
In 2005, I was asked to teach at such an event in Seattle area for the first time. I was a beginning teacher but my store manager had faith in my abilities to offer me that option. I was not sure if I shared the same confidence at the time, I respectfully declined that offer.
I was also invited to a guild in Seattle by my good friends to give a presentation. Which I had reluctantly accepted. It was fun to see all the quilters admiring my quilts but did I deserve to be one the stage? Hmmm... Not sure about that.

But ten years is a long time for personal growth. As I wrote in previous post,  six months ago I accepted both speaking and teaching opportunities at MAQ.

Back to the long day -

I taught Windmills on Friday. Any teacher will tell you that the most gratifying thing about teaching is to see that sparkle in the eyes and faces of both, experienced and non experienced quilters in your classroom. I not only saw that but they made me forget about my anxiety for most of the day about my speech. My classroom was colorful no mater which direction I looked at.

It would be pretentious of me to say that I wasn't nervous. As soon as the class was over I started preparing for my speech - physically and mentally. Before this event, I had presented at only two guilds. This was a big deal! I did not want to fail myself or disappoint those who came to listen and see.

A really nice, young woman helped me set up the power point. I was introduced by the president of MAQ. I took the stage and introduced myself. I asked the lights to be turned off and there was completely dark! I could sense the eager eyes and ears but saw nothing.

From there on, everything happened as expected. By that, I mean nothing went as I had planned. I was nervous and I forgot my words. In that moment I decided to be true to who I am. In that moment I thought of nothing better than being honest and up front. I told my audience that I was nervous standing in front of them and I needed a moment or two to gather my thoughts. They were kinder than I can ever imagine. It took a sip or water and less than 10 seconds to recover. From that point on, I enjoyed speaking about my home country, my journey through colors and textiles of India.

Next two days of classes were spent in making connections with people at personal level. I made many friends and hope to continue being friends and see them again.

MAQ - An organization I knew nothing about up until six months ago!  It is a quilters' retreat for Mid Appalachian states of Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Each year in July, it is held at Mount St. Mary's University in Maryland. It's spans to a three days' weekend where quilters and teachers gather to teach and learn. There is an open studio space with an instructor available to help those who need it. Classes can range anywhere from one to three days. Everyone boards in the dorm rooms. Having three kids through college I have seen plenty and these dorm rooms were better than any other dorm rooms I had seen in the past. 

I later found out, MAQ does not do any advertizing for their programs. It is a great volunteer based organization which attracts many regulars for years to teach and learn. Check out their blog and website here.
http://www.maqonline.org/

Now you are wondering about the photos.. right?

Well, that was also one of those planned thing that did not happen. I had planned to take the picture of my audience.. I forgot!

I had thought I would ask my friends to take a picture of me on the stage - I forgot. But that's why we call them friends - They remembered! Thank you!

Here I am during the presentation talking about unpredictability and negative and positive space of free-form blocks. 

I had planned to post the pictures of classes in session - I did not connect my phone Wi-Fi on time. So here I am almost a week later with few shots from the MAQ workshops and lecture.

Click below to see some pictures of my classes.
https://www.facebook.com/TheRootConnection/posts/876846599019544

Saturday night was the general meeting where students got to show their work from past two days of classes and teachers had an opportunity to propose for their future classes.

Here are few pictures of students showing off their work. 

As you can see, there was something for every kind of quilter and designer. And there were total of 27 teachers. This was just a glimpse of what was being offered.

Thanks everyone for participating and making the time to see my presentation.

Ann Giglio and everyone at MAQ - Thank you for that nice email and invite. I had a great time!

I learned a lot about my strengths and weaknesses over the weekend. I had forgotten how much I enjoy teaching. It brought back many memories of my days in Seattle. When I published the book, I was unsure if I was willing to travel, speak and teach but this weekend was a true eye opener. My friends then kept reminding me that at some point I will have to decide if I was willing to do all that because the guild will start asking. Now I know. I do want to travel, speak and teach. 

