Monday, April 8, 2013

Retreat with Guild QBees!

Before I had a blog ... in 2008 I took a class from Judy Niemeyer at the Valdez Quilt Festival!  It was my first class with a "Quilt Rock Star".  She was absolutely wonderful ... I learned more in those two days than I thought was humanly possible!  The pattern I did during that class was called "Raindrops".

This past weekend, our guild held their annual Spring Retreat!  We had Sue Wilson from SewFish come and teach Judy's techniques.  Sue is a certified teacher for Quiltworx, Judy Niemeyer's company.
Sue lives in Ohio for most of the year, but she and her husband live in Soldotna, Alaska during the summer months!  Yep...she completely understands our Alaskan lifestyle!  She taught in public schools for 30 years, before making quilting a career.  She is also certified as a Cotton Theory instructor!  Many talents!
It was so great to get a refresher course on Judy's paper piecing techniques!


Sue has made multiple Quiltworx patterns and willingly shared her experiences with us. She also brought with her some samples of other designs she teaches.
My heart skipped a beat when she unfolded this one!
A closer look...
... a light section...
... and a close up of a dark section!  Yep ... I am getting the pattern and will start collecting fabrics ... now! ;-)
This Wedding Ring Star is a pattern that I have been wanting for some time now.  Sue showed us this bed runner of the same design.  It was beautiful!
Sue was great about letting us pick her brain ... gleaning as much as possible from her experiences.
She was so generous with her time, talent and expertise!  I love those traits in a quilt instructor!

I am nearly finished with all ten of these sections ... then it will only be a matter of piecing them together!  It was a great retreat ... quality instruction ... time with the QBees ... great food ... and piles of fun!  What a wonderful way to dillydally!
Do what you love.  Do dillydally!
Mrs. DillyDally
To see the amazing projects by other local guild members check out the blog here!
Blondes ... having fun!

10 comments:

  1. What an inspiring post. I checked out your Quilters Blog link too. Sounds like you all had a wonderful time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your kind words ... we did have a wonderful time!

      Delete
  2. You had a fabulous weekend too! Surrounded by color, creativity, and friends!

    ReplyDelete
  3. How about that! We both were on retreat the same weekend. That quilt does take your breath away and your paper piecing looks gorgeous! Since Sue is from Ohio, I am going to try to find her and maybe take a class with her in the future.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh Gladys ... you'll be happy you did! Sue does a terrific job of teaching Judy Niemeyer techniques!

      Delete
  4. Cute picture of the 'blondes'. I leave for a quilt retreat on Wednesday in Wisconsin. Wish you could be a visitor there!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh...how I wish I could join you! Share pics and let me know what you worked on! Knew you would appreciate the blonde pic ... wink!

      Delete
  5. There is a class similar to this coming up....maybe I should indulge??? Looks so spectacular....Thanks, as always, for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Don't hesitate Karen...do it! It is sew much easier than it looks! Once you've done a Judy Niemeyer pattern you have the skills to do any of them!

      Delete