My Little Girl's a Beauty - not OT

Have a blast, Kim!!!!!!

amy in CNY

Good luck, Kim! Is this the quilt: ? It's beautiful!

dymike.net- Hide quoted text -

Yup - that's the one! Am I nuts or what?!? 100 gazillion little pieces. Hopefully the blues and burgundys will all play as nicely together in the quilt as they did sitting side by side in the LQS!

Kim in NJ

Gorgeous and brave! I'm certain you can do it and probably will fall in love with paper piecing. I can't sew with shoes on, either. I wear some funky socks with loud patterns and slip-on shoes and leave the shoes tucked under the table for class. If I get up and walk around, I get happy comments about my cute socks. lol

I envy you the Featherweight. Maybe someday......

Enjoy that class and let us know how it went.

Sunny

I've got that pattern and even had some templates made, but haven't touched it since. I'll be eager to hear how the class goes for you. joan

Congratulations on the Featherweight! I know you will love it. I have a freearm model and I really enjoy it. I also have a quilt that was made by my GAunt about 1920 that is the "Pickle Dish" pattern, very similar to the one you will be making. It's red and white; I have it displayed in my family room and was just looking at it today wondering if I'd ever be brave enough to tackle making something like it. But, with paper piecing it might be fun. Michelle

I'll be interested to see how far we really get in the class. I can't imagine putting the entire top together in one day either. I'll be surprised if we get more than 1 or 2 blocks completed. Hopefully I'll be able to remember how to do everything after I leave the class!

Kim in NJ

Kim, when I teach New York Beauty classes I try to make sure everyone gets at least 2 blocks finished. (Please note, your instructor will have her own way to do things, which is probably different from the way I do it. Both can be right, just different ways to teach the same thing. ) I work with them paper piecing the arcs in the morning. And I suggest doing 2 at a time so you can chain piece them. If someone picks up the paper piecing they can make more arcs until after lunch. That is when I shift gears and demonstrate sewing the curved seam. And work with them individually as needed to sew the curves for at least 2 blocks. If they have more arcs made, they can sew more blocks together. And so on. I also usually make a table runner as the sample, which takes fewer blocks and isn't quite as daunting a prospect. Then they can make however many blocks they want to make... to finish a runner, or a topper or a larger quilt.

Some> I'll be interested to see how far we really get in the class. =A0I can't

Pati, Thanks for that info. I'm sure the class will be great regardless of how it's done. I don't think I'll have much of a problem with the curved seams as I've done a lot of garment and home dec sewing for decades. It's the paper piecing that I just can't seem to comprehend from the various books I've read. Granted, I'm probably 'scanning' as opposed to 'reading' so that may have something to do with it. It's just not coming easily, hence signing up for the class. Guess I'm a more 'visual' learner. I've only taken one other class there - on binding - and it was great. I also usually do their block of the month. In both of these cases I think the instructor was/is perfectly suited for the topic. The lady helping with fabric selection at the shop was raving about the class as well. I'm looking forward to it. But I do think your method w/respect to the table runner might be a bit less intimitading. But after I learned what the project would be I just the picked colors I wanted so at least from that perspective I should be happy with it.

I'll post more after the class and let you all know how it goes.

Kim in NJ

The paper/curved piecing class I took on Sat. was very good. Six students so lots of one-on-one w/instructor who was very good. I was even able to remember what to do the next day! The class was designed to really only teach the technique and complete one block for the quilt. That did leave time to continue to work on any part(s) of the block that you might have been having a problem with or just continue on your own however it best suited your needs. It was also NJ Shop Hop day so lots of visitors to sample the pomegranate mocktails. And the featherweight was great to sew with and obviously much easier to transport that my Viking! I'll post photos once I get the blocks completed. So far only 1 center portion of block and about 6 additional arcs but I'm getting there. Should be able to work on this some more today so hopefully photos in the not too distant future. Not sure I'm a complete convert to paper piecing but there is definitely value in the technique.

Thanks for everyone's words of encouragement.

Kim in NJ