LIKE FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL... BUT DIFFERENT

Instead it's been three trunk shows and two workshops (minus Hugh Grant).

Last month the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild invited me to a do a mini trunk show for them. I was overwhelmed and grateful by their response. They're quite a talented bunch so that really meant a lot. I was also invited to do a workshop for them on "How to Create Your Own Paper Piecing Block". It was an intense day with big brain work. You know how paper piecing is right, it's like one big puzzle. They stepped up to the plate and knocked it out of the park! We all learned a lot... and there were tacos! Everyone walked away with their own pattern block to sew. A few people were partially done sewing their blocks but Jaydeen was there first one to finish her TACO block!

Next up, back to back trunk shows. The first one is today, Friday, May 11 for the Blue Mountain Quilters Guild in Port Coquiltlam at 7pm. Then tomorrow, Saturday, May 12th, there is a trunk show for the Northwest Quilters Connection: An International Quilt Group at 9:30am in Vancouver. I'm really looking forward to meeting everyone and seeing their show and tell! 

May 26th I'll be teaching one of my favourite projects, a Cassette Book Cover workshop for the Fraser Valley Modern Quilt Guild. It's perfect for learning paper piecing and for finishing up a project in one day. We'll aim to make three sizes but I also have an alternative up my sleeve. There are still a few spots available. It's $40 for members and $45 for non members. Email Joan jmzielke@shaw.ca to register. Hey, maybe I'll see you there!

As tradition would have it... RECOMMENDED FOR YOUR PLAYLIST: I can't get enough of this band! I'd recommend ALL their songs but today I'm going to go with THE LATE SHOW by the band called The Beaches. They're a Canadian Band out of Toronto and they're killing it! Sadly I missed them in Vancouver just by days. I won't make that mistake again. 

I'VE BEEN MEANING TO MENTION...

A few weeks ago The Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild posted about the class that I'll be teaching. The workshop is called, "How to Design a Paper Pieced Block." Here's the write up and the details: 

When I learned to paper piece (from VMQG’s very own Sonja Callaghan) my brain exploded with possibilities. There were a ton of great blocks out there already but the challenge to design my own blocks was too irresistible to not give it a whirl. I didn’t jump in right away though, it was intimidating… all those pieces!

People seem to LOVE or really not love paper piecing but I’ve never met anyone who feels indifferent about it. If you love the process and the graphic nature of it then I bet you’re ready to design your own block. All you need is a basic understanding of paper piecing and you can join me on April 22 at the Croatian Cultural Centre, as we walk through the process of designing your own individual paper pieced blocks.

Registration is open! email workshops@vancouvermodernquiltguild.ca to register or to be added to the waiting list.

When: Sunday, April 22nd

Where: Croatian Cultural Center

Cost: $50 members; $65 non-members (fees are non-refundable)

Also on May 26th, I will be teaching a workshop for The Fraser Valley Modern Quilt Guild. The location, times and price are all still to be announced BUT we will be making Cassette Tape Zippy pouches! Small, medium and large. Yay! And if we have any left over time, maybe we can squeak in a Match Book Needle Book too! Fingers crossed. I'll keep you posted closer to the date.

Speaking of the FVMQG, Sherri Chalke and I have been invited to be the featured quilters at their Creative Stitches booth on March 16 and 17th at the Abbotsford Tradex. It's coming up quick AND it was a HUGE honour to be asked.

So there you go, hopefully we'll bump into each other at at least one of those venues!

Okay now for HAVE YOU SEEN: Sarah Watts' Craftedmoon enamel pins? BACK THE TRUCK UP! They're the BEST! I may have bought a few at Quiltcon...or three...but who's counting: wink, wink! And for the record, I hope they get to open that mini golf course one day!

And Last but not least RECOMMENDED FOR YOUR PLAYLIST: When deep down a Youtube rabbit hole I discovered this band called the FRIGHTS. The song is called "You are going to hate this" BUT I don't! I HEART IT!

SO WHAT'CHA, WHAT'CHA, WHAT'CHA WANT?

