New Friends, Finishes, and Getting Ready

This post is a little bit of this and that as I (Kara) wrap up my to-do list before I head stateside in just a few days for the Academy of Appliqué. It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks, with a visit to Switzerland to see our nephew defend his thesis and a visit north to Heidelberg to share our needle book with a lovely bunch of ladies at the Hearts and Castles Quilt Guild. Their president, Gaby, invited me up to teach the needle book and to share some of my antique quilts. 

Stitching away!

Hard at work cutting their pieces out.

It was great to see the ladies put their own spin on the stitches and the color placement!

Isn't this a fun background!

Branching out with her stitches.

Two people even finished their covers in class.

This awesome group was so kind and generous! From the delicious potluck to some lovely gifts, the whole day was a special treat. One of the ladies even wrote a blog about the day, and you can read it HERE. It is in German, but if you open it up in Google Chrome, it should translate it for you.

The spread of food!

This pillow cover is made by stitchers in Bethlehem and was a wonderful and unexpected gift!

After this class, it was time to get back to the grind and finish up some details before I head west. When I put together our mushroom wreath last June, I knew that the moss should be wool, so I thought I would wet-felt green moss. It turned out exactly as I hoped, but fast-forward to kitting time, and I realized I needed to make a lot more!

Ready to get wet.

Time to get rolling!

The finished product.

Some other projects that need to be completed were a few sample boards for some of the ribbons and fibers we will be selling. I was able to complete two out of the three—one for seam binding ribbon and one for wired ribbon. 

Seam binding is so versatile!

Pansy

Anemone

Ruffled Flower

Spiderweb rose and leaf

So many different flowers can be made with wired ribbon,

I had hoped to get our Fraktur quilt top finished, but alas, I ran out of time. Finishing the hand quilting on the Flora and Fauna quilt was another project that didn't meet the deadline. Frustrating to say the least, but as I was putting some things away, I came across a block that only needed about an hours work to get it to the completed stage. It wasn't a priority, but I just wanted to say I finished something this week. It is a miniature version of our Floral Elegance block that we will be teaching this September at Baltimore on the Prairie. 

There are a lot of textures in this block.

Bias silk, seam binding and wired ribbon are used
for the flowers.

Hooray! A finish!

There are still a few days left for a few more finishes, but only so much of the day can be spent stitching when life's details call—dogs need to be walked, husband fed, house cleaned, and maybe I should pack, too! I have to remind myself that it's about the journey and not just the finish, although a maid sure could help!