I Can See Clearly Now...

I thought you might enjoy a few photos from Saturday's guild workshop.

We all got together to begin creation of our American Treasures Album Quilt.

We had twenty quilters in attendance, and when we packed up at 4 pm, 

eight blocks in progress left the workshop in the hands of the leaders 

of each group. (The leaders are the women who will be responsible 

for the actual applique' stitching when the blocks are ready.)

 We began by watching the dvd which is available for purchase from

Pearl Pereira at P3 Designs, followed by a little hands-on practice

using small kits we'd assembled. Each kit included a pattern, fabric

and template paper for each attendee to get a feel for the process.

 In no time at all, they were all ready to get started on the actual

blocks and patterns, and the rest of the day was spent creating

elements that will go into their respective blocks.

 It was especially interesting to see how the groups for each block

formed and how well everyone worked together toward a common goal.

The leaders chose the blocks they wanted to work on, and then the women

broke off into groups. Once they opened their kits, there was the option

to switch out a few fabrics if they saw something they liked better for

individual elements. Thankfully, most of them were completely satisfied

with the fabrics that I had selected for their kits, so that didn't take long.

 There were people who prepared the template paper, traced pattern

pieces and then cut them out, arranged the pieces on fabric and made

each element for their blocks and then arranged them on the pattern.

(Disclaimer: Those pizza boxes were donated by Michelangelo's Pizza 

in North Port, FL specifically to store and transport the blocks and pieces as 

they're being created. There was no food on the tables while they were working!)

As the elements were created, members went back to the pattern to insert the

 elements into the layout, and then decide what should be made next. My task

 was to make sure they had the supplies they required or answer their questions.

 I got excited right along with each of the women as their blocks started
to come together. Small successes which lead greater successes.
Greater successes to result in our wonderful 15" blocks when they're finished.
Then we'll be ready for assembly.

We'll be having more workshops to start the other blocks, (there are 

twenty in total) and the leaders will have workshops on their own, too.

There will be "hives" of activity within our guild as we all work

toward our common goal. There is going to be a stunning result.

I can see it so clearly already.