I will be in St. Louis MO in August. They have requested to teach Rail Fence class. I can not wait!
14 August - Presentation - Thimble and Thread Quilt Guild of Greater St. Louis
15 August - Workshop - Thimble and Thread Quilt Guild of Greater St. Louis

If you are in the area, I would love to see you there! I believe there are some spots left for the workshop.

I will be visiting Seattle in early September and teaching Organized Chaos. You all know how much I love that place. It's going to be fun!

Have a great weekend you all!                     

A finish!

It was back in summer of 2012 when I started this quilt. My first post said, ''I will have what she is having''. Click here to read about it.
  
It took me almost three years to finish this quilt! My plan was to finish hand quilting before going to India and have the binding ready so I had something mindless to work on after coming back.  But as they say, plans don't always work out... I did not get to it until the middle of March. 

I am extremely happy the way it turned out. It is warm and soft and quite colorful as you can see. Makes me think of spring and summer even though the lawn is looking quite wintery.

Painted Zigzag is entirely made with women's clothing from the Goodwill store. I liked the challenge of making something bright and beautiful with used clothing. It was fun seeing those prints together. Each block was like a new quilt. Once the blocks were finished it was even more fun to arrange them on the design wall and work on the layout. I chose to keep all the backgrounds in blocks.

 

What's this picture doing here? I will tell you about it at the end of this post.

Moving along with Painted Zigzag...

I hand quilted it with Valdani Variegated Pearl Cotton threads I bought when I was in Houston. They were a dream to work with. Went through the layers like butter.

I stayed with the obvious lines of the zigzag pattern. Seams were pressed toward the darker fabrics so it made sense to quilt on the lighter zigzag. At some point, when I had basted this quilt, I was thinking of machine quilting but, what can I say? I am a chicken when it comes to quilting a huge quilt on the machine. My shoulders just don't care for all that stress but if every evening I hand quilt a little at a time, at some point it gets done.

On March 20th when it snowed, at first I was thinking NO!!! But there was just enough snow on the ground to make me run out and use that clothesline again.

Can you see the binding? I ended up using all the leftover bindings for this quilt. I like how it extends the scrappy-ness of the quilt.

For the back, I used up some of my pink fabrics.. I am generally not a pink person but had enough to put a queen size backing together! I must have liked them at some point.

 And now on to another news..and about that picture...

I taught a class at Burkholders Fabrics yesterday. Windmill is one of my favorite quilts from the book. I took plenty of samples to show my students. 

I have taught this pattern few times before but this was my first time teaching a class after becoming an author. As an instructor, it is always refreshing to see work in progress by students and watching them enjoy making the blocks. It was nice to meet everyone from central New Jersey to Harrisburg and places in between. Victoria from The Silly BooDilly was also in the class. I am looking forward to their quilts.

I answered many questions regarding my fabric selections and inspirations. How I see myself as a quilter and what I expect from myself as a quilter. It was fun chatting with each and every one of them. 

Here are few more dates and places I will be presenting and/or teaching a class in 2015.
 
1 May - I will be speaking at Tompkins County Quilters Guild in Ithaca, NY and also teaching a two day workshop. If you live near Ithaca, I hope to see you there. I will have lots of quilts with me.

13 May - Presentation at Calico Cutters Guild in West Chester, PA

I will be also speaking  and teaching three classes at Mid Appalachian Quilt Conference at Mount St. Mary's University in Emmitsburg, Maryland. I blogged about it earlier. If you missed it, please click on the link.
http://therootconnection.blogspot.com/2015/03/mid-appalachian-quilt-conference.html

10 July - Presentation
10 July - Workshop - Windmill 
11 July - Workshop - Hourglass Twist
12 July - Workshop - Peppermint Pinwheels

14 August - Presentation - Thimble and Thread Quilt Guild of Greater St. Louis
15 August - Workshop - Thimble and Thread Quilt Guild of Greater St. Louis

13 October -  Presentation at Brandywine Valley Quilters, Concordville, PA

Phew! This was a long three posts in one!

Have a great weekend with family and friends.

Kavita is coming home this weekend... I am excited!
Sujata