Off we went,
Judy, Dorothy, and I
to the StitchinPost
in Sisters, OR
for two days with Karen K. Stone!
I have had her book for years
and google her every once in a while
to see if she's coming close.
The stars were aligned when Dorothy
happily agreed to go
and we were able to twist Judy's arm
since she "hates" to paper piece!
There were lots of crazy cloud formations!
We stopped at The Quilt Nest in castle Rock, WA
which doesn't look like much from the outside
but has lots of yummy fabric on the inside!
Despite my sons' nickname for me
of "first snowflake freak out lady"
I drove the six hour drive without incident!
It's always worth the ride as
The Stichenpost
is
spectacularly
filled
with
samples, patterns, and of course lots (LOTS!) of fabric!
They had a whole cabinet of Marcia Derse by Troy.
The ladies were oohing and ahhing of her
rich, lush, and sophisticated fabrics...
I couldn't resist picking up a few pieces...
and this book
that has a cute pattern for a fabric book!
Karen is on the right in the cute black and white dress.
She is so cute, funny, and very easy going.
These are a few of the quilts she shared.
Here's her Wild Women Don't Get the Blues
which is the class I took.
Ladies brought out their STASH...
and Karen helped you create a palette.
Here she is with Dorothy
helping to work some palette creating magic!
Voila!
You know how you take a class,
and you hope you leave with at least one take away
that you can tuck into your tool box?
Well,
here's what's in my quilting tool box from this class...
Start with a main fabric
(Dorothy had the batik on the right).
Pull lots (a hundred?!) of peices,
fold them neatly, and visually test
to make sure they "are friends"with your main fabric.
Organize these friends into groups.
Ask your self, "What groups do I have?"
Do I need all these groups?
Can I live without anything?
Spend as much time as you need
days, weeks, hopefully not years,
but maybe,
adding and removing
until you are satisfied.
How do you know you are satisfied?
You feel it.
The collection makes you happy!
Here's mine at Sisters.
My main fabric is the bottom one going across.
I have darks, purples, green/blues, and coral/reds.
She said I could use some more,
so here's my latest additions now that I'm home.
I added some yellows for some pop.
I see that I still need some more lights.
OK,
when your palette is complete
any fabric you pick is going to work!
(this is the big takeaway -
spend time working and refining
your palette
and you are assured success!)
In the case of this pattern,
you are working with two fabrics at a time.
You pick a fabric you love and look for it's
"best friend."
Best friends have excellent contrast.
Contrast can be light and dark
bright and dull
pattern and plain
busy and not busy
big and small
You
must
have
contrast!
said Karen, or what's the point!
(It's been said to me so many times!
hahahaha!)
Here's the beginning of my block
Karen (sort of) kept all of the points in the center
the same color way
and all the outside points the same color way.
Initially I forgot that,
but will work on that as I grow my blocks.
Here's a close up of Karen's.
It was a wonderful two days!
Really, the class is just a means
to have some good quality girl time-
our little group gets an A+ for that!!!!
Always good to get away
because home is that much more
wonderful
when you get back!
and I'm bubbling
with renewed inspiration and enthusiasm!
You know it's all good when
even the alpacas are happy!!!
