Quilters Took Manhattan this weekend

What do you get when you mix classes taught by renowned quilters, vendors, presentations, wicked, garment and museum tours, silent auctions, raffles, door prizes, cocktails after dark and a rock em shock em Quilt Match?

You get the third annual... Bigger and better... Quilters Take Manhattan brought to you by the Quilt Alliance.  If you were unable to be here in person, hopefully you were one of the lucky home viewers that had a birds eye view of the highlights.

Without further delay... Here is the weekend in photographic review.

Friday night, awaiting the rest of the Quilty crew for dinner.  Michele snuggled under a Victoria special.

Saturday morning set up. Packing the car at The City Quilter... Driving to FiT for drop off and set up.

It takes a village to set up.  Luke Haynes and Marie Bostwick lugging the goodies.

It's like old home week as I get to see my Queeps... Gogo Kim is in town.

Lovely board members of Quilt Alliance. Including Victoria.. The reason quilters are still taking Manhattan.  Fabulous idea to make it a yearly event.

Quilters have a sense of humor... Mark Lipinski with Marie B.

Yummy cherrywood 

The queen of cherrywood herswlf.. Karla..

Amazing presentation by Hollis Chatelain.

Robin Schwalb... Love it..

Quick pic of my two quilts for twentieth anniversary.

Quilters take Manhattan after dark..my fave part of the day.  This year we had the quilt match... Heather Jones, Mark Lipinski and Luke Haynes.

He has me as the secret weapon.  Letter cutter extraordinaire.

Mark won the title.

Makin letters fly in record time...no ruler needed.. Smiles

Everyone needs a leg up in any competition... Quilty assistant.

Sunday morning embellishment with Frances Holliday Alford.

Some of her work.

And whew.  There was so many more great pics.. But well, I would hate to note ya.. Smiles

Studio Clean Up

So I made a promise to myself on Friday (September 7) that I would not stitch an inch until I cleaned up my studio.  So after a weekend out and about and cleaning partly... I am doneski.  Whew... Lets see the progress...

This is where I began on Saturday (September 8) morning...

And of course once you start pulling everything out..

This was my stopping point on Saturday.. Before I went and enjoyed the day and night...

Closet is done.  I am going to have to start buying batting by the roll.  It takes up way too much space in my closet..

Put back where everything belongs...

A few more things that are not put away. I need them now an have to give that box to the Salvation Army.

All clean... And now I'm too tired to stitch....

That was my weekend, mixed with brunch, wine tasting, shopping, dinner and drinks...and Sunday (sept. 9) football with friends and cleaning through the eve...

Now perhaps I can finish some of these projects I have.. 

Road to Precision Piecing

Okay okay. UNCLE!!!! I Give up.  It all began with the dreaded iron.  That extra step that I avoided with all that I possessed.  Then, while at Quilting By the Lake, I realized the benefit in ironing my seams as I went along.

So, return I did, and new irons were bought.  Iron then became a part of my quilting process with each seam.. Not just at the end.

Now while working on these blocks, half square triangles etc...I decided to still wing it a bit.  I thought I was doing something by making the parts larger and then trimming the final block parts down to size... Still no consistency.

Then someone posted a piece on gettin accurate points... It involved, accurate block pieces, accurate 1/4 inch markings and pinning.  I saved it after I read it and laughed and said the force would have to be strong in me to do all those steps... Lol

And then I thought... What would Yoda say... "DO or DO NOT, there is NO TRY!!! And alas I realized that either I would strive for matched points and precision pieces or I would not.  I would cease tryin to wing it.. For there is no TRY...

So a couple of days ago, I trimmed all my pieces square to the right size and ironed them.  (Trimming each piece was new).  I even double checked my 1/4 inch on my machine with the ruler thing that allows the needle through the hole.

Then this eve, I pinned the half square pieces etc according to the recommendations in the posting.  PINNING was the other new activity.   

 

And I chain pieced the sections...

Ironed them ...

And every last one was perfectly matched and ready for more pinning..

 

And alas, I can no longer follow the old ways... I must not go to the dark side.

For as Yoda says.

Ugh... More steps more time... But it means precision piecing at the end.  I give up, and now I must unlearn all of my bad habits.. One step at a time.

So now I trim pin and iron...