Earlier this week, I had the great fortune to take a class from Bonnie Hunter. I have long admired her, her work, and her energy! She came to Kalamazoo for the Kalamazoo Log Cabin Quilter's Guild.
I took her class on the quilt Cathedral Stars. (Click on the name of the quilt for the free pattern.) We had 38 people in class, and Bonnie really knew how to command the classroom. I knew I would enjoy the day, but quite frankly, I enjoyed it even more than I thought I would. I really enjoyed her personality!
One of the things I enjoyed most about the class (other than Bonnie's friendly personality) was how many tips she shared. I learned some great skills for improving my cutting, my seam allowance, and efficiency. This photo illustrates her personality. I was trying to take a photo of her while she demonstrating strip cutting, and she caught me. She paused, posed, and grinned. I loved it. It was too funny! (And don't you love how the bunny ears on the gal behind her look like they are on her head?!)
Here are my blocks that I made in the workshop. As you may know, I have a hard time with scrap quilting--and Bonnie is all about using your scraps! I'll get there someday. I didn't use scraps for this, but everything I did use was in my stash. I am using Alison Glass' new Sun Prints line for my fabrics. I had purchased a fat quarter bundle a little while back, and they came about a month ago. So, I was happy to dig into them (and proud of myself for cutting it up right away!) I'm also using Kona White and Kona Ash.
You may notice I substituted solid gray squares for the half-square triangles. I did that because (a) I wasn't organized to plan far enough ahead to have enough fabric of two colors for the half-square triangles, (b) I wanted to challenge myself to change up a pattern (also hard for me to do), and (c) I wanted to make it modern. I am really liking it. I love Bonnie's quilt, too, but I am also happy with this look!
Here is another valuable tip I learned from Bonnie. I gave her one of my gray squares to sign for me. I'll incorporate it into the quilt. I asked her to sign it with one of my skinny tip black markers. She wasn't happy with how it wrote. She asked if she could sign it with her own pen. I gave her a new pen, and she signed with it. See how nice and black it wrote? It's fantastic! And permanent. I'm totally buying some of these for signing my bee blocks! She said she gets them on Amazon.
Another reason the day was so wonderful is that I got to spend it with my good friend, Lisa. We don't get to spend much time together these days, between my work and her busy work/home life, so that was a real treat! We gabbed the entire day! Her blocks are so beautiful! I love all the blue with the green stars. And the orange will be a great pop.
After the workshop, Bonnie came to our guild meeting and gave us a fantastic trunk show and lecture. She has so many great tips for using scraps, and her quilts are truly amazing. She must have brought over 20 quilts for us to see. She has something like six books out now and tons of free patterns on her blog. She also does a free quilt along every year, around Thanksgiving through Christmas. You may want to check it out if you have never seen it before. It's amazing.
The guild meeting was also extra special, because my other good friend, Holly, was back in town, after being gone all winter. I was so glad to see her.
I went home higher than a kite! Life is good!
Now, I need to stay on this so it doesn't become a UFO, right?! haha.
See ya' next time,
Mama Pea
Stephanie
(brevity in action again)
Hi...
I saw your comment on Bonnies post , so I just had to come and peek. I love the colours you have used for your cathedral stars quilts and I really enjoyed hearing about your day with Bonnie.
Tina
New Zealand
Posted by: Tina | March 17, 2016 at 03:08 AM
Your blocks are awesome! Loved your blog! I took the second day Bonnie Hunter workshop and loved it too! I am going to order the Gel pen for fabric from Amazon too!
Posted by: Lynne | March 17, 2016 at 07:53 AM
I am glad you are back blogging- and I really like the change in the block to the solid gray- It calms down the block and I will enjoy seeing the entire top when done
Posted by: connie pietrala | March 17, 2016 at 08:14 AM
LOVE your block! And....the class sounds SO MUCH fun! Wish I could have been there! Bonnie seems like a serious scrapper! I'm going to look up her schedule to see if she'll be anywhere near me. Thanks for the gel fabric pen tip. I just marked it on amazon for a future purchase.
Posted by: Deb | March 17, 2016 at 08:47 AM
I saw your picture on Bonnie's blog last night. When I read that she was going to be in Kalamazoo I wondered if you would get to go. I'm so glad you did! Taking a class from Bonnie is on my quilter's bucket list.
Posted by: Lynn | March 17, 2016 at 09:28 AM
Sounds like such a fun day! I enjoyed Bonnie's presentation at the guild meeting too.
Posted by: Carolyn | March 17, 2016 at 10:54 AM
So fun to read this! I would love to know her tricks for seam allowances. And I'm going to check out those pens on Amazon. AND I want a sew day with you. Soon.
Posted by: cindy-liveacolorfullife | March 17, 2016 at 04:24 PM