Sunday, March 22, 2009

Happy Springtime!

Okay, I see it has been a very long time since I blogged - more than three months! Well, I can assure you that nothing much has been happening since then... EXCEPT several great quilty experiences! I'll tell you all about them.

First, way back in late January, my sister Leslie and I traveled north to Livermore's amazing and beautiful Alden Lane Nursery for a three-day workshop with none other than Alex Anderson! We had a WONDERFUL time. I don't know what to mention first - meeting Alex and learning from her; seeing the most beautiful nursery scape ever (believe me, it is smaller but more beautiful even than Rogers Gardens in Newport Beach!); or eating the best ever catered lunches! Here are a few select photos from our wonderful trip north.







Something else fun happened in January. I started an Adult Ed quilting class in Santa Barbara. It has been almost 14 years since I did this. Retirement gives you many opportunities and this is one I very much looked forward to over the years. Problem is, we moved away to Santa Ynez (about 35 miles) and it became a little more difficult to plan activities in SB. It has been so much fun to reconnect with this quilting experience!

The same teacher I started with is still there - Marty Frolli. She is so articulate and detailed in her preparation and instructions. We are lucky to have her. The class this semester covers using fat quarters to make traditional pieced quilts. I have learned so much from this class, even though I never completed a thing. Shame on me! Here are some photos of how the snail trail block is designed. Marty has us draft them first on paper. I like this as it teaches us how to design a block and resize it as needed.

The pieces that form the block.

Putting the blocks together.



One of the benefits of attending this class was the Show and Tell opportunity. I wish I had photos of the quilts students brought to share. Beautiful quilts, a variety of styles and color choices. I just have to add a photo of one here. The week's topic was the pinwheel quilt. Dundee Schulte, who loves lots of color, brought her completed top. Amazing how she can pull this off. Here is her quilt:


That's all for now. I will share more about my recent quilt experiences in the next blog.

1 comment:

Janis said...

Hi Bonnie, I enjoyed seeing your blog and reading about what you are doing. I so enjoyed spending time with you and your sister at the retreat. Didn't we have fun? Thanks for your comments on my blog. We'll keep in touch. Jan