BLISS WAS FOUND WITH KATHY DOUGHTY AND POSSE!

Oh my...

I am still wallowing 

in all the wonderfulness 

and sifting through all the energy

that was Kathy Doughty

and her lovely posse Carolyn, Cath, and Lisel.

It was a truly magical five days!

I am going to give you a peek into our workshops.

Kathy and posse shared a lot of wisdom!

I will do my best to convey their ideas

as accurately as I can

please consider this my personal reflection/take away

of our time together.

We started with a one day Soul Searching workshop.

Kathy asked us if we were afraid.

Many were.

WHAT IF 

you greeted the fear 

and 

turned it into curiosity?

Our goal was to go beyond just 

playing and throwing fabrics together.

Now we are playing with intention,

asking ourselves...

How can we use color effectively

with the fabric we already have?!

START USING 

THE FABRIC YOU ARE ACCUMULATING!

Here's Kathy organizing 

Dorothy's promise of joy 

(stack of fabrics).

First into cool and warm colors.

Then light to dark.

This organized pile makes it 

1. easy to see what you have

and 

2. easier to consider the whole range of color

  and  

3. easier to see where it is working.

and

4. easier to pair up fabrics that will make each other sing.

Intentionally playing,

knowing the "rules",

bending them

until...

 the quilting muse that is part of you

(yes, every single one of us)

skips for joy and shouts YES YES YES!

COLORS CONTRAST 

IF THEY ARE OPPOSITE 

IN TEMPERATURE.

She started the class by having us go into 

Calico Creations Quilt Shop

and stand next to the section we would normally start buying from.

"You do not need any more of this fabric," she said.

Hmmm....

So look at what I brought...

Lots of dots,

lots of small geometric shapes,

lots of the same kind of yellow.

It's pretty obvious what I do not need any more of!

Once you understand what you do well

you can push your self 

to buy and gather what will make

what you already have 

sing.

What we don't like

is often what we need the most of!

A revolutionary idea really.

SO...

watch the evolution of my yellows

once I start to add

bigger prints

and 

different values of yellow...

MORE INTEREST!

Still a work in progress.

I could feel my brain start to form 

a new pathway for color theory.

Kathy pointed out that 

you see the color of the flowers 

because they sit on 

the brown of the ground 

or the green of the leaves.

The fun wasn't over!

Next was a two day Modern Wedge Workshop.

Kathy shared a myriad of possible directions

for your wedges...

and we embraced the challenge!

WE WERE 

TRUSTING 

THAT SOMETHING 

REALLY WONDERFUL 

WOULD WORK OUT!

It was an honor to 

watch Kathy audition fabrics.

I have admired her color choices for so long...

it was fascinating to hear her color gears clicking!

She is narrowing down background options

 for Merry's gorgeous (just like her) wedge.

MAKE TODAY THE "SOMEDAY"

and use what you have been saving.

Here's the beginning of Judy's work

with her Terrie Mangat "someday" fabric.

Here's Justine's wedge...

Tricia is taking it to the next level

with some layering...

Kathy's hot wedges are sizzling!

Chris' masterpiece...

Here is my one giant wedged circle.

My "someday" fabric

is also a Terrie Mangat print 

that I have been saving (for what??!!)

for (gasp) 14 years???!!!

I originally thought I would use those bike wheels in the back.

But the quilting muse may have other ideas (or not)!

We strive to have

CAREFULLY CONSIDERED 

CHOICES THAT WE ABSOLUTELY LOVE!

Kathy did not hesitate

 to unroll a bolt for auditioning.

She suggested

that you 

get as close to the end product 

before cutting.

What if it sat on a plaid

 (Kathy LOVES the contrast that plaid creates) 

picnic blanket

that was on a field of daisies?

At this point,

I have completely fallen in love

and found my Material Obsession groove

http://www.materialobsession.typepad.com/

and am feeling so grateful that the end is not yet!

The fun keeps going 

with the last workshop I arranged...

two days for Hidden Woman!

Day one begins with 

thinking about hand work.

Hexagons, diamonds, quilting.

Ahhh...

a giant lovely purr of content!

Surely not a "goodbye"

but an

"until next time"!

                                                                     Success!

That sums up my time with the Material Obssession ladies.

(A bow of heart felt gratitude to them.)

My quilting eye has been fine tuned.

A parallel to "real life" 

popped out and has been highlighted in my brain.

(the best gift ever)

I am left eager to sew/design my day

and make moments that...

DRAW THE MIND IN,
ENGAGE IT,
AND KEEP IT ASKING -

WHAT IS GOING ON?

Switching gears...

last week's winner is...

Vickie!

Hooray!!!

This week's giveaway is

24 2 1/2 inch strips

from the palette

I am using for my Jen Kingwell quilt

(another Australian!)

Leave a comment about this post,

become a follower,

or get someone new to follow!

Winner will be picked this weekend!

(sorry I was so late this time. 

Too much Kathy/posse happiness clogging my brain!)

GIVEAWAY#9!

Whoop Whoop!

Kathy Doughty has landed!

She will be giving a trunk show at Fabric Etc. this Tuesday.

http://www.fabric-etc.com/

I will be posting pics of her five classes with me soon!

Here's a pillow case I made for her

with one of my all time favorite fabrics 

that says, "joie de vivre" (joy of life).

