More Students' Miniatures

The only thing I love more than teaching my Miniatures class, is getting photos from students of what they have done as a result of the class. It's been a long while since I have shown any student's work, so I think it's time... I have one, possibly two, Miniatures workshops coming up this spring so I always get bitten by the bug once again when there's a class upcoming. I like to have a few new ones to show if possible... I have several underway, but nothing far enough along to share with you yet. But back to some completed by students...






 I just received these two photos last night from Theresa O. of  PSLCQG who won a first place ribbon last weekend in the Small Pieced category at her guild show for Little Red Bear Paws. Finished size is 17.5" square. Congrats Theresa! It is fabulous. Look at her quilting! Wow! What a super job she has done!











Next up, from a class last July, is Martha E. from TTQG with Primary School, 13.5" square and hung on point. I love it!! Isn't it sweet?  Perfect points on perfect little fishies...














I think Jeanne W. of MCQG is hooked on minis. She has done a few and although I haven't heard from her recently, I bet she's still at it...  Here are two photos she has sent me since I taught the class she attended last winter. I just love this little ninepatch combined with Sunbonnet Sue. It is 11" square, the nine patches measure 1.5."  It includes hand appliqué, prarie points and the tatted flowers were Jeanne's 14 year old granddaughter Grace's first attempt at tatting! Wow! Creative talent runs in the family, I'd say. 









Another by Jeanne, a 13" square Pineapple.
Log Cabin and Pineapple blocks have long been favourites of mine, I haven't seen one yet that I didn't love!!















EDIT Feb.9: I just received an email from Jeanne telling me she won a first place ribbon this past weekend in the PSLCQG show for Oh, My Stars!












....and Jane T. won a ribbon also, for her Tiny Logs. Although I have shown these two miniatures before here, I think they're worthy of another look, especially with ribbons attached, don't you think?!

Last but certainly not least is Gloria T. of TQG. Gloria is prolific, and tends to finish each project. I hear she never has UFO's. (I can't imagine...) I think Gloria really was bitten by the deadly miniature bug when I had her in class.. She has sent me at least half a dozen photos of completed minis... so here are two more. First a 6" square Log Cabin. Lots of little logs!  Sweet!!






And lastly a Grandmother's Fan done in Oriental fabrics. This one looks like it might be hand quilted...

Awesome job, everyone! I'm so proud of you all! Keep sending me those pics!!







Piece!
Linda

"Great things are done by a series of small things brought together." ~ Vincent Van Gogh

Student's Work - Tiny Treasures class

If you are visiting on the Grow Your Blog party, please click here for my GYB post and Giveaway.
It's time to show you some student's work from a Miniatures class I taught recently. It's always rewarding for a teacher to see what her students have produced, after a class. Often times, the teacher does not see the results, so I am always thrilled to hear from students and see what they have completed. This photo was taken at the end of the day, and they're all still smiling! A good sign!







Pat P. was the first to send me a photo.  She did nine little Shoofly blocks, aren't they cute? Great job Pat. I'm not positive, but it looks like Pat has hand quilted this too! Woohoo!
I neglected to get the overall size from her, but I can assure you it is small! She's already planning her next Miniature, a Bear's Paw.

Next up is Jane T. with Tiny Logs. It measures 15" square, with each block finishing at 2 1/4". Look at her beautiful quilting in that border too! I love the rich colors she has used... of course you know I'm a pushover for blues of any shade... Can you see the narrow little red border she has added? That's one of the techniques taught in the class, a sewn-in border that finishes at 1/8" wide.
You did an awesome job Jane!








Eyvonne S. came all prepared for class- she had purchased a pattern from George Siciliano, and was working on it during the class. It may look familiar to some of you - it is one I have done. George calls it Interstellar Suite. (Pattern can be ordered here.) Eyvonne has done a great job with it. And look - she has added two narrow borders! At this point it is just the top, it has yet to be quilted but I know it will be awesome when Eyvonne finishes it. Hope she'll send another photo...(are you reading this Eyvonne? hint, hint)









Last but not least is a Feathered Star by Jeanne W. It is 15" square. This was a pattern purchased before class as well- I tell you, these girls had done their homework!! haha (I believe this is a Little Bits pattern by Cindi Edgerton.) Jeanne "made it her own" though, by not placing the star on point as the pattern suggested, and she re-designed the border. Notice she also has added the tiny 1/8" border. Jeanne started this in the class, and brought it to the guild meeting two days later, totally finished!!!
Way. To. Go. Jeanne!! It is gorgeous!! I love it!! Feathered Star is on my "To Do" list... someday!

