I haven't been sewing a whole lot lately. I've been knee-deep in planning mode for my geese and coins quilt. But I did have a very quilty day on Thursday. As many of you know, I have an odd work schedule, so Thursdays are my "Saturdays." I whipped this little wall-hanging up Thursday afternoon using the free template from Denyse Schmidt:
Thursday was also the August meeting of the Austin Modern Quilt Guild. I was so excited to finally be able to attend a meeting. The meeting was in north Austin, about a 20-30 minute drive from my house. Rather than battle rush hour traffic — in Austin on a Thursday afternoon, this is definitely not something you want to do, especially if you want to be in a good mood when you arrive at your destination — I headed up north early to visit the two awesome quilt shops nearby. (I can obviously find any excuse to go shopping!)
I was determined not to break the bank, so I just got a bunch of fat quarters (rather than any larger cuts). One shop neatly folds their fat quarters, while the other rolls them up into fun bundles (which is what's going on in the top picture).
One thing I don't like very much about buying fat quarters is that you don't always get a piece with the printed selvage info. So while I recognized some of these, some are a mystery to me. I know I got some Urban Landscapes by Kathy York, some Alexander Henry (the print on the bottom left is the same design I used on my purse, but in a very bright colorway), and some Amy Butler. I haven't done the research yet to see what the rest of it is. Do you know?
After my shopping spree, I went to the meeting. I got to meet some fabulously fun and talented women who live right here in Austin. I had so much fun chatting and playing show and tell with fellow quilters! With advice from the meeting, I was finally able to conquer the inside corner binding for my hexagon quilt. I took a bunch of photos, and I'm working on putting together a tutorial.
One of the Austin Modern Quilt Guild members used to teach sewing classes, so she led a tutorial on needle-turn appliqué. I'll be honest, until last week I had no idea what needle-turn appliqué was. But by the time I left the meeting, I had sewed a circle onto a square! I didn't actually use the needle to turn the fabric under like you're supposed to (hence the name), but the circle is on the square, so I think I did just fine.
Of course I have no idea what I'm going to do with this little guy:
Ideas?
