Welcome to the Quilter's Academy Journal

Hello!
Harriet and I are glad you visited... we established this blog as a sort of question and answer forum for all of you who are working through the Quilter's Academy book series.
It is also a place to find a list of the errata from the books-
You can find those by looking back through the archived blogs.

So, welcome, and please post a comment if you have any questions or topics you would like us to discuss.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

I was so excited to hear from Annie. I had such a grand time in Ohio with all the wonderful ladies in my classes. I was certainly jazzed in each class by the enthusiasm and work ethics of my students. No whining and diligent work and great results.

Annie has started a blog to record her progress, and I agree with her that this is a wonderful way to start a community of students of Quilter's Academy. The camaraderie that could be developed and the support system could be wonderful. I know that I enjoy checking in with Lesley and adding any tidbit of info I can to help things along. I would love to have the opportunity to do this for anyone working through the book. It gives me a direct link to students that don't have an opportunity to be in one of my classes.

We just received the preview copies of Volume 2 yesterday and Carrie and I are really excited about this book. Now we just need to see the graph paper.

Please go to Annie's blog and check her out - annnonomus.blogspot.com - and please pass on this blog sight to anyone you know that might benefit from it, or wants to go through the book. We can handle it much like homeschooling!
Keep in touch
Harriet


Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Thought it was about time to add something to the blog. As you can tell, I am not up to speed on this. Just wanted to let you know that we just got the preview copies of Volume 2 today, and Carrie and are really pleased and excited about this book. It will take you through more complicated looking quilts without leaving strips and squares in the blocks. We turned in Volume 3 March 1 - everything about triangles, flying geese, and on and on.... and are finishing all the quilting of the quilts for that book. Then on to Volume 4! We are hitting a wall a bit - this is an amazing amount of work in a very short period of time. We have a couple of weekends planned out of town in April, so that might help.

We will have Volume 2 in the store before most everyone else - we hope early May - so if you want a copy early and signed by Carrie and me, you can pre-order them from us. Call 303-424-2742 to place your order.

I started a Session 1 class at the store today, and again was reminded at how important pressing is. It can make or break your quilt top. A good iron - our very favorite is the Reliable Digital Velocity - and a Big Board are SO important to good ironing and control of the seams. After ironing is straightening (be sure to tear the ends to be able to actually see and work with the crosswise grain) the fabric and cutting accurately. If you haven't tried the 2 1/2" x 12 1/2" rulers - we especially like the Creative Grid rulers - try one for cutting. The narrow width really helps you hold the ruler without slipping when cutting strips up to 2" wide, which is most of the quilts in the books. If you have any problems finding any of the supplies we talk about in the book, please feel free to call our store and order what you need. 303-424-2742.
We don't have everything on the web site as we are in the planning stages of rebuilding it, but the girls at the store can help with anything you need.

If you can't find a foot narrow enough for your machine for the scant 1/4" seam allowance, try the Little Foot. It comes in several different shank sizes and might help you with your seam allowances.

I have had several people contact me that they were going to start the book as a course and set up a blog like Lesley. Please send me your addresses if you do this so that I can keep track of your progress.

As we come up against anything I think needs to be shared from the current class, I will add it here as we go. Would love comments from any of you as you are working through the book.

Harriet