What a fun class this was - I had every bit as much fun as they did, too! I am so proud of these girls, and so grateful they sent me photos of their miniatures. (I think I may have created a few new addicts, though... I warned them at the beginning of class that making miniatures IS addictive, and I would NOT be held responsible.... haha! Gotta "cover" myself!!)
Thanks everyone!! Big hugs to you all at MCQG! Keep those photos coming!!

Piece!
Linda

"A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instill a love of learning."
 ~ Brad Henry

More Student Work...

Several weeks ago I held a small "private" class to help two gals I know with a project/class I taught earlier in the year. They each had signed up and paid for the class, but then could not attend when the class was re-scheduled due to a storm day. I knew they both really wanted to do the project so we finally got together and made it happen. (I don't normally do private classes as I just don't have the time or space but I knew I had to make these two gals happy.) The project was the Twister totebag, designed by my friend Sue Robertson, made using the Twister™ template and the Leaves Galore™ template designed by Sue Pelland. We had a fun day and both gals left with their totebags about 95% finished.

Shown here is Lucy's bag, front and back. Didn't she do a great job? She was a little unsure about her color/fabric choices at first, but I think she is pleased with it now. I've been waiting for pics from the other gal, but haven't received any. C'mon Trish, show us your bag!
Be sure to leave a comment below and tell Lucy what a fine job she did!

Piece!
Linda

"I never teach my pupils, I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn." ~ Albert Einstein

Another Student's Quilt

It's sunny and HOT again today (insert happy dance here), and I have to get outside for a while and do some work in my veggie garden. We've had far too may wet or overcast days lately so I just have to get out and enjoy some rays and stock up on Vitamin D! But when I come back in, I'll be finishing up the assembly of my little Pineapple blocks. I finished nine blocks, and have them all together in rows so now just have to join the rows. I'm still debating on whether to add any borders or whether to just bind it borderless as is often done with Pineapple quilts. I promise a photo as soon as it is together and you can give me your opinion re. border or not...

In the meantime, here is another student's miniature quilt from the class I taught in N.S. in April. This is Anne's third Mini resulting from my class. She really liked my blue and green Spool and Bobbin quilts so I drew out the block for her and here is her version. Well done Anne!!! Her mini is 10.5" square and she has used two different pink batiks. I hope you'll leave a comment and tell Anne how great her miniature looks!

Okay, I'm off to the garden. The tomatoes are calling for attention...

Piece!
Linda

"Nothing builds self-esteem and self-confidence like accomplishment." ~ Thomas Carlyle

Miniature Quilts by Students

It's high time I showed you my latest finish. Yes, it's taken me a while (too long) to get back at it and finish it off. I've been lured away from my machine by summer - day trips, gardening, picking raspberries, great nephew's ball games, etc. etc.  But the clock is ticking... how can it already be August?? It's time to get sewing again! I have a Miniatures class coming up this fall, so I've got to get
busy and get a few more new Minis done before then. But first I have several Miniatures from previous students to show you. It's only fair that I show you these first as they've been done for a while and the girls sent me these photos two months ago!  My apologies to Gloria T. and Anne M. for taking so long to post photos of their wonderful work. I taught a class for their Guild back in late April and shortly thereafter showed you two of Gloria's completed minis here and here.  Here is her third finish after my class. She calls it Neapolitan Trail. Once again, great job Gloria! It is 13" square and the blocks are 2.25".

Anne M. has finished up two Minis - the first one, Anvil, 8" square, is the piece she did in class. She followed my advice and started with a simple block with few seams for her first effort. The Anvil design is simply two four patches and two half square triangles, and she chose to use batiks- also a wise choice as batiks are tightly woven so one doesn't have to deal with the issue of fabric fraying on narrow seams. Lovely Anne!!

