I really wanted to spend the evening looking at\shopping for fabrics - I got a Joann's gift card (from using my Joann's CC so much) in the mail yesterday and I heard fabric calling my name. BUT, I still had my Shattered Glass Quilt to finish.

So, I told myself that if I finish the quilt tonight, I'de go shopping to fill up my stash! It only took a few hours, and I was finished - and I have to say, I am really pleased with the results. I wan't sure how this was going to turn out, but I really like how you can see the arc pattern throughout the quilt. I wasn't sure that you were going to be able to make it out since everything is so bright, but I think that the purple border really helps bring out the points. WHEW, I'm happy to be finished, this quilt really took some concentration. I think that I'll wait awhile before I start another quilt, this one took a lot out of me!

Well, tonight was my last class for my quilt - out of the seven women, only three of us showed up. One left shortly after the class started because she didn't bring her machine. Why would you sign up for a class, pay money, and not attend the classes?

The other woman and I stayed for 2 1/2 hours and sewed. I had to give up, I started making too many mistakes and had to use the seam ripper one too many times. I've got about 3/4 of the quilt put together and I'll need to do the outside border too.

The same teacher is going to do a Karen K. Stone Quilts next. OOOOH, looks fun!

I've been working hard at trying to get all my homework done for Monday night's Shattered Glass class. I've got 2 blocks left to go - roughly an hour's work, provided that I don't make any mistakes!

Overall, the whole construction process is pretty simple, but I've found that setting up your work area is key to making things go faster. First off, placing your cutting mat (and rotary cutter) next to your sewing machine sure makes it easy to trim off extra fabric after you've sewn them together. Putting your iron (I'm using my cool new mini craft iron) next to your work station so you never have to keep getting up and down also helps.

I'm interested in seeing how all this looks put together. Right now, it looks really bright. If I decide to make this pattern again, I'll have to remember to use very light, light varigated fabrics for the background - I think this would help tone down the quilt a bit and let the points 'pop' more.

Tonight was my first class for the Shattered Glass Quilt. I was the most inexperienced quilter there - and the only one who hadn't paper pieced before. Thankfully, I had spent all that time the other day cutting all my fabric and folding all the templates so I could get right down to business.

The teacher was nice enough to spend the first few minutes teaching me exactly what I needed to do (several times) and then stood over me while I did the first piece and figured out how and where to cut off all the excess fabric. After about 20 minutes I was feeling comfortable with the whole process, it just requires concentration while your working. The only advantage that I had over the other quilters is when it came to sewing the curved piece. I was pretty much the only one who had experience in that area. Who knew all those setting in sleeves would pay off eventually?

Apparently, everyone had issues with the pattern in one shape or another. Everyone ran short on fabric. So, if you're planning on making this quilt, count on either going back to the fabric store for more or just buy extras in adavance (especially when it comes to the light, background fabrics). I realized tonight that I am short as well. I'm going to either have to make a trip back to the fabric store in the morning to see if I can't match up 4 fat quarters or punt, look in my stash, and see what I can come up with that will work. The instructor said that there were several errors in the directions. I never really looked over the directions, just followed what she told us to do, so I can't speak on that right now. Maybe, after I'm completely done, I'll re-read everything and see what she's talking about, but I'm afraid that I'll get myself confused if I do that now.

Overall, the class was great! 3 hours of sewing with 6 other women who love to sew, talk fabric, etc. And, I learned something new! Now, to get more fabric, complete my homework, and get ready for next weeks class!

I spent the better part of today cutting the fabrics and folding the templates for my Shattered Glass class that starts on Monday. Originally, I was going to wait until the day of (nothing like procrastinating, eh?) - thank goodness I didn't, what a task that was!

According to the directions each template should be folded on the sewing lines. There are 18 templates, each with 11 sewing lines. I felt like I was doing origami by the time I was finished!

Then came the cutting. There were only 8 fat quarters to cut, but each one had to be cut into pretty small pieces....many of which had to be further cut by the shaped templates (mellon shapes, triangles, etc.). I packaged them all together in ziplock bags and labeled them so they are all ready to go. Needless to say, this whole process took approximately 4 hours.

My only complaint thus far is the fabric requirements - or at least the description of what type you need. For example, when I read 4 light colored variegated batiks, I assumed that they could be 4 of any light color (which is what I did). I think that the author wanted 4 of the same color. I don't think that this is going to pose a problem until it gets to the lattice. It called for 2 dark colored batiks. I chose a hot pink with blue-ish\purple swirls and a blue with purple swirls. I really think that the quilt would look better if everything was the same, but I'll just write the whole thing off as some sort of artistic license and make it look funky (or ugly?).

It's been a little over a year since I took my first quilting class. Until now, I hadn't found another one that I would really like to try, that is until I stopped by a new local quilt shop and saw they were offering instruction on Judy Niemeier's Shattered Glass quilt.

As soon as they were taking money, I signed myself up for this class. I've been drooling over her Tropical Sundance, 4th of July, and Sunflower Illusions quilt patterns for some time now, but since I don't know how to paper piece, I thought that these quilts were a little out of my league. If all goes well with my class, I'll try out one of her larger quilts next.

The cost of this little number isn't going to be cheep - currently, its up to $92 (and I still don't have "That Purple Thang", batting, and backing fabric!). Most of this is the notions. I picked up a cool mini iron\textile tool (40% off) and a cooling bag (50% off), template plastic (50% off), and 2 rulers. I also got my fabric on the cheap - $1.50 fat quarters! Can you image the cost if I purchased everything retail?