I signed up for a Beginning Quilting class with my friend Joyce... it's being taught at our local fabric store, Odegaard's. I took a beginning class about 5 years ago at another shop, but haven't done any traditional quilting since, so I figured it would be good to take a refresher. Besides, Joyce, who sews professionally --she makes lots of neat products for home and personal use -- has never quilted, and we thought it would be fun to take the class together. Turns out we're the only 2 in the class, and I know the teacher from our local Quilters' Guild, so it's a very comfortable environment to learn in.
Our first project is a "9 patch", which I'm on my way to expanding to 12 patches to make a small table runner. The colors and fabrics I chose are good for my home decor, but totally different than colors I use in my tie-dye projects! See for yourself:
My carpet is dark brown, and my accent colors are rust and dusty blue... this was the best I could do to come up with coordinating fabrics. But I think it will look okay on the dining table once I get the border on!
Meanwhile, next week we will be starting a Split Rail quilt, which I have done before. Here's the one I did from my original class:
See what I mean about the colors I end up with? And the quilt is laying on the carpet, so you can see what I'm dealing with.
Well, for the new Split Rail, I came up with a slightly different color scheme:
Odegaard's carries a large selection of batik fabrics, and I decided to splurge on this one. Haven't decided what to use for the binding yet, and I may hand-dye fabric for the backing or just use solid color, but I sure like the fabrics I chose for the top... can't wait to get started!