Beginning Quilting Class Update & Fabric Pottery Class

This post originally appeared at The Dropped Thread on 12/22/12.  It is being archived on this blog.

Dear Reader,

So sorry I'm behind in my December postings, but I'm sure you're all just as busy with your Christmas shopping and crafting.  Also after the recent events in Newtown, Connecticut, my heart has been grieving, as the rest of the world has been, and I just wanted to concentrate on spending time with my family for a little while.  I'm sure you've all been doing the same, giving extra hugs, and "I love you's".  I've been spending time praying for my own family and friends, and for the grieving families and community of Newtown.

As I've mentioned in a past post, I've been taking classes at Quilters Emporium in Stafford, TX.  First I want to give a shout out to Rose Ann Cook and the ladies in the shop who are all so nice and helpful.  They really take the time to help me when I say I'm a beginner and guide me to patterns at my level.  They helped me understand why a particular fabric wouldn't work in a pattern they way I was thinking it would and guided me another fabric (the ombre effect I was look at would have been lost when the fabric was cut up to make the border long enough to fit my piece).

My first quilt top!

I've really enjoyed to the classes I've taken: Beginning Quilting, Machine Quilting, and Beginning Fabric Pottery.  I have already paid for two more classes in January 2013 and I'm considering a third.  The Fabric Pottery class was a challenge, mostly because I am left-handed.  This was the first time this class was introduced at the shop, so I threw the instructor for a loop when she realized a left-handed person would need to wrap the fabric in a different direction than she normally did.  We figured out that I would have to do the sewing of the bowls the same as the right-handed students because a sewing machine is made right-handed.  Did you know that?  All the knobs and gadgets and everything to adjust your machine is on the right-hand side.  The base of the machine also has more room on the right-hand side for guiding material through than the left, so it is easier to control for a right-handed person than a left-handed person, unless you have a drop-down cabinet.  Also for our purposes, you can only get the bowl to fit going out the left side of the machine, so every had to sew the same direction.

My first fabric pottery bowl!
Fabric used - "Marble Textures" by Moda

In the end, we made adjustments during the class, and I stuck with the class (although I almost left when my sewing machine bobbin started acting up), and I was very pleased with the final results of my fabric bowl.  I am going to practice a few times on my own at home before taking the intermediate class.  I might come up with some tricks for left-handers.  If I do I'll post them here.

There won't be a December blog give-away, but I will announce one in the first few weeks of January.  I will be announcing my 2013 Personal Sewing Resolution the week after Christmas.  Are any of you including sewing in your New Year's Resolutions?  I hope mine goes better than my resolutions to lose weight.  That one's never happened - EVER.

Merry Christmas to everyone, and Happy New Year!  May God bless you and keep you in the coming year.

In the meantime...

Go Houston Texans! All - The - Way!

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Brenda