Paper-Piecing and Jellyrolls

This past week has been very busy here at Shiisa Quilts.  We finished up another class of Free Motion Quilting-Basics and Beyond, the Shiisa Quilts Stitch Lounge, Valentine Make and Take Paper Piecing, and the Superbowl Jellyroll Race.  It has been a quilting educational whirlwind for everyone! 

I was so sad that the FMQ class has ended. Alice and Lisa have taught me so much and left me feeling so inspired.  I can honestly say I am now a FMQ addict. With some additional encouragement in the Stitch Lounge, I hope to finish the quilt that I made in the class by next week.  This is the first time I have ever been sad to be done with a quilt because I have loved making it so much.  As I will be starting a new project soon, I can’t wait to be done with the piecing and start quilting! 

While you can see that I am in love with FMQ, let’s just say I learned a new technique in quilting that I did not pick up as easily: Paper-Piecing.  The class was excellent and Bev was wonderful and patient, but as easily as I learned FMQ, I thought I would be able to pick up paper piecing quickly. The examples Bev brought in were amazing; the points were perfect and made out of tons of tiny pieces.   Yes, the concept of paper piecing is quite simple, sew on the lines of the paper in the right order, but for some reason it seemed like such a backward process for me.    After practicing it a bit more and ripping out some very tiny seems I finally caught on.  All the ladies in the class were beginners too so it was nice to all be in the same boat. Carol Doak’s 50 Little Paper-Pieced Blocks is an excellent book and all of us couldn’t stop looking through it.  The blocks are fun and easy to do and are great to make for holiday cards.  By the end of it I felt more accomplished and relieved to have my project looking good after two hours than I ever have for any class.  I hope Ryan, my boyfriend, loves his Valentine. 

The week ended with the most fantastic Superbowl party I have ever been too.  You think this was a baking contest, think again! On Superbowl Sunday, Shiisa Quilts held their annual Superbowl party.  This year, Jan decided to add a competition into the party mix by hosting a Jellyroll quilt race.  The competitors turned 1,040 linear yards of fabric into a quilt!  The Jellyroll race was everything I could have hoped it to have been.  It was competitive, loud, and most of all FUN!  All three ladies were a joy to be with and Jan had a play by play of the competition on Facebook.   Even though she had a downfall in the last quarter by accidentally sewing her quilt into a tube, Kathleen was our winner!

 Thank you to everyone that either took a class with me or taught a class that I was in this week.  It was so much fun and I learned so much from all of you!