At long last – my favorite season – FALL.

Cool crisp nights
Clear blue skies
Colorful trees
Cozy sweaters

It’s like a pause that refreshes between summer’s heat & humidity and the bone-chilling cold of winter. The locals are predicting the coming winter to be quite a doozie. Yeah, it’s about time for Snowmageddon to make an another appearance. Being retired means I don’t have to worry about commuting or getting stuck at school with all the munchkins in case of inclement weather. 🙂

On today’s agenda: fall decorating, a book launch party for a local author and some time behind my sewing machine. Of course, the dog has other ideas…

This was such a fun trip! I took many, many more pictures of the gardens, quilts and wide open landscapes around me than I did of what was going on in my classes. My goal was to take two photos per class – one of the instructor teaching and one of my completed block. I was so intent on getting the hang of sewing orange peel and quarter circle blocks in my last class that I didn’t take any pictures until I had completed three blocks. By then, class was over!

What I learned:
Whirly Blooms: press seams open when pattern uses lots of FG, HST and other pieced units, use a 1.8-2.0 stitch length, “marinate” background fabric only in heavy starch.
Midnight Garden: stitch ‘n flip corners – sew just to right of drawn line (or scant 1/4″ seam if using folded corner clipper ruler), invest in a ruler with 1/8″ markings.
Blooming Stars: always make one block first to see if you like it before you cut the rest of the fabric in the kit, you really only need piecing thread in white/cream, beige/tan and med/dark gray.
Memis Lemons: don’t be afraid of curved piecing, fewer pins actually make the process easier (pin middle and 2 sides only), make sure your middle creases match all the way across so your background isn’t sewn on wonky.

I’ll definitely keep the Memi’s Lemons table runner for myself. Blooming Stars will get completed and put up for sale (and remade in a different color way). Midnight Garden will be completed and kept. Whirly Blooms may/may not be completed in kit form. The pattern makes a beautiful quilt, but I’m not too crazy about the colors in the kit. Anything made from this kit (pillows, throw or otherwise) will be gifted or put up for sale.

For my own teaching practice: Teach one block/technique at a time. Have a finished quilt available for students to examine/photograph and samples of each step in the process to pin on a flannel board (or portable design wall) and demo my process for tricky steps in small groups as students are ready. Plan on 1 hour of student work time per block. Bigger blocks (16″-20″) may require 2 hours. About 20 minutes before class ends, begin wrapping up and reviewing what students learned. Allow 5-10 minutes for Q&A.

This past week, quilters from 38 different states converged on Lehi, Utah for the annual Garden of Quilts sponsored by Riley Blake Designs. It was everything I could have imagined. I even ran into a couple of folks who were also from Atlanta. We all remarked how refreshing it was to be in Salt Lake City.

This was my retirement trip, but hubby tagged along to go hiking. He served as my Uber driver to different events on the two campuses at Thanksgiving Point. I knew he had a good time when he said he’d like to tag along again if I decide to come back. Yes, I’ll definitely be back and am already planning to return next year.

Things to remember for next year:
(1) pack a power strip
(2) rent a machine instead of flying with one (you get to sew on brand new Bernina, Brother and Baby Lock machines)
(3) premium kit fee is totally worth it to see Lori Holt or any other sewlebrity on your list
(4) choose a different evening event (skip the meet the maker event)

I’ll post more pictures and discuss classes in detail in a few days.