Spicy Spiral Table Runner

I have had the Spicy Spiral Table Runner pattern and 9 degree ruler for many years. It is sooooo fun. It goes together with only 8 fat quarters OR 8 one-fourth yards. You start with cutting each fabric a different width according to the pattern chart, assembling 4 identical strip sets, and cutting wedges of different lengths. The wedges are assembled from smallest to largest from two colorways to make this lovely tablerunner. I see many of these in my future.

I will be teaching this class at Calico Mermaid on Weds., Sept. 7th.

Summer Months WEEK 2

Week two saw me back at the Central Coast for four days with six of my teacher friends to honor a friend who had just earned her doctrate after 2 long years of study from USC. We traveled in three cars, stopped at a winery that had great balsamic vinegar, and ate lunch in Morro Bay with a view of Morro Rock and the ocean. We stayed in another friend's rental home in Grover Beach that sleeps 14, so there was privacy as well as great comradery. Half the grouped hiked up a trail at Montana de Oro, while three of us (one was me) sat at the beach and enjoyed a picnic. When we met up again we all walked the flat trail along the shoreline. Great trip for all and now we are hoping to make this an annual event. Lots of ideas floating around for next year's trip.

No quilt shopping for me but in the evening I worked on an applique piece as we set around and visited and played games. I had taken a freezer paper technique applique class at Totally Tina's in Porterville and was trying very hard to complete the hand sewn piece. (I am such a machine-applique girl.) I used scraps from my stash and the border is a batik. I quilted around the hand sewn applique using a free-motion badger blossom throughout the piece. Cute pattern.

Summer Months

Wow! Time has flown by...summer has come and gone...school has begun...and I am currently off work (after the first week of a new school year) due to a foot infection.
But let me degress and tell you of my summer months - best quilting summer ever!
The first week of vacation myself and three friends participated in the Central Coast Shop Hop, 11 stores with food, prizes, and fabric. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Grover Beach (free breakfast and coffee) and traveled as far south as Ventura and started in Paso Robles. We added a few of our favorite stores, love Creation Station in Buellton, so I believe our final count was 19 stores in three days. Yes, we were tired but each store was so unique. This shop hop features a complete quilt pattern from each store on the hop and this year, they were available online in advance of the hop so you could concetrate on your selections. Here is a link to the patterns: http://www.quiltshopsofthecentralcoast.com
Two stores were closing down, The Treasure Hunt in Carpenteria and The Fabric Quarter in Goleta, both awesome stores that will be missed, so there were some great bargains to be had.
I won one of the baskets (a styrofoam ice chest) filled with fabrics, books, patterns, and notions. First time ever!