Evening Star Workshop

I know - you are not supposed to brag, it's bad manners and such - but.........

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh the tips and little things that we learned at our Tuesday workshop were absolutely fantastic and I for one am so glad that I was able to attend.

Okay, enough bragging.

We had 14 members that were able to attend, so there should be enough of us to remember everything and pass it along to anyone that is interested.

For myself, learning about directional fabric, how to know BEFORE I buy and then how to use and where to put, sew and cut - that paid for the class.  Who would have known?  On purpose I made sure that I did not have any stripes and such, but one of my fabrics was directional and would have really messed up the final product if Debbie hadn't clued us in.  Some others were lucky also and out of the 8 fabrics they had cut out for class, only had one or two directional prints, while others had as many as 6.  Extra work, but it is do-able and now we know how.  Onward Quilt Crusaders!

Carol could not use her right hand full swing yet, but she did what she could and learned as much as she could for when she is back to full use.

 Debbie explained that even though a couple of our blocks of the same fabric were being sewed to each other, the end result would give the eye a clear through path instead of a WHAM, stop, what is this look?

Seam lines, as well as color placement, can help you flow through a design.

Okay - we have all heard over and over again about Quilters PRESS, they DO NOT iron - however, there are techniques out there that make the combination of press/iron work for our good.  Remember, points first ladies.

Debbie's books have great lay out details so after you have spent all that time with making your fabric guide and making all those blocks - you can lay out your sections with no problems.

TIP:  A pin is a pin is a pin is a pin - unless.............Debbie's tip on what pins to use and how to pin your blocks together for sewing was a great eye opener.  So many times you pin so painstakingly, only to have a shift and then no clear points.  With a glass headed .045 pin - it is possible.  Debbie not only showed us how, but she had also brought a supply of pins for us to purchase if we wished.  For many of us, that was a blessing NOW, not when we can get to the store.

After you have sewn your blocks into rows, there is also a way to make sure that sewing your rows to each other keep the sharp points happening.  And why don't you just turn it over?  Well sometimes the pattern calls for part of a row to be pressed one way and the other part to be pressed the other way - so her hints resolved that dilemma before we had one.

Just looking at the color charts that everyone had gave us a hint as to what wonders we are going to see in the future.  14 quilters - 14 different quilts

Debbie's tips were not just for us during the putting together process, she also had tips for when we took it to the quilter and what we wanted to make sure they understood.  How HST's (half square triangles) are quilted can make them stand out highlighted, or illusion them into diamonds.

Take a good look at Debbie's Evening Star here so that you can see how colors really make the same pattern become 15 different quilts.

Looking forward ladies to seeing the end results.