Thursday, June 19th was the 2nd and final session of my 'Hexatopia' class at The City Quilter! (I'm teaching folks the method I've been using to improvise blocks for English Paper Piecing - like all of the blocks featured so far on this blog.)
It really was an inspiring adventure for me. I'd never taught anything before in my life, and I was super nervous. Most of the students in the class were advanced quilters, and on the first day it was hard not to notice that between the 9 of them, they probably had probably more than 200 years of years of quilting experience - and I only have 10! Fortunately, they were also totally cool folks - fun, enthusiastic, and supportive!
I will certainly never again try to cover all of this material in just 2 (3 hr) sessions. On the first day I powered through what is probably enough material for 2 or even 3 sessions. As I walked away that evening, I was a little worried that I had overloaded everyone, and rushed through all of the tips and tricks that help make this system manageable. Coming back for the 2nd session (two weeks later), I budgeted a good chunk of time for troubleshooting. But then, as students started arriving, I found that there was actually very little trouble to shoot. Everyone showed up with very cool work (or the beginnings of it), and we had plenty of time to cover everything I had hoped. Never again will I try to squeeze all that material into just a few hours, but I will also never again underestimate all these brilliant quilters!
Big thanks to my students Maureen O'Niel, Maureen Hyslop, Judy Stadler, Sue Dipple, Barbara Peterson, Mimi Sherman, Cassandra Knight, Rene Colwell, Margaret Umansky! <3 <3 <3
Here's some pictures!
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| Awesome bunch of quilters! |
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| Cassandra Knight with block in progress |
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| Cassandra Knight's block in progress. So cute! 2-axis symmetry w/verticalness! <3 |
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| I wish I had a picture of the block Susie was working on - giraffes with sun-like rays! Mimi had some lovely blocks in the works as well - classical geometry with delicate florals. |
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| FOUR completed blocks by Margaret Umansky! I love the geometry of the yellow one, and check out the fussycutting on the green one! Rotational symmetry FTW! |
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| THREE completed blocks by Barbara Peterson! Fireflies and sailboats and kittycats! |
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| Judy Stadler with her rendition of the Oregon Vortex block. Delicate fussycut flowers! |
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| Maureen O'Neil's rendition of the Oregon Vortex block. Love these colors with the slightly-twisted Tula Pink fussycut! |
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| Renee Colwell demonstrates her specialized system for managing millions of tiny pieces. |
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| Completed block by Renee Colwell - lots of motion! |
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| Block in the works by Maureen Hyslop. Love the twist + fussycut Paula Nadelstern print! |
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| Classic Peppermint Twist block by Maureen Hyslop. |
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| Cassandra slicin' and dicin' |
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| Margaret Umansky with block bags. Zip-locks will save you! |
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| Block in the works by Margaret Umansky - love the twist of the "outside" shape and the slight slant of the stripe through the middle. |
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| LOVE this geometry by Judy Stadler. Can't wait to see the finished block! (Those are super skinny/pointy pieces at the edge there, but I believe!) |
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| Block in progress by Renee Colwell. TINY pieces! <3 |
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| Gifts from Judy! Classic summery prints, and kittycat scissors! Can't wait to fussycut! |
really enjoyed this post. such yummy pictures! thanks for sharing :)
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