Photos finally

Well, I have finally gotten the photos added to the computer and I can add them to the site. I will need to go back and read to see what instructions I need to give to help you with your quilt. Hopefully after this you will be able to let your friends know about this blog and they can come here and use the lessons already posted. I am in the process of teaching this class right now at the store I work for. I teach it about once a quarter and it isn't free. The students sometimes decide to add to it and make it larger instead of a wall hanging. That is great, I love it that they want to do that. I suggest adding a second border either the same size as the one you have already or larger. If you decide you want to make it larger before you add the first border you can use three borders and make the first one a small two inch or less border. The second border would then be a three or four inch border with the final border being five or six inch border. There are other options that could also include adding a center block different from the one we have learned in this class.
Now I will add some photo's and post some directions that go along with them.

Today we are looking at the final touches of our quilt I have added a border that is one inch
larger than the first border. I mitered the corners on both borders. I have shown you a picture of the quilt as it
looked before I started quilting it. I have also shown a couple of examples of my quilting. One is a correctly quilted star and the other is a incorrectly quilted square.
I will be giving directions on mitering and machine quilting next time.
Tennye

Been Sick

Well, I am still not adding to the lessons and I am truly sorry for those who are working on the quilt. I have the pictures on the computer and I will be adding them in a short time, but I have been sick and my boss has been out of town and one of the girls I work with has also been sick. Therefore I have not had time or felt like doing any thing extra for the blog this week. I do apologize and I will get back to it very soon. I have to work tomorrow, even though I hate to work on Sundays. The boss will be back in a few days and my co-worker has said she would like to start to come back in at least 3 or 4 hours this week. We will do what ever we can to help her get back to work and not have a relapse.
I will look forward to getting back to you all next week. I completed a block of the month today and I made a cute quilted Kleenex holder today. I have made lots of coffee sleeves that I have no idea where I will sell them. I am having fun making them though. Talk to all of you soon.
Tennye

If you are new Welcome

If you are new to the site I would like to welcome you. I am currently working on a learning to quilt project and it was not working out as I had planned so I have had to do some regrouping. I will be adding a new posting in the next few days with pictures. I am going out of town Friday and won't be back until early Mon. morning so it is possible that these things won't happen until next week.
I have much to do between now and leaving town. I am also taking my sleeve project to a craft fair on next Wed. so I will need to have it completed before then. Lots to do so I had better get off and get busy. I will get back as soon as I can.
Tennye ;)

Well, if anyone has tried to follow my lessons I am truly sorry. I just quit on the quilt and on you. I did last week get back to the quilt and forgot to make any pictures of the progress. I am at the quilting stage and will make some pictures tomorrow and post them. In the mean time I will try to do some writing and get you up to date as well. The quilt did not turn out as large as I wanted it to so I had to figure out what I wanted to do to make it larger. Then I had to go off and find the fabric to do it with. I am excited with the results so I hope you will like them too. I promise to be back on soon.
Tennye

Lesson Five

Welcome back to lesson five I have photos to share with you this time around. In the last lesson we discussed cutting strips two inches wide out of our fat quarters. This is what mine looked like after I got them cut and using a quarter inch seam allowance sewed them together.
The next step to take is to measure the size of the three strips and see how wide they are. Usually they will be six inches wide.
The next step will be to cut the squares out of your strip sets. Cut them the same size as they measure across. This will make them square and will make the beginnings of your quilt. I sometimes stack them in a staggered manner so they will stay smooth and not be crocked when you cut them. It is hard to see in the photo,
but I did add these photos anyway.
The next step will be to figure out what pattern you want out of
your squares. I usually do the traditional rail fence, however, you
can do what you want to it is your quilt. I look forward to seeing you next time to add the boarders. See the options I have tried below.
Tennye ;)

Learn to Quilt-Lesson Four (finally)

Well, if you had been signing on to learn to quilt and I lost you because I have gotten so terribly busy that I didn't get on for weeks. I would like to ask you to forgive me. I am back!!!
I am not going to ask you to purchase a large amount of fabric for this first outing. You will need about three fat quarters for this first quilt. This will not be a large quilt. If you are wondering what a fat quarter is, it is a quarter of a yard of fabric cut from the half yard and then it is only one side of the 45 inches. So it is 18x22 instead of 9x45. Make sure each fabric is a different color or a very high contrast.

Please press your fabrics and make sure they are all crisp and ready to work with. Lay them out with the long sides horizontal. _________> Using your rotary cutter and ruler cut each one into as many 2 inch strips as you can cut it into. Now sew one of each color into strips of three. Make sure all sets of three strips are in the same order. I will try to add photos in the next post and I hope you will have yours completed but then. I hope not to be so long in coming back. Good luck and please show me what you are doing.
Tennye

Lesson Three

Well, sorry for the delay and for there not being any full fabric requirements. I have not made a plan. I have had some personal problems that have taken my mind too far off what I needed to be doing. Then we had a family reunion over the weekend and last weekend for Father's day we did a Birthday party for my new son-in-law in the town they live in. It has made my life crazy and the classes out of sink with what I meant for them to be. I will make an attempt to work harder with the writing so I will be ahead of us.
So lets talk more about fabrics and colors. What kind of color selections do you make and do you have trouble with color? Always feel free to ask for help most fabric ans quilt stores have someone who is willing to help you pick the fabrics. Once you have a basic color scheme you want to start with they will be able to help you find either matching or contrasting fabrics to help you make your chosen color come out and shine.
Lets say you really like a floral fabric with pink roses on a cream back ground with lovely green stems and leaves. You take it to the fabric store and you find a nice soft pink , two soft shades of green, and a lovely cream, with a bright dark pink. Now you have six fabrics for your wonderful quilt and you can now start to cut the design knowing the focus fabric which is the floral fabric will be highlighted by the lovely fabrics you have chosen for your quilt. Think outside your box and look at colors you don't normally use or like. Pick colors that you think are ugly sometimes and be surprised when they turn out to be the one color that makes your quilt beautiful.
I am working harder for you I promise. Have a good week and we will look forward to lesson four. I am also working on the Block of the month so watch for that as well.
Tennye