The Power of a Really Great Stripe: Maria Shell Workshop + Only Murders In the Building

Good Morning, Stitchy Peeps!  I am feeling clammy and gross and drowning in mucus quantities that have not been seen since the ectoplasm in the movie Ghostbusters.  I have an appointment at Urgent Care in an hour and a half, fingers crossed that whatever ick I've got is something that they can treat with medication.  Most likely it's COVID since my son just had it and I started getting sick several days after he tested positive, but my husband is just as sick as I am and he has tested negative for COVID four times.  Blech, blech, BLECH!

Meanwhile, here's what my design wall looks like three days after Part One of my 2-part Making Prints workshop with Maria Shell:

My Design Wall, 9 AM on Thursday

Our assignment between classes was to make a bunch of units based on the techniques/"prints" that she demonstrated in class, and put them up on our design walls.  Students are permitted to cut their fabric with rulers, but encouraged to try cutting without rulers in order to create more organic, irregular lines with their patchwork.  I'm cutting my fabric without rulers and finding that it's more difficult than you'd think to cut crooked and sew crooked on purpose!  

My Design Wall, 9 AM on Wednesday

The irregular striped units above were pieced the first day after class, and they incorporate all of the colors from my palette.  Initially we were told to create a 12-color palette, but I asked if I could sneak in more and got permission to do so during the class.  The extra colors allowed me to have three shades of brown instead of one and a royal blue as well as light blue.  I think I have 15 colors going on.  Anyway, when I did this first exercise of randomly pairing up my colors I was really pleased that I liked how pretty much every color looked with every other color in my palette.  I struggled to sew my strips together, though -- somehow even though I hadn't cut them straight, they were annoying me by looking straighter after I sewed them together and pressed the seams.  

Nanette's Irish Mist Quilt with Gothic Feather Quilting + Kicking Off Maria Shell Workshop

The other day, when I was writing about the formal feather quilting designs by Donna Kleinke that I'm considering using on my FrankenWhiggish quilt, I wanted to link back to my earlier blog post showing an edge-to-edge formal feather quilting design by Kleinke that I'd used on a client's quilt.  When I searched my blog for that post and came up empty handed, I realized that I never actually DID share this one with you.  Shame on me!

Nanette's 73 x 84 Irish Mist Quilt with Gothic Feathers 2 E2E Quilting

Okay, so this gorgeous quilt is called Irish Mist and it was pieced by Nanette who blogs at Do It Right Quilter.  You can read back through all of Nanette's blog posts documenting her journey in making this quilt top here.  Nanette is a very meticulous piecer and, when she realized something was off midway through making the quilt in 2014, she ordered more fabric and started all over again.  Can you imagine that level of commitment to not only finishing a quilt that was really giving you grief, but actually starting over so you could finish it to the absolute best of your ability?  And I can assure you, the finished (second version!) quilt top she sent me for quilting was pieced to absolute perfection.

Quilting Detail, Pieced Backing of Irish Mist, MagnaGlide 60 Thread in Hawaiian Blue

Irish Mist is the cover quilt for the book Six Halves Make a Whole Lot More by The Quilt Branch, and you can find both new and used copies of this book on Amazon here if you'd like to make one of your own (this post contains affiliate links).  

Upcoming Zoom Workshop With Maria Shell, "Making Prints Out of Solids" + Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds Exhibit

You guys, I am SEW excited to be taking a 2-part Zoom workshop this month with quilt artist Maria Shell!  And there are still a few spaces available in the class in case any of YOU would like to join me, from wherever you are in the world!  But hurry if you're interested -- Maria will be lecturing at the guild meeting tomorrow night and the class will probably sell out once members see her work and hear her speak.

Maria Shell, "Making Prints Out of Solids" Workshop September 9th and 16th

This workshop, "Making Prints Out of Solids -- Lines, Tracks & More" is being offered by the Charlotte Quilters Guild and I helped our Programs Director set this up months ago when I was still the guild President, before moving to Florida.  I believe there are still spaces available and registration has now opened up for nonmembers.  At just $50, this is an absolute steal for a two-part workshop with a teacher of this caliber.  The workshop will be conducted via Zoom from 7-9 PM Eastern Standard Time on Monday, September 9th and Monday, September 16th, and you can register here.  There is no kit or pattern required for the class; you just need a copy of Maria's book Improv Patchwork that is available on Amazon here (affiliate link).  

So...  I have the book, I read the book, and I'm nervous about cutting without rulers (!!!) but excited to give it a try and see what happens.  My homework to prepare for class was to put together a palette of solid colors to work with, all pulled from my stash, and prewash half yard pieces of each color.  Here's what I have so far, subject to change of course.  I did have to dash out to JoAnn's for a half yard of brown fabric: 

My Fabric Pull for Maria Shell's Workshop

I have lots of other options littering my worktable, too.  Who knew I had so many solids tucked away in those fabric bins?!