Sunday, December 21, 2008

The Holidays Bring Wonderful Surprises!

I received a wonderful holiday gift this week. It was an email with photos taken at a quilt show earlier this year. I had the pleasure of teaching two workshops for the Greater Ann Arbor Quilting Guild this past spring. Some of the finished pieces were shown in a special display at their semi-annual quilt show.



One of the workshops was Bead Candy Quilts. They are those small, eye catching, colorful, embellished, post card sized quilts that make great gifts or a way to brighten up an office or fun space around the house.

It was a great group of ladies. Each one brought mountains of bits of lace, appliqués, fabric, beads, trims, feathers and shiny stuff. As you can imagine, with twenty ladies all from different backgrounds, experiences and taste in fabrics, there was no duplication of fabrics or embellishments. What made is so much fun was seeing the variety of items they brought, and watching them offer suggestions and work together to create some really wonderful little quilts.

When I teach this class, I not only teach a variety of techniques, but also show samples, and offer suggestions to jump start everyone's creativity. I know that sometimes it's hard to get started. One of the reasons this workshop is so successful, is that anyone can take a handful of leftover bits of cool stuff that have traditionally been too small to use in a quilt, and make a wonderful small piece that can be finished in one sitting. WOW! What a sense of accomplishment!

Well, I understood ahead of time that this guild was full of very creative quilters and it was true. Just take a look at a few of the finished Bead Candy Quilts they made. It’s never too late. Go through your beads, bangles and bits of fabric and see what you come up with. Be creative. Go wild. There are no rules. Feel free to send me an email of the finished quilt.
I love surprises at the holidays! Be open to giving and receiving all that the holidays have to offer and most of all. . . . . create!

Have a wonderful holiday season!
Melody