Fat Quarterly Retreat - the classes

Well, I better jump on the bandwagon and tell you a little about my experience at FQR. I was really nervous about going for the first time and not knowing a soul but wow - this was such an amazing group, I felt right at home! Now that it's over, I also have lots of new blog friends to visit too :)

I had an opportunity to take Photography with Judith Dahmen on Friday. I even got an impromptu lesson when I interrupted her meal (sorry!) to have her help me take some pics of the mini quilts I'd made for the Sample Swap. She is a-m-a-z-i-n-g!! Look:

pretty cool, right?

on Saturday, I had Improv with Lu Summers. She is an absolute mess and we had a ball. I was amazed at the quilters who finished the whole top because I barely got 2 blocks done so it's on my soon-to-do list before I forget how! I used Mod Century, but I really loved seeing everyone's choices - especially the solids!

Next up was hand quilting with Mandy Noble. She was nice enough to provide us with practice blocks to work with. I didn't take a picture cause mine was rubbish, but I did learn a lot - most importantly: burying your knots is not an urban legend, people really do it! Here she is with one of her incredible quilts

The weekend ended with precision piecing taught by Lynne. This was my favorite class - I learned a ton and now my sewing is a little bit more accurate and my flying geese no longer have chopped off heads - score!

and I don't want to forget the little spontaneous fitting lesson from Rachael. I  wish I'd stayed a bit longer to see how her model got out of all those pins.

next up - the loot!!

FMT

Happy Birthday - to ME!

Hi Friends! It's my birthday! I could've sworn it was on Monday and I even looked at my husband rather rudely when he wished me a Happy Birthday last night at midnight. I didn't believe he was right until I looked at the calendar myself - whoops!!

Well, though I'm getting my FQR post ready, I thought I'd jump in and have a little birthday giveaway. Last year, I found this in a shop and just knew what I'd save it for - Today!

It's not graph paper, but who could resist Lotta? Not me! I'll probably get a few other goodies to go in the package too :). Just leave me a comment about anything and I'll choose a winner on Friday the 2nd! Good luck!

Hugs,
Francine

Fat Quarterly Retreat '13

Just 2 more weeks!

It's official - besides getting my class list email, I finally got my Name Tag out to my partner and I received mine the same day! I had in mind that I wanted to incorporate a pouch in some way, so I consulted some tutorials and found this one really helpful. The colors came together on their own, and not necessarily in a good way! I had to apologize in advance if Mammafairy gets people staring at her chest (or belly since it's so long lol) cause of my thread color - oops!

and here's the one I received from Sarah @ Sarah-lou-sews!

isn't it sweet?

I've noticed that many retreat goers already have their supplies bagged up, so that's next on my list! I'm taking -
Photography w/ Judith Damen
Improv w/Lu Summers
Hand Quilting w/ Mandy
Precision Piecing w/ Lynne Goldsworthy

and I'm staying at the Raddison!

I'm so excited!! I've already studied my London guide:

Hugs, FMT




























linking to

Swapping and BOOOOO Bloglovin'!

Hello friends! I just noticed that I lost half my followers in the switch over to Bloglovin'!! Say it with me now: booooooooooooooooo.  Ok, hopefully I'll get 'em back someday.

Remember when I was whining about my machine and the girl that was mean cause I was late for DQS13? I totally forgot to mention that I made & sent my partner's doll quilt, she received it and was super gracious and grateful!! Yay! Here it is:

A little churn dash action!

and look closely

look closer..

notice anything?

get it?

 I totally and accidentally did a super cool matched binding - yehaw!

Wonkiness & some hand stitching

Mini washi tapes, notepaper napkins, thread & FQ's

linking up to:

Peace out!
FMT

Buh bye Google Reader!

 Hola! I guess it's finally July 1, and I'm being pulled kicking and screaming from my beloved GR.. I did get a chance to get thru all my subscriptions before I officially changed my home page to Bloglovin! I hope you'll join me there - lawd knows I don't deserve it with my spotty posts, but you never know when I'll finally have something good to share! :)

A little catching up from late May/early June..

 I've had this stack of 4" Amy Butler charms for AGES, and when I saw this quilt from Katy at I'maGingerMonkey, I thought I'd give it a try. Love it! No idea how to quilt it, any suggestions?

 I also finally got around to turning this fq bundle into an equilateral triangle quilt. I've been wanting to try this, and I cut off many points, but it was fun. Now I just need to finish it up and get it sent to its intended recipient before he gets too big for it!

 Also did some swaps and blocks for June..

 Tribute Star doll quilt for Patty using Moda's Breath of Avignon for Doll Quilter's Monthly - which is always open to new members!

 Broken dishes for COMFORT at do.Good Stitches

and the requisite 4 blocks for the Japanese X and + Quilting Bee! 

Bored yet? 

Ok, I'll break it up with  some pics from the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. It's my family's first time participating and we had the great fortune to be with my husband's colleagues, which made for an awesome day!

FedEx was the BIGGEST group - yehaw!

Face painting fun

My crew

Sweaty, tired, full of dinner and ready to head home!

chat with ya soon!
FMT

Linked up to: