I taught a new class at Quilt Odyssey in July. It is one of the blocks from a new/upcoming bigger quilt that is in the works. I told Missy, the show organizer, that I really needed this to be a two day workshop. The class filled very quickly. Two day workshops do not always fill that quickly so Missy and I were thankful for such a good response. Day one of the workshop went very, very well. Day two…not so much. After the students got to the second part of the block (second pattern page) I found out that Staples printed two different sizes of patterns. Some students had one size and some another. This created problems. We also discovered that the transfer paper I like and sell on my site, disappeared when ironed. That had never happened to me when I used it! I have been teaching for a long time and most of my students will tell you how organized I am. Well, day two left me feeling like I could cry. But, my students were real troopers. And I really mean that. They understood the printing problem came when two different people at Staples printed the patterns. (Staples did refund me for the mistake.) And my wonderful husband, Joe, came walking into my classroom very soon after the printing problem was found and he drove right over to Staples and had patterns printed for the students and was back within minutes. Fortunately, the blocks that were created from this class thus far have been worth all of the troubles. I have seen several of the finished projects. Look how fantastic Anne Flynn’s block looks. I am so proud that even after all the issues the outcome is fabulous. Thanks to all of my students who were flexible and forgiving. It meant a lot to me.
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I always think I am lucky to be asked to teach anywhere. I love to teach. This past week I was invited to teach for the Huntington Quilters in Long Island. You can find out more about this guild at http://huntingtonquilters.com/. Here are a couple of photos of the students hard at work.
I can honestly tell you that if I did not like these ladies so much I would never drive to Long Island. I hate driving around New York City. Joe agreed to be my driver on this trip. We were laughing as it took us over 2 hours to get 30 miles in traffic on the expressway around New York City. I looked up the definition of “expressway” in Wikipedia and here is was it said, Controlled-access highway, the highest-grade type of highway with access ramps, lane dividers, etc., for high-speed traffic. Honestly, high-speed traffic. You cannot go more than 10 miles per hour as you stop and go, stop and go, stop and go. Crazy. They should consider renaming this stretch of the “expressway”. I think maybe “depressing way”, or maybe ” this gives me a headway way”… I could go on. I think you get the idea. Did I mention I hate driving around New York City?? The program co-chairs, Laura and Wilma, could not have been nicer. The ladies in my class were so wonderful to be with and showed much kindness. That made the agonizing drive in traffic all worth while.
Here are some sights around the Northport-Centerport area. This is also why it is worth the trip. The North Shore of Long Island is so quaint and beautiful. The houses on Main Street-Northport were wonderful.
The town’s gazebo hosts musical events every Thursday evening.
Sitting on the dock in the bay is so relaxing.
And the small downtown is a step back in time.
Centerport is on the opposite side of the Bay
The magnificent Vanderbilt Mansion, aptly named “Eagle’s Nest”, is the centerpiece of this little peninsula. What a perfect spot to build a summer home!
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BOOK REVIEW
Right before I left for my trip to Long Island, New York I was able to get my hands on a new quilting book written by none other than my quilting partner….Renae Haddadin.
Of course I might be a little biased but I’m telling you the book is simply incredible! The layout is fabulous and the close-up photography of Renae’s exquisite work is impressive. For those of you who enjoyed looking at “Fiesta Mexico” up close and studying Renae’s amazing quilting, you will find many, many photographs of the quilting she did on our quilt. Of course, many of her other quilts are shown with lots and lots of close-up photography of her quilting skills, as well. After looking at this book you will be loaded with more quilting ideas than you know what to do with. You can find a copy of the book at Renae’s website http://www.quiltsonthecorner.com