Debi Moffett, owner of Somewhere Sewing

I just returned from a delightful trip to Johnson City, TN,  where I taught classes for Somewhere Sewing. The cracker jack owner, Debi Moffett, arranged for two classes. The room where the classes were taught was decorated by one of Debi’s customers, Lucy, who is no stranger to my designs. This stunning quilt, featuring the block designs from 50 Fabulous Paper-Pieced Stars, set the stage for a super couple of days.

Minis.....

Lucy also brought several of her miniaturized versions from 50 Fabulous Paper-Pieced Stars as well as some miniatures from Easy Paper-Pieced Miniatures (out of print).

and even more minis and Just Ducky

It was fun to be surrounded by all these lovely little quilts. The Just Ducky Quilt is from Easy Paper-Pieced Baby Quilts (out of print).

Free Miniature Pattern

Susan proudly displays her version of the free miniature quilt pattern available here on my web site. I planned to wear that matching shirt….LOL

Perfect Points

The first day, I taught the Perfect Points class. I do love teaching this class because everyone achieves those amazing Perfect Points easily!

Janice admires her Sunrise Block and setting triangle

When I travel to teach, sometimes I am fortunate to have a student in the class that I have “met” online in my Carol Doak Yahoo Group. That was the case with Janice. Since Janice lives in Knoxville, she signed up and came to the class. Now when Janice and I correspond on the group, I will know her in person.

All smiles

You know, I just never tire of teaching classes because this is what it is all about for me. That big smile on the face of a student who has enjoyed the day, enjoyed the process and enjoys the results.

Fun and Friends

Now these three told me they were the “trouble makers”, however they were no trouble for me. Instead, they were delightful students and fun to be with.

Star, The Rockin Colt

Now, this was a first for me. Paulette Jensen came to the class with pictures of a colt she had made for the “Colts on Parade” in Lake Geneva, WI. This was a fund raising event for Challenged Children on Horses.

Hind quarter stars

Paulette decorated “Star” with actual star blocks from my book. She used an acrylic gel medium to adhere the fabric blocks and then several coats of polyurethane to complete the project. Her efforts were rewarded with a top 7 Award Prize.

It was a fun trip all the way. If you are ever in the Johnson City, TN vicinity, a detour to Somewhere Sewing, is worth the trip! Tell Debi, I said “Hi, ya’all”

Ginny Carroll

I recently returned from a 11-day trip to Florida to teach and lecture for three different quilt guilds. Since if live in New Hampshire, heading south in the winter months to a lovely warm climate is an added bonus. My first stop on this trip was to Leesburg where I taught for the Quilting Sister Quilt Guild. The first day I presented the Fire and Ice Quilt from the Mariner’s Compass Stars book. The students jumped right in, with most getting a good start on their quilt. On the second day, I taught an introductory class to this book. Ginny Carroll has already completed one section with just three pieces. I could tell Ginny was a member of my Carol Doak Yahoo Group because she was wearing her group name tag.

Denise in Leesburg

Denise Mohler also is a member of our Carol Doak Group and attended both workshops. It is such fun to meet our members in real life!

Kitty Gonzalez at dinner

Kitty took the Fire & Ice class and brought the center section of her quilt to dinner that evening.

Shopping on the way to the retreat

Next I was off to teach at a quilt retreat for the Southwest Quilters Guild. Of course on our way to the retreat locations, a couple of stops at quilt shops along the way were a must!

Heather Phillips from Nova Scotia

You just never know who you are going to run into in a quilt shop. This is Heather from Nova Scotia and she is also a member of the Carol Doak Yahoo Group.

Retreat students counting blocks

 The Retreat was held at a lovely facility. One large room with lots of students working on their paper-pieced projects. These students are counting their blocks to see if they have made all the blocks for the Fire & Ice quilt.

Retreat quilt

 I also taught a class from the Simply Sensational 9-Patch Star book. One of the activities was for the groups in each cabin to make quilts from “ugly” fat quarters for a charitable project. The groups would then compete for a prize. Who knew one of the 9-Patch Stars was going to be the centerpiece for a lovely quilt?

Patchwork Pig Quilt Shop stop

Then I was on to Lakeland, Florida. No shortage of quilt shops here. We visited the lovely downtown shop called the Patchwork Pig. Here Jolene Welcher, Marion Pugh (owner) and Elsabeth Harris are ready to assist. Trust me, you could get in really serious trouble here. The fabric selection was amazing!!!

Happy Student with her Florida Star

I taught the Florida Star from the 50 Fabulous Paper-Pieced Stars book at the Ladies of the Lakes Quilt Guild. This looks like one happy student and look at those perfect points!

Melody and Holly at the Fabric Warehouse, Lakeland, FL

Melody and Holly of the Fabric Warehouse in Lakeland c0-hosted both the workshop and evening program for the guild in their lovely shop.

Log Cabin Garden Mini quilt and maker

I do love the Show and Tell portion of a meeting. Here I had the opportunity to see one members lovely Log Cabin Garden quilt.

Treble Metamorphoses by Marian Sparks

I recently received an email from Marian Sparks regarding a quilt that she made using the Day and Night Star Flower pattern available as a free pattern on my web site. Marian then sent me a picture of a quilt she made using the block. This is one of those thought provoking quilts. As I study the quilt and take into account the name, it does draw me in.

Until next time, 

All the best,

Carol

This past weekend I drove to Pennsylvania to present a lecture and workshops. I typically fly to places to teach, so this 7 1/2-hour drive gave me plenty of time to reflect and enjoy the ride.  I began to think about one of the biggest misconceptions quilters have about paper piecing….that bigger is easier. In life, bigger usually is easier…we grew up with “big blocks” and “large print” in kindergarten. In traditional quilting, larger blocks typically are fewer pieces and are easier. With paper piecing, it is just the opposite…smaller really is easier. I was introduced to this notion by one of my students who took a small graphic I provided in a handout and went home to make the block. She sent me a picture and shared her excitement. It is not more difficult to sew a short line or a line that is closer together and with paper piecing, that produces a small piece. The Nosegay quilt at the left was my first miniature paper-pieced quilt and I was hooked! 

After making this first quilt, I set out to design lots more miniature quilts. I could take advantage of incorporating paper-pieced borders because they would fit on a piece of paper. I could pre-cut all my fabric pieces and eliminate cutting lots of different sizes. With the Nosegay quilt, the background pieces used in the top of the block were cut the same size because they just needed to be larger than the area they need to fill. Creating a cutting list for paper piecing was actually born out of designing miniature quilts. Because the pieces don’t need to be the exact size, just bigger than the area they need to fill, the fabric pieces are huge in relationship to the patch they are covering. When I am paper piecing miniatures, it almost feels like a carefree version of paper piecing because I don’t need to be nearly as careful.

What quilter doesn’t have a bunch of scraps hanging around that are too small to create patchwork quilts? They are perfect for scrap miniature quilts! You can stack the scraps and cut a uniform size and use them in minis. That is what I did to make the scrap stars quilt on the left. I used warm colored scraps for one end of the block and cool colored scraps for the other end. When they met, they produced both warm and cool colored scrap stars. These quilts and 13 others were featured in my book, Easy Paper-Pieced Miniatures that I wrote in the early 1990′s. Unfortunately that book is out of print, so I have begun publishing the individual patterns and making them available in the store on my web page. Just try one mini, I guarantee you will be hooked too. When I teach introductory paper piecing classes, the students do agree that smaller really is easier!

May all your points be perfect,

Carol