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I thought I'd share a bit about three of my favorite quilting books.

Lucky Spool's Essential Guide to Modern Quilt Making is broken into ten workshops, each written by a different powerhouse quilter. I love the variety in style and technique. This 191 page book is packed with lessons, patterns, and tips.

Shape by Shape by Angela Walters is one of my go to books for free motion quilting ideas. I love the format of presenting a variety of quilting motifs that fit well in a particular shape. There are over 70 designs suitable for each part of your quilt. Check out book 2 as well.

Patchwork City by Elizabeth Hartman is a charming book with 75 blocks in three sizes. The geometric blocks have fun names like Airport, Laundromat, and Clock Tower. There are so many opportunities for fussy cutting in these blocks.

What are your favorite quilting books?

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Earlier this week, I ran across a contest hosted by Rachel at Stitched in Color. She is hosting a fabric mosaic contest. I've admired these in the past, but I think this is the first  time I'm participating. Rachel has given us a theme and some inspirational photographs to get us started and we create fabric bundles from the fabrics at Bobbie Lou's Fabric Factory. The fabric pull is one of my favorite parts quilting, so this is lots of fun!

The theme this time was Toasty Teal.

For my first bundle, the Bejeweled Seal at the upper left caught my eye and then I focused in on the center print, Into the Deep. Jellies like warm water, so it seemed to fit the Toasty Teal theme for me. Teal, lime, and navy is my favorite palette, so I started with that and added a pop of some bright colors with the Diamond Mine print on the center left.

Here is my Tropical Ocean Teal palette.

 

I actually toned down the bright in that first one, but I still wanted a palette that felt a little more rich. For this second palette I focused on teals and browns with metallic gold. I love those hexagons!

Here is my Metallic Teal and Brown palette.

 

Which of my palettes is your favorite? What color do you like to pair with teal?

Head over to Stitched in Color to see all the palettes that have been created for the contest. Starting Monday the 11th, voting will be open to pick your favorite on Rachel's blog.

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Last month I had the pleasure of teaching Planned Improv: Scrappy Squares to each of my guilds. I had a great time and the quilters enjoyed learning my technique for some improv design... with a few rules. I led a 6-hour workshop for BAMQG, followed by a presentation and demo for Quilting 101 with SCVQA.

The first portion of the workshop includes some design work. Here's a look at some designs in progress.

 

Many of the BAMQG quilters, including Jaye, Diana, Joelle, and Michelle-Nicholle, finished their slab in class.

 

Since both of these classes were with guilds I belong to I got to see some progress and finishes at the November guild meetings. Sue, Marty, Mary C, and Mary M brought in their finished quilt tops for show and tell at BAMQG.

Mary C even made another Scrappy Squares slab as her contribution to November's colorist for Color My Quilt.

 

Bobi, Sandie, Patricia, and Sally showed their quilts off at the SCVQA meeting. Sally added ties and made her quilt into a sewing machine cover!

Thank you to BAMQG and SCVQA for having me. I had so much fun!

I was a classroom teacher for 11 years. I taught middle school math. This is the 8th year I've been out of the classroom and it felt so great to be teaching in front of a group again! My second workshop offering is in the works and I look forward to teaching to more guilds in 2018.

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