Goodbye, Knoxville -- Hello, Bloomington!

Goodbye, Knoxville --

One of the very best parts about travelling and teaching is all the people we meet, both teachers and students. Learning tips and tricks from other teachers about the subjects they teach, equipment they like, travelling advice -- all of this makes our jobs easier. And, being quilters, we're all pretty good about sharing.

On the Knoxville trip, I spent most of my off time with the above teachers: MaryAnn Scheblein-Dawson, Karen Stone, Teri Lucas and Laura Wasilowski. This was taken just after breakfast Sunday morning; we had all finished our teaching the day before and were getting together for one more meal and our good-byes before departing for the airport.

Thanks, guys! It was wonderful getting to know you all and I'm looking forward to when our paths cross again! (P.S. Karen: See you next week at the Nebraska State Guild show!)

Hello, Bloomington IN --

Today I taught the first day of my two day "Fluff & Stuff" machine quilting class. Before students arrived and after they left, I spent some time walking around the shop looking at all the goodies. I've been to Shiisa Quilts twice before, but owner Jan Mease is always changing things up to keep it fresh and tempting!

This immediately caught my eye; the asymmetrical design was very cool and I also really liked the odd (as in not square or rectangular) shape of the quilt itself.


Here's a close-up of the center area which is accomplished with a surface design technique known as discharging.










Alice Ridge adapted this from a vest pattern in the "Australian Spirit" book...more details at right.....

"Midnight in the Forest" by Jan Mease; the pattern is from the book "Quilts with Attitude" by Deb Kerasik.


Is this a yummy batik display? All these beautiful colors! The displayed quilt is "Amazon Star", a pattern designed by Judy Neiemeyer. The top was pieced by members of the Bloomington Quilters Guild Board and quilted by Kathy Kessler. It will be raffled by the guild in December 2011.

Wanted to show some closeups of the excellent piecing and beautiful quilting!











The pattern is available for purchase at Shiisa Quilts as are tickets for the raffle.

This was another quilt that really caught my eye -- at first, it pulled me in mainly because I loved the colors.....


..but then I took a really good look at Kathy Kessler's quilting and liked it even more!











At right are more details about the quilt; kits are available from Shiisa Quilts.



Shiisa Quilts is located at 2536 W. Industrial Park Drive, Bloomington IN (ph: 812-333-8311). To visit the website, click here.