Inside the pillow case is another (!) 

fat quarter bag!

My last kiss-up-to-Kathy quilt

came back from fabulous Kwilt Queen Krista

http://kwiltqueen.com/

(I am thinking to pick a binding with Kathy!)

My "Matrimony" quilt came back from Judy.

http://www.wildirishrowsquilting.com/

Love them both!

Chugging along on my Jen Kingwell pattern.

I have never worked so small...

a 3 1/4 inch square cut twice to make four triangles??!!

I am finding small to be very peaceful and calming.

I am auditioning some Tula Pink Moonshine for the background...

maybe a mix of both that are up there.

I am fascinated by how the colors and contrast change in each block.

It's the same pattern,

but block to block 

there is so much wonderful difference!

Last's week's giveaway winner is Quilting Tangent!

This week's giveaway is 1/2 yard cuts of 

Luella Doss' line Eyes Wyse from Free Spirit.

It's in the 90s here.

Poor Fred...

he is not moving far from the fan!

Leave a comment sharing your weather,

become a follower,

get someone new to follow or comment.

Good Luck!

   

GIVEAWAY #8

This week found me 

happily

growing my Jen Kingwell

http://jenkingwelldesigns.blogspot.com/

pieces...

and auditioning background fabrics.

As school ended and free time grew a bit

I found my self in contemplation about quilting...

I have been working in a quilt shop

for a year and a half.

Many Almost every women comes in 

and says a variation of the same thing...

"I don't really need any more fabric"

or

"I have a huge stash I never use"

I even had a customer say...

"My stash is so big that it is easier for me to come here 

and buy new fabric to make my quilt."

At first I found this amusing.

Me too - I have a large stash.

Me too - I often find it hard to use what I have.

Me too - I probably don't "need" to buy more.

But now, a year and a half later,

I think it's a bit depressing.

What is going on with woman

that we are spending more money

on fabric we don't need?

Help!

This is why I love love love Kathy Doughty.

http://www.materialobsession.typepad.com/

Her philosophy is all about USING your stash.

Perhaps you buy a new piece or two 

to enhance or "pop" the collection you already have...

but she focuses on playing with the fabrics

that you already fell in love with

and helping you figure out how to use them.

I have arranged some workshops with her!

I have been working on these workshops for almost a year

and now it's time!

I am playing in my stash

and am officially committed to using what I have.

I LOVE what I have! 

It's almost a relief to know

 I already have what I need.

I started with this delicious piece...

and auditioned him

until I saw him singing with some friends...

A scrumptious palette developed!

I tell ladies who are struggling 

to figure out what to bring to class

to fill a tub (that you can carry)

with what you love.

Here's my tub...

I am so excited to hear 

what Kathy Doughty has to say

and see my stash through her eyes!

Congrats to Sharon from

http://indigothreads.blogspot.com/

who won the last giveaway of text fabric!

This week's giveaway is

2 1/2 yards of the beginning of a quilt

you can add to from your stash!

Leave a comment sharing what you think about 

using your stashor buying more fabric,

become a follower,

or get someone new to comment.

Good Luck! 4 giveaways left!

GIVEAWAY #7!

Three more quilts given away this week! 

All went to teachers

who made a difference in the lives of my boys!

Hooray!

This one went to the a wonderful character

who retired this year.

He started each high level math classes with a bit of yoga

and shared grand tales of his colorful past.

Thankfully,

he reached out 

to my oldest and 

made a great connection with him.

I am developing a new quilt crush

on Jen Kingwell!

Here's her book...

here's my growing palette...

Besides the color choices Jen makes,

I like the idea of working on a

a slow cooked quilt with lots of pieces.

(It's not like I need to be in a hurry to make another quilt,

do I?!) 

Many of Jen's patterns

have many, a lot , hundreds of blocks!

I made time this week

to sew with a wonderful bunch 

of happy ladies

and made these blocks...

Congratulations to Sewgirl who won the Kaffe scraps!

(Send her son

 - and Sewgirl - 

some good thoughts as he does the PCT solo!)

This week's giveaway is 7 fat quarters of fabric with text!

Leave a comment sharing your favorite word, 

be/become a follower, 

or get a new friend to follow 

for a chance to win

next Sunday!

GIVEAWAY #6

12 fabric giveaways

made me think about 12 quilt-aways.

So, this week I gave away two quilts.

Here's the one that Walter liked best.

(Given to a very kind woman

with an always friendly face and who was

full of encouraging comments 

as I started teaching on a more regular basis.)

The week was busy with 

a farewell dinner to our exchange student, 

an 8th grade band concert,

and a high school graduation.

I finally took a quick break

and treated my self to a visit to 

the LaConnor Quilt Museum.

Denise Oymama Miller (and partner Nancy Ryan)

have the upstairs exhibit

(no photos allowed)

and on the second floor

these three caught me eye...

I left thinking about 

getting into my scraps

which led to inspiration 

for this week's giveaway.

First things first...

this week's winner is...

(drum roll please)

Karen!

Hooray!

And now for our new giveaway...

here's some of my Kaffe collection...

LOVE Kaffe!

(and Brandon!)

Sew...

A one gallon bag of yummy yummy Kaffe scraps!

As I hope for a few minutes to sew this week,

leave a comment sharing

 what you are hoping for this week.

Become a follower or 

get a new friend to follow for another chance!

Bon chance!