Missing Days

Hi All! Back after a few days off from this challenge. In case you missed it, I signed up for a daily blog challenge for quilters/crafters. Usually I blog every other week, but I thought this might help loosen up my writer's block and get the creative juices flowing. Not going to beat myself up for missing a few days; I work an hour's drive away and after a full day in the shop (for the last three days) plus the drive to and from, I say I earned a break each evening. So let's play a little catch-up those daily blog prompts. And if you want to see who else is participating in the blog challenge, I'll put the link below.

Day 10 - Top 5 books

I did a couple of blogs a while back listing books on the bookshelf. So narrowing it down to just my top five was a bit of a challenge. But here they are, in no particular order. (Check out the two blogs for other good books!)

Paper Pieced Modern by Amy Garro

I love the quilt on the cover; the reason I purchased the books. And there's 12 more beautiful quilt designs inside with instructions. Tons of great tips, and awesome pictures.

Modern Quilt Magic by Victoria Findlay Wolfe

VFW has an inspiring use of color. This book has several of her quilts, and is filled with her funny and witty personality.

The Quilter's Field Guide to Color by Rachel Hauser

When you're starting to really design quilts, having a firm understanding of color - value, hue, shade, light, dark - all those terms will really up your creativity. This is a great beginner's guide to color in quilting.

Lucky Spools Essential Guide to Modern Quilt Making complied by Susanne Woods

A great primer into what modern quilting is, and introduction to a slew of enthusiastic modern quilters.

Walk: Master Machine Quilting with Your Walking Foot by Jacquie Gering

Read this book before I even had a machine that could use a walking foot. Filled with practical advise, practices and concise pictures.

Day 11 - Most Impactful Class

In January 2020, two local guilds, Quilt North and Capital District Modern Quilt Guild, hosted Victoria Findlay Wolfe for a lecture and two classes: Double Wedding Ring and Cottage Tulips. Victoria is an absolutely delightful speaker and had the crowd laughing multiple times as she spoke about her quilting experiences. Her two classes were also filled with laughter and several sewing techniques that I use all the time. Anyone who's taken her classes will know the terms: floppy toppy and fairy fingers. But the thing I walked away with most was a catch phrase she used several times when wondering if a particular fabric would work in a design: just cut it, there's always more fabric. This and her suggestion of cutting up unwanted quilt tops and blocks really freed me from the belief that I HAVE to be perfect, or HAVE to finish a project I'm not enjoying. Great workshop experience.