Sewing with Jacquie!

A couple weeks ago, Jacquie Gering came to Kalamazoo. In addition to speaking at our guild meeting, she offered two workshops. I took them both! Seeing so many of her quilts up close and personal was inspiring--it was hard to decide what to make during each workshop!

The first day was Slice and Insert Improvisation. 

I chose to use the plus motif for mine. I had fun making these blocks--it was fun to vary the size of the blocks and the plus signs, and play with all these gorgeous indigo prints. 

I'd been saving this bundle of Stardust prints from Contempo for something special. This workshop seemed like the perfect thing. I love these blues!

I auditioned a few different solids for the background. My first try was the red-orange. My 7-year-old, who was with me (and complaining about how long it was taking me to choose one fabric!), was pushing the magenta you see below. Hence the magenta photo bomb. 

I also considered a neutral background: 

I ultimately chose this burnt orange color. I wanted to do something bolder than the neutrals, but not super bright. 

Can't wait to keep working on this quilt!

The second workshop day was Stitch and Flip Improvisation. I chose a dark purple for the background and grabbed blacks, whites, and grays for the corners. Jacquie demonstrated so many different ways to lay these blocks out. I really liked how four wonky corners together looked, so that's the layout I started working on. 

Here's how the black/white blocks looked: 

I liked it, but wanted a pop of color. I added in a few bits of lime, orange and turquoise just for fun.It'll be fun to sew these blocks together! 

Me with Jacquie--she's a great teacher and a lot of fun!