I spent a wonderful day last Saturday teaching a class at Scrap and Sew, in Lutz, Florida. The ladies were all genuinely enthusiastic and ready to learn and I shared my favorite tips and techniques to help them improve their skills — while they put the clues together throughout the day to make a mystery quilt!
Tess and Terry Pokorny (owners of Scrap and Sew) were gracious, warm, and aboslutely wonderful in how they accommodated such a large number of students for the class. (They told us this was the largest class they have ever held in the shop!) Thank you, Tess and Terry — you made the day extra special by all your thoughtful preparations, class room set-up, and attention to details!
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then sit back and enjoy the show. Here’s a recap of our fun, rejuvenating day of stress-free stitching!
Betty and Pat — table mates and new friends
Charm and Holli — sisters, spending a fun day together doing what they love!
Cindy made her quilt using a great selection of 30’s reproduction fabrics. Love the black!
Jennifer, (Cindy in the background), Wendy and Michelle meet at the cutting and pressing station.
Lisa was all smiles. Her fabrics were so pretty!
Mindy’ s black, white and red version was absolutely stunning!
Guayatri learned the secret of pinning perfect points!
Cindy and Tess start laying out the blocks to piece together the “clues.”
The first mystery quilt class at Scrap and Sew.
Check out those smiles after a full day of sewing — now this is creativity recharge at its best!
Who’s ready for the next mystery quilt?
Who’s ready for the next mystery quilt? WE ARE!!! Illini Country Stitchers Quilt Guild! We can’t wait for you to come an be with us!!! I am promoting your class again tonight at our guild meeting so we can fill the class! I can’t wait! Oh, and my new cabinet and sink and mirror and countertop already came in for the bathroom!! Now I’m waiting for the wallpaper, so I can get that done and the floor done before we put in the sink, countertop, cabinet and mirror!!
Yahooooooooo!!
Can’t wait to come and spend a few days having F – U – N with you and the other Country Stitchers Guild Members! But please don’t feel like you need to go to so much extra work and preparation in your bathroom on my account. I’ll be happy just spending time with YOU!
The smiles say everything! Beautiful quilts- a great time for everyone- gonna stop by the shop when I’m in Fl. next week or the week after.
Robin — Oh, I hope you’ll make a point to go to Scrap and Sew while you’re in Florida! Tell Tess you’re a friend of mine. She’s just terrific — and you’ll LOVE her shop! They are the friendliest around!
Enjoyed the class at Scrap and Sew. I was the Newbie Quilter. Question….my top turned out to be 52″ x 51 1/2 ” without the binding. We were to make a backing 60″ x 60″ and a batting 60″ x 60″
Why is the backing and batting so large? Do I cut these down to 52″ x 51 1/2″ prior to bringing the quilt to Scrap and Sew? I was going to have scrap and sew quilt this but I was going to put the binding on.
Hi Betty! For being a “newbie” you did incredibly well! Your quilt is beautiful, and I appreciate you stepping out of your comfort zone to make a mystery quilt! Your question is a good one. You will need your backing and batting to be at least six to eight inches larger than your completed quilt top so there is plenty of excess to load the fabric onto the quilt frame at Scrap and Sew for quilting. There is always some “shrinkage” or drawing up which occurs during the quilting process, so it is always necessary to have the batting and backing larger than the top. You don’t do any trimming until the quilting is completed and you are ready to add your binding. Hope this helps get you on track — Tess and her staff will be more than willing to quilt your gorgeous top and make it sparkle!
Kimberly
Enjoyed the class so much. Can’t wait for the next “Mystery Quilt Class” at Scrap & Sew. My thanks to Tess and Terry for a fun filled day of sewing. Thanks again for all your help!
Michele –
Thank you “sew” much for your kind comments! It was an awesome day at Scrap and Sew. Did you hear — we’ve scheduled another mystery class? This time, on Friday, April 30th from 6pm – midnight. Woo hoo — what fun! I can’t wait!
By the way….did that Creative Vision find a new home? 😉
Sewing is always MORE FUN when sewing with other friends 🙂 and it appears that you all had a great time! 😉 The year before my twins were born my birthday gift from my husband was to be able to have a sewing day at the LQS for a mystery quilt. What a great day that was. 🙂
I hope that everyone will complete their tops and that you will have another show-n-tell post in the coming months too. Blog readers want to see!
Love from Texas! ~bonnie
Bonnie;
You are so RIGHT! Sewing IS more fun when you get to share it with friends! You DH sure deserves big-time kudos for his thoughtful gift of a sewing day for a mystery quilt. Great memories, and warm fuzzy feelings for your honey, all in one! 🙂
I promise to post the show and tell of the quilts in the future. Thanks for saying that the blog readers want to see! And hey, BLOG READERS: you all need to go check out Bonnie’s blog at bingobonnie.blogspot.com. I just went to her site and spent time reading her posts. Bonnie — you write a terrific blog and I’ll be back often to check up on you!
I love catching up with you … enjoy this blog so!