"Shirttails" Bonnie Hunter Class

Saturday was our Bonnie Hunter class in Englewood, CO, about 5 hours from my home in western Nebraska.  My travel mate was (above, left) Jody (I usually call her Goddess) who was waaaay more familiar with Denver than I ever hope to be, and her sister Janice who lives in Denver, and Bonnie, then Diane (far right), our table mate from Washington state who was visiting relatives in Denver, but they weren't home so we know which activity took priority!   Our project was from Bonnie's book Shirttails.  Janice and her husband went out of their way to make ME feel welcome - what a lovely visit we had in the evenings and at an incredible breakfast Sunday morning!

This class was sponsored by Wooden Spools, and amazing shop that buys quality cotton fabric from regular quilt folks and resells it at a generous discount to other regular quilt folks!  Bargains galore for first-quality fabric - what a concept!  They also have a Bonnie Hunter ... not sure it's called a fan club, but they all make more of Bonnie's quilts.  What an amazing shop - they gave us breakfast Saturday morning with leftover yummies for Saturday lunch!!!  They are in Englewood, south of Denver.

Because of the distance, we made a weekend of the class - I am exhausted.  It was a VERY good - and humbling experience to be traveling with younger, strong women!  

Many photos are on Bonnie Hunter's site.

Bonnie Hunter class preparations

My preparations are almost completed for a class with Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville, in south Denver.  The all-day class is sponsored by Wooden Spools quilt shop.  I remember how disorganized I am at a class so I cut pieces ahead of time.  Well, then I was tempted to sew "just one" but ended up with 2 Jacob's Ladder, and one Rosebud.   Jacob's Ladder had always been a favorite.  I have a 3rd set of blocks cut for Union Square but not shown here -- better save something for the class!.  Believe me, I have a LOT of plaids!  I LOVE this Rosebud -- normally it ends up looking feminine, but wowser, plaids make a big difference! We're making the quilt Bonnie calls "Shirttails."  I'm planning to set the blocks in a Row format, and each row will using the same fabrics.

I am traveling with a friend who knows how to navigate Denver traffic.  Denver is about 4 1/2 hours from my home in western Nebraska, but we'll have a lovely visit during the drive.

Thanks Jody, for that lovely soft blue plaid in the Rosebud block - it sings!

My Show and Tell will be my favorite Pineapple Blossom that I started in Casper, WY, also taught by Bonnie 3-4 years ago.

Buttons, and Practice

 Today I vowed to "practice" regular sewing, and relearn long-forgotten dressmaking techniques.  I used to be reasonably competent, before quilting took over my life.  Yikes, fumble fingers, what foot???, where is the right foot???, where is my instruction book???, what thread??? change this and that, up and down, "how do I...?", "I forgot something", etc.  The item on the left is a nearly finished zippered pouch, and called for fusible batting, and scraps.  My zipper was an old one with metal teeth - uhhhh, not a great idea.  And the buttons for a little pizzazz?  I have a half-gallon jar full of possibilities, but didn't find many that added "pizzazz".  There seems to be an art to using them effectively.  Why do we save them for 50 years???  LOL  I"ll give myself a "C-" for the finished project, and an "A" for effort.  I'll try again, and do better on the zipper ends which remain crumpled at each end, not sharp and neat.

DH has fashioned a few old wood thread spools into doo-dad-type-buttons by cutting them in half lengthwise, and drilling out sewing holes.  I have a small spool supply as you see in the photo - that should last me another 50 years!  LOL  

What about you?  Do you USE your carefully saved buttons?  

Practicing 3 little bags  

First one, brown batiks --  I didn't know how to resolve the issue at the end of the zippers with that fold thing.  Crumpled corners are not attractive.   This was my "C-".  Arranging buttons artfully is not as carefree as we think!

Second one (blue) looks great, but upon inspection when FINISHED, a seam on the zipper was not deep enough and pulled away.  I "fixed" it with hand stitching - looks terrible (not shown).  This is a "B-"

Third one, (red/black)  is good all way around - an "A"!  I added a bit of grosgrain ribbon to the zipper pull.

Practice is good!