It's been quite a year! To top it off I've been flooded with requests for teaching. Yay! I'm super excited about that since I've been dying to get back at it. I need your help though. The requests coming in are very generous and are open to teach pretty much whatever I want! This is where I need your help... I have loads of ideas but "What'Cha" want? Do you want one day workshops on:

• Paper Piecing? (specifically the Cassettes?)
• Cassette Tape Zippy Pouches/ Book Cover?
• The Control Freak pattern?
• The Cassingle?
• The Boombox? Or the sewing machine cover? (these would be a two or three day workshop)
• How to create you own Paper Piecing pattern?
• Repeat Lino Cut printing on fabric?
• Letters in the Third Dimension? English paper pieced and machine sewn (embracing the Y-seam! Not as scary as one would assume. I can't wait to show you the new one I'm working on! Eep!)

*All my classes include colour theory.  

Which would you choose, or do you have any other suggestions? I'd love to hear from you! Please leave a comment below and for your time, one commenter will receive a free Lysa Flower Pattern of their choice! Easy Peasy just like that. 

Speaking of giveaways! Did you see these ones? Stephanie from Patch & Dot is giving away some fat quarters plus other goodies (ooo! I really want those pencils!) AND that ray of sunshine, Natalie (HungryHippie Sews) is giving away NINE of her favourites (products, patterns, and books)! Can't beat that!

Now you're never going to guess what I'm recommending for your playlist this week! While I was down the YouTube rabbit hole I found a Muppets version of the Beastie Boys doing SO What'Cha Want! Perfection.

Eventually it all gets done. Right?

My husband and I both turned 40 the same year. We wanted to do something to mark this milestone. He jumped out of a plane. I took a Denyse Schmidt workshop in Portland.

I didn't even know what the workshop was about... I thought maybe we were doing log cabins. It didn't even matter to me. I showed up with my two toned fabric and started the workshop making perfectly pointy pinwheels. Then we were instructed to deconstruct them. Wha huh? Okay. I was pleased with the experience but life happened and the blocks from the workshop were tucked away. 

Skip forward two more years. Back then I was still coordinating workshops for the Fraser Valley Modern Quilt Guild. We brought in Barb Mortell again. She had previously taught our guilds first workshop back in 2011 or 2012. This time she was teaching us all about triangles. I had known Barb for sometime and asked if I could go rogue and do my own thing. She said 'go for it'. What I remember most about this workshop (which was two days of intense sewing) was feeling like I had found my voice in colour among all those triangles.

I finished sewing the triangles together shortly after Barb's workshop. Last summer I put the wide boarder on and had it quilted by Bev Funk. I'm not sure where my motivation came from but recently I've been finishing up old projects. I didn't sign up for any finish alongs but darn it I should have! Oh well... Either way I'm happily satisfied with the quilt. It feels great to get one project done!

Now only 1,293,286 unfinished projects to go!

VMQG Repeat Block Printing Workshop

I woke up at 2am.

Wide awake.

I felt nervous. Wait... no. Excited. Was that butterflies in my stomach? I realized I hadn't felt this way since I was a kid waiting for Christmas day to arrive. 

This all had fallen into my lap. Months before, in the back of my mind, I was thinking, "Gee, I'd like to get back into teaching again." This past June, Vancouver's Modern Quilt Guild's workshop coordinator, Amy popped by my booth at Maker Faire. She asked if I'd be interested in teaching a surface design class. Weird how stuff like that sometimes just lines up, hey? We chatted back and forth and landed on a Repeat Block Printing class.

Jump forward... so there we were, October 2nd in Vancouver at the Croatian Cultural Center. I was tickled when I found out it had sold out! We had the ink, the lino blocks, the carving tools, the brayers (rollers) and the time. The students jumped right in with both feet. They embraced each step as we moved along through the day. 

Then repeats. Gah! Repeats get me every time. I showed them how to create and carved a true repeat. It was our last project of the day and the students didn't disappoint. I was taken by their prints; their motifs, the colours they used, some people even blended their inks! I have even more photo's posted on my Instagram feed. These guys really stepped up to the plate.

There's nothing better then to see someone's face light up to, "Oh I get it!" and resolve to that mutual look, "Okay, I'm hooked."

I know I was there to teach but I think it's me who needs to say thank you to everyone for being so keen, so open and just going for it. Thanks for quenching my thirst to teach again!