Another Millefiori!

You might remember Diane's beautiful photo millefiori quilt... well here's another beauty of hers that I managed to squeeze in:

Again, make sure to follow The Quilt Show for an upcoming episode to see more of Diane and her quilts!

Nakita's Whimsical Quilt Garden

What fun I had working on Nakita's Whimsical Quilt Garden (pattern by Piece O'Cake Designs).  It is such a happy quilt and Nakita's choice of fabrics was perfect!

And some detail pics:

AQS Grand Rapids

So I just found out there are a few spots left in a couple of my classes at Quiltweek Grand Rapids.

This is good news for you -- if you were thinking about it, here's your chance!  Here's a link to all my classes:  http://www.quiltweek.com/portfolio_tags/grr17-karen-marchetti/

Scrollwork - Wed 8:30-11:30 am
In this class, I share several variations of the basic scroll as well as how to use them in more than just sashings.  Students will have a lot of curly, scrolly fun all while adding a bunch of scroll options to their go-to stitches.

So here's a peek at some of the stitches from class.

Spunky Funky Feathers - Wed 1:00-:4:00 pm
This class will stretch your creativity as you learn these fun, zero backtrack, whimsical feathers.  While these aren't your traditional feathers, they sure are fun and can fill space rather quickly.

Again, a peek at some of the fun from class.

Build-A-Stitch 2 - Sat 8:30-11:30 am
An additional 20 stitches utilizing the same muscle-memory and confidence-building technique as the original Build-A-Stitch class.  Build A-Stitch is not a pre-requisite as I'll cover the basics of the technique at the beginning of class.  You will have an even larger library of stitches after this class!


So to check out the class link and maybe I'll see you there - I look forward to meeting you!

Diane's Millefiori Quilt

If you've been following along on my Facebook page, you've seen little peeks at Diane's beautiful millefiori quilt.  Well, it's finished, and it is awesome - I love how she incorporated family photos!

Here are oodles of detail pics:

And, of course, a couple of peeks at the back:

If you're patient, you'll be able to see this beauty on The Quilt Show with Alex and Ricky as Diane will be filming her episode soon!

Kris's Brilliant Beauties of Joy

Well, Kris's second quilt, Brilliant Beauties of Joy (another Jacqueline de Jonge pattern), is finished. I'm a few days late in finishing it up... last week I threw out my back.  If you've been following on Facebook you already know all about it.  Anyway, what strenuous activity was I doing to throw out my back?  Bending down to get a pot out of the cabinet.  Yep, that is it!  A lot of you have commented how very common this back busting is -- while drying your hair, tying shoelaces, sneezing - so at the very least I feel better about just bending.

I did take a few days to try and rest my back.  I started on my Cherrywood Hand Dyed Fabrics Van Gogh Challenge (you'll be able to read about that on my other blog after August 1st).  Since it is all freeform hand applique it required me to sit which, with the aid of a pillow, wasn't too awful.  The last few days I have worked on Kris's quilt slowly, very slowly.  I am thankful that my frame is very high and it enabled me to lean on it, a lot.

Okay now, that's enough jabbering, here is Kris's Brilliant Beauties of Joy:

And a couple of detail pics:

I apologize that the pics aren't my usual, but there was no way I could get down on the floor to pin the quilt to the board and carry it outside - I like the feeling of the back getting better.  You'll all have to settle for draped over the frame.

Have a wonderful 4th -- be smart, stay safe, and have fun!