Anne's second miniature is a Log Cabin, 10" square - isn't it just darling? I love it! Log Cabin has always been my favourite block design. The blocks are 2" finished size, as are the Anvil blocks above. Anne also added a very narrow flat piping (red) between her two borders, another technique covered in my class. Well done, my dear! I hear she has another Miniature underway so I'm looking forward to a photo of it when it's done, and I'll be sure to share it with you too!

Next up - my finished Dove in the Window Mini...

Piece!
Linda

"Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our true potential." ~ Winston Churchill

She's Racing Me...

Gloria has done it again! She has raced me by completing another little Miniature. (I am still working on borders.) Here is Gloria's second Log Cabin, a different block configuration this time. Well done Gloria! You get a gold star!! Another member of the New Glasgow Guild has done a lovely writeup on my Miniatures class and the previous evening's Trunk Show and Dessert Party, and it has now been posted to their blog. Click here if you would like to read it; the text is fine, the photos are a little wonky...not sure what's going on there.. they look like they have been "posterized"...???




I do have some exciting news to share- I will be teaching a Miniatures class at this year's Nova Scotia Fibre Arts Festival, held in Amherst, October 14-18. My class will be on Saturday, Oct. 18. If you live in the Maritimes, put these dates on your calendar now. (It's a great way to get some more fibre in your diet! teehee) The official schedule will be announced by the end of the month and brochures should be available shortly thereafter. In the meantime, check the Fibre Arts Festival blog here for updates. The Festival website is being revamped and should be back very soon. If you are interested in registering for my class, leave me a comment, or send me an email and I'll put you on the list.

Now, back to my current Miniature. It has taken a backseat the last few days as I'm trying to get work done outside. Here is what it looks like right now- there will be one more border added - in the navy fabric. Hopefully I will get those on tonight and perhaps figure out how it will be quilted also.

When I did the Trunk Show in New Glasgow a few weeks ago, I told those gathered, that every quilt  or project has a lesson. I truly believe you learn something from each and every project- even if it's only that you don't want to do that again! That's still a valuable lesson, isn't it? Whether it's that you don't like that technique, or you could do it differently and save time or fabric, or you could have been more accurate and had better matches at your intersections, or one fabric should have been darker or lighter in value to show up better, or whatever.... every project teaches a lesson.

One lesson I have learned many times over (yes, sometimes we still need reminding!!) is not to choose sashing or border fabrics until the blocks are together. Often the one fabric you thought would be just perfect turns out not to be... I had this soft gold print that I thought would work well - the little red "figures" looked like doves to me, appropriate since this block is called Dove in the Window, don'cha think? When I laid the four finished blocks on it, it was just blahhh. Flat. I tried several other options, but nothing looked quite right. I kept thinking it's going to have to be the red, but I was afraid the red would be overpowering or too strong. I don't like looking at a quilt and the first thing you notice is the sashing. But I think the red works. I think the navy/tan contrast is strong enough to stand with the red....What do you think? Be honest!

Peace,
Linda

"In the canvas of life, a flat landscape would be pretty boring. It is the valleys and the mountains that help us to appreciate the flatlands. It  is the dark that makes us appreciate the light, and the cold that makes us appreciate the warm." ~ Anne Copeland

A Quick Finish

Just as I was finishing up yesterday's post, I received an email from Gloria, who was a student in my Miniatures class last weekend in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. She sent me a photo of the Log Cabin miniature she has just finished. Isn't it great!?
I hope all readers will leave a comment below and tell Gloria what an awesome job she has done. As you can see it is about  11" square overall. I love how she has planned the placement of her fabrics - the print and the darkest brown, to give a secondary design. Well done, Gloria! (Yes I feel like a proud parent.. lol)
When I teach the Miniatures class, I give lots of tips for improving one's accuracy for precision piecing. One of the tips is to slow down - sew slowly and carefully to maintain better control. Gloria's Guild sisters chuckled at that one, as apparently Gloria is as fast as a flash - she sews quickly and finishes things quickly. She told me herself, she loves to finish up projects, and has no UFO's (that's UnFinished Objects) hanging around. I can't imagine what that would be like! haha
Thanks Gloria, for sharing your lovely new Miniature with us. Well done!!

Peace,
Linda

"Do not plan for ventures before finishing what's at hand." ~ Euripides