Mystery quilt and class

I had hinted that there was something secret going on in my sewing ... and now that the mystery class is over, I can show you the quilt:

Ta da!  Before it was quilted ...

I love teaching mystery classes ... it is a class from 10 to 4, and I always include lunch.  It has such a different feel than my regular stash classes, because we are set to spend the entire day together!  We use the time to sew, chat, develop our friendships, and just enjoy the common bond that we have ... being women, mothers, grandmothers, whatever it is.  I leave one block at the store to show you what the quilt will "kind of" look like ... you at least see a design and colors that I use.  I leave a supply list and that's when the questions begin ... my students/friends crack me up ... they always try to pry out of me information about the quilt to see what it looks like.  It's so funny ... the thing I always find so interesting is that almost every person that signs up for a mystery class is an "a type" personality ... I'm that way too ... but they always challenge themselves to go out of their comfort zone and trust that they will love what they come up with.  It has been so fun over the last few years to see everyone's creations ...

These are several samples of work from the class ... I love them all!!  I also love to see how people experiment with color -- maybe the opposite color of mine -- pattern in a fabric ... it's why we all love quilting ... a small piece of fabric looks a lot different when cut and sewn, then it did when it was a part of a yard!

I took the quilt home with me last week after class (I usually leave it at the store so students can look at it later); I am determined to try and get some of my own quilts quilted.  So without thinking about what quilt I SHOULD put on my frame, I made a back this week, loaded the quilt, quilted it, bound it, and even sewed the binding on.

You may be saying to yourself ... big deal ... that's how I finish a quilt too.  However, when you quilt for others as a business, you hardly ever finish your own quilts!  It doesn't make sense ... I know it doesn't ... I have a stack of quilts here in my home that need to be quilted ... and I have a small stack of finished tops at the Country Loft that are class samples that stay in the classroom for customers to see ... they need to be quilted as well.  Wouldn't it be great if I could just get on a track of quilting my tops?  I'll work on that and let you know what happens!