Having the best time! I’m in the middle of an almost two week long trip. First, I went to Bloomington, Indiana for the Indiana Heritage Quilt Show. The show was wonderful and my classes were very fun – full of great ladies!

Diana Reutter Mahrenholz took my Goose is Loose class two years ago at the IHQS show. This is her stunning quilt, started in the class. Way to go Diana!

This is a reversible T-shirt Quilt by Linda Kelsey of Bloomington, IN. One side is feminist and the other political. I love it!

This quilt is called Cordoba, and it’s by Claudia Pfeil, of Krefeld, Germany. Fascinated by mosaics, Claudia created the center of her quilt from a photo of the Mezquita Cathedral de Cordoba. The building is famous for its horseshoe shaped arches. It is now the home of the Roman Catholic Cathedral. The corners symbolize sunshine and the four corners of the compass.

In Bloomington, where I was teaching, the terrible weekend storms went around the city. But much of Indiana and the surrounding region was not so lucky. With all of today’s technology there is little that can be done in the face of Mother Nature at her worst. So sad for the good folks of Indiana and Kentucky.

The second part of my trip is – a quilting cruise in the Caribbean! Packing, first for Indiana and then for the cruise, was challenging, to say the least. The cruise is “The Allure of Paper Piecing Cruise” and I’m teaching with Carol Doak, & Eileen Sullivan on Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas 7-night Eastern Caribbean Cruise. Internet access is limited, so I will update you when I return from this fabulous trip.

This image just arrived, from Sharon Dickerson, who won a 2nd place ribbon in the Art Quilt Category at the Folsom, CA Quilt Show, 2012. Congratulations!

Well, I’m finally home after three wonderful weeks in New Zealand. It was a great trip, but it’s always nice to be back home. And I’m looking forward to being home over the holidays and maybe doing a little sewing.

My teaching schedule was fairly hectic right before my trip, so I was really pleased to get two e-mails this week from students who took my classes and finished projects that they started.

Here is a photo of the beautiful quilt that Donna James made.

And here is a photo of the right corner, showing her lovely quilting.

In her note to me, Donna says:

Hi Gail,
I completed this design in your The Goose is Loose class at MQX West in Portland. I really enjoyed the class and learned so much from you. I am so glad that I purchased your book and was able to use it as a reference when I was paper-piecing. It will be a great reference in the future, too. The longer flexible curve worked like a charm to replicate the curves in the upper background.
I have finished quilting my project, using a faced binding, and thought that you would like to see it.
Thanks for a great learning experience.
Donna

I also heard from Linda Talley of New Braufels Texas this week. Here is the beautiful quilt that she made.

And here is a close-up of her quilt.

Here’a what Linda has to say about her quilt:

Hi Gail,
I enjoyed your class at Houston so much – I actually finished something I started there!!!
Two photos are attached of the table runner I made with 6 of the “geese”. I quilted leaves as you did, but added bling.
Thank you again,
Linda Talley
New Braunfels, TX

It’s so gratifying to hear from students who took one of my classes and send me photos of the quilts they made. Thank you Donna and Linda!

Imagine my surprise when, after returning from lunch, I asked a question and several sheepish faces stared back at me. Finally Joanne exclaimed, “Don’t ask me! I have the smallest head in the class!”. That really got my attention and I wondered just how it was that she knew that.

It turns out that they were busy using their flexible curves for another purpose besides drafting quilting patterns — measuring the circumference of each other’s heads.

Friday night was QBL Show and Tell, where each teacher and her class get up on stage to show the results of the week long class. Imagine my surprise when my class marched up on stage, flex curves in hand and then donned them as head ornaments!

We simply had way too much fun at QBL!

And, without a doubt, I had the best students in my class!

It isn’t often that the chemistry among a class rises to this level. It ranks among the most fun class ever! Students were skilled, creative, and mischievous. We bonded almost immediately. Of course, the SuperGlue helped the bonding process.

Joanne Williamson created a sawtooth border effect through careful selection of background fabrics.

Linda Santana used rainbow geese to surround her star.

Charles Johns’ star features intricate edging to highlight each star point.

Sue Colwell’s design is growing beyond the circular design.

Drafting the design.

Paul Leger and his star featuring rainbow colors. This is part of a larger project focusing on a community celebration in his home town.

Sally Ickes got the prize for bringing the most fabric to class.

Amy Quinn and her star.

Kitsee Demeree took classes from me many years ago. It is thanks to her lobbying efforts that I was invited to teach at QBL this year. Thank you, Kitsee!

QBL is held at Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, where the dorms are brand new and the rooms are arranged in suites. No traipsing down the hall to the communal bathroom. My Suite-mate was one of my favorite teachers, Libby Lehman. We had not been at a venue together for a long time — so many words, so little time. Libby has special travel accessories, like this Baby Bird blow dryer, so small it would fit into a nest.

The first class was a two-day Sensational Stars and Circular Borders class, followed by the three-day Flying Colors class. Almost everyone signed up for both classes so it was more like one five-day class, my favorite thing to teach.

They got a lot done too. Here Irene Dietlin shows off her star with the Flying Diamonds border.

 

Doris Prol got the prize for the fastest sewer in the class. She moved at light speed and it was all I could do to stay ahead of her, demonstration-wise.

 

Here, she shows off an entire goose strip, replete with Flying Fishies.

 

Cynthia Moreland opted to surround her star with a Flying Goose border. It was the mostest fun with totally great students.

 

My first year teaching at Quilting by the Lake in Syracuse, NY. Hosted by the Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center, they ask faculty members to decorate an apron to be auctioned off on the final night to raise funds for scholarships. This is what my apron looked like when it arrived. Pretty ordinary!

 

I thought black and white graphic prints might just do the trick. And, I found a couple of rainbow goose strips to go along with the B/W fabrics.

 

Stitching … Stitching …

 

All done! Now, for the auction part! We, the teachers, collectively decided on a beach theme. A field trip to Walmart yielded beach towels, a beach ball, little balls (100 of them), and a cute little bucket. Libby downloaded beach boy music. Jane Dunnewold stuffed the beach ball under her apron! Imagine that! Then …

 

We got to dance on stage as our apron was auctioned off. In all, they raised $5,000 for scholarships! Way to go QBL!