Quilt-y Workshops

In the past five days, I led a class and I took a class. Both were great!

Eight Big Cypress Quilters came to our Tuesday afternoon meeting and participated in Kawandi-making. 

I don't have a cultural connection to Kawandi - this method of quiltmaking is practiced by Siddi women in India - but as much as possible, I try to respectfully make a connection between India's methods and our Americanization of the technique.

Our chapter provided needles and thread. Everyone was asked to bring fabric scraps, batting, and backing to make a 10" X 14" piece. 

Happily, everyone made it along a couple sides, so they had the chance to work out how to turn a corner. Next Tuesday, I'm looking forward to seeing how far everyone got. 

Once again (this is my 14th Kawandi), I decided to make mine using vintage fabric scraps from my Grandma. 

This morning (Saturday), I took a virtual "Matchstick Quilting" workshop with Cassandra Beaver @thenotsodramaticlife. I previously attempted to get into her workshop at QuiltCon, in 2022 and 2023. Both times I was wait-listed and never got in. So I was thrilled to be able to finally get the real scoop on this technique.

These were her two kit options, though you could also use your own fabrics and threads. 

Cassandra was a pioneer of matchstick quilting when her Infused Plaid quilt appeared at QuiltCon 2017 in Savannah, and was subsequently purchased by the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Kentucky. 

Today I learned matchstick quilting from the best. 

My kit included Cassandra's Spoonflower panel, and three weights of Aurifil thread: 50, 28, and 12. She's now also including a 40-weight thread in her kit.

While Cassandra suggested the finished piece could be made into a pillow - mine is about 17" X 17 - I'm opting to finish it with facing because...

... I just don't want to cover-up this pretty back! 

I am tickled with my results! The texture is delicious. I can't help from running my fingers over it.

I'm extremely happy with how my Bernina 770QE and walking foot handled the thicker threads. It's a reminder to be grateful that I own such a high quality sewing machine. Quilting this was a breeze. 

In between workshops, I have spent every spare minute piecing Unallocated blocks. 

Being very careful to unstitch and resew twisted seams, then making sure seam allowances are pressed open has taken longer than I thought. 

And pinning - lots of pinning - has paid off. 

Though it doesn't look all that great from here, after about a dozen more passes, the top will be finished. 

Book Recommendation

After reading and reviewing in my last post, the intensely dramatic book, Every Thing She Feared, One Night on the Island by Josie Silver was a refreshing, romantic, charming read. 

Cleo is a Londoner who writes for an e-publication about romance and her search for her ideal "flamingo" (life mate). Cleo's editor sends her to the remote Salvation Island, off the coast of Ireland, where she's to "marry herself" and celebrate her 30th birthday.

While on the ferry to the island, Cleo encounters Mac, obviously American. When Cleo arrives at the quaint, one-room cottage called Otter Lodge, where she's to stay, Mac is there. He too is planning to stay at Otter Lodge. At odds with one another, and with this booking mistake, each hopes the other will catch the next boat and leave the island.

Cleo has to figure out how to have her introspective experience and write her story. Mac has to do his own soul-searching. What will they do if they have to figure out how to do it together?

Linda's score: 4.0/5.0

Linda