The super seminar was super

Last week I went to a three-day Ricky Tims Super Seminar.  It was a Christmas gift from my family.  Although it was held in a venue only about 10 miles (or less) from home, they also treated me to staying in the seminar hotel - I love staying in hotels!  It felt a little funny at first, but believe me, I got used to it quite quickly and really felt like I was away on a quilt adventure.

Here's a slideshow Ricky and Alex Anderson posted to give you an idea of the weekend's event.

The most challenging thing about the weekend was the weather!  South Texas experienced extremely cold weather last weekend - unheard of coldness!  And the event venue was a big barny ballroom that never seemed to get warm - and yet, no one complained!  We were all so excited to see the quilts and watch the experts demonstrate how to make them we just pulled our jackets around us a little closer. 

If you haven't been to a Super Seminar, I recommend it.  Ricky Tims and a guest expert or two (typically Alex Anderson) lecture and demonstrate all their signature techniques over the three days.  There are also numerous shopportunities to purchase their books and Ricky's hand-dyes, and Bernina is a big player in the retail therapy portion of the event.  A couple of the lectures were basically Bernina commercials.  Being an Elna girl, this was a little dull for me - could have been off-putting if I'd let it be.

One of my favorite parts was getting to see Ricky's and Alex's actual quilts up close.  I've seen these in all kinds of publications and online for years so it was great to see them in person.  I've always wanted to compare my hand-quilting to Alex's.  I spent a long time studying her quilt Mud.

What I  discovered is that I "can" and do quilt like she does - but not as consistently, especially on my own personal quilts.  You can find high quality quilting like this on my quilts, but not all over the quilt.  I'm happy to let some sloppy quilting (bigger, uneven stitches) find its way into my quilt - sort of lazy, I know.  So as a result, for the past week as I've been quilting Kites and Diamonds, I've been much more mindful as I quilt so that my stitch is more consistent.  It's really paying off.

I had a great time - paid for it at work this week with all of the catching up I had to do, but it was worth it.

Happy 2015!

Here is another new year starting.  To tell you the truth, I'm a little startled by it!  2014 flew by so quickly and had so many ups and downs.  Work was crazy, with my boss's retirement, getting a new boss (not new to the college because he had been one of our vice presidents), the grand opening of a new building and program on campus which I've spent most of the last two years writing about, talking about, making presentations about, planning, raising funds for, etc. etc. etc.  It has truly occupied my life.  And then in the middle of it all, I developed an annoying health issue that I really don't want to talk about - at least not yet.  I'm getting treatment, in fact I graduated from physical therapy yesterday, and I'm feeling tons better than I did in September and October - I was really in sad shape for a while there.  I'm much, much better now.  So let's talk about quilts and stuff!

We've had a good day, today.  Mostly quiet - DD was out with a friend all day.  I made lunch for Dave and me - pecan crusted chicken, hoppin' john, pasta salad left over from yesterday and sugar free brownies with sugar-free vanilla ice cream.  Delish.

Are you making resolutions this year?  I'm not, really, except that I've made a list of UFOs to complete in 2015 and they are (in the order I want to get them done): 

1.  Kites and Diamonds - this is the quilt I'm hand quilting right now.  I'm pretty sure my mother pieced it sometime in the '50s or '60s.  I haven't taken a picture of it yet.
2. Bow Tie - I saw a vintage bow tie quilt on Flickr one day when I was eating lunch at my desk and decided I had to make one like it.  I went home and made one block just as a sample so I wouldn't forget and the next thing I knew it was covering my design wall.  No pic of it yet, either.
3. Not-Your-Grandmother's-Flower-Garden - I just ordered a hexagon die for my brand-new Christmas present GO Cutter, so I'm excited to get it and get busy.
4. Mighty Oaks - I was in such a hurry to start this, and then I needed to get some notion or other and it just sort of got stuck on the design wall. It's a little further along than the picture below shows.
5. Embroidered Baskets - I might get this done in time to enter it in the local quilt show.  That's a big maybe.  It only needs quilting, unless I decide to add a border.

 

I know it doesn't seem like a big list, but I will hand quilt these, and I only have so much time for hand quilting.  I've also chosen two tops to send out to be machine quilted: my Sister's Choice and Black and White and Red All Over. 

Wishing you all you dream of in 2015!