Accuquilt GO!

Tonight I went to an Accuquilt GO! class at Out of Hand Needle Arts. I plunked myself down by two lovely ladies, Margaret and Maureen. (Hi ladies!) It's always great to meet people who love something as much as you do! It was nice to be welcomed and encouraged about the classes there. This was my first one, but Maureen has and says that they are great! I will be looking forward to the new classes coming up and hope to try my hand at needle-turn applique. I do like some hand stitching!

I went to take their class on "Accuquilt Acumen" by Jeneane Whyte for tips and tricks on how to use the GO! I bought mine there in January and have used it, but thought that I could use some more info and advice on what to do with it to really utilize it! It's always great to get into a group where you hear ideas from other people. I was listening intently and thinking to myself, "I never thought of that!", "what a great idea!", "ohhhh....and I could do......" All in all, it was a great class! Of course I had to come home with some more dies!

I was worried about the cutting mats being wrecked, but Jeneane showed us some mats that were warped. She said, "As long as you can't see the light of day coming through, it's good to use!" That made me feel better because I was worried that I was doing it wrong. When you cut with the Accuquilt GO! you CAN see the cuts into the plastic. I was worried that I was ruining it. The mats are designed that way, and you can use it over and over again. That in itself was worth going to class! I'm so glad that I took the time to go and I'm feeling much better about the investment of the dies. They really are not too bad if you buy them one at a time and once in a while. You will use them for many years to come!

Deirdre, was kind enough to order in the "feather" die for me and I thought the flower die would come in handy as you can also cut the petals separately for use as leaves and other embellishments! I learned about cutting wool with the GO! so I may have to have my hand at creating a little penny rug or something! I'm allergic to wool though, so I wonder how that will work with my hands? Will I break out? Start wheezing or the like? Never know until I try I guess. Cotton has been a pretty safe bet for me, but I sure do like the creations from wool!

Deirdre tries to have this class every session, so if you are thinking of buying an Accuquilt GO! it's worth going to the class to find out how they work! You get to try it out and look at the dies up close and personal, rather than peering through a package. You get great tips on how to use them (other than just the photo on the cover of the packaging!)

Happy Quilting Everyone!

KoboArc, Accuquilt and a birthday! (ohhh....and fabric!)

Happy New Year! My birthday is days after the celebrations! I was a spoiled gal and was given a new KoboArc by Chef Murphy. Can blog reading get any better! I can browse, update, read anywhere with the internet hooked up. OK so I'm not a true geek because I don't know the proper names to all the electronic thingies. I'll learn slowly and I'm ok with that! Anything new is a challenge, but a grateful one! I was looking at purchasing a tablet as I always browse for new ideas and blog hop to find out what everyone else is doing. Then I was looking at a new laptop, but then again, it's pretty hard to use on public transport, etc. Chef Murphy couldn't have found anything better! I am thrilled!

A lovely package arrived at the door after we arrived home from my birthday celebrations. I love Keepsake Quilting! They are fantastic! I find that their sales are too hard to resist. I try and buy a bundle of their fat quarters for $99 after every season. I am working hard to build my stash and find that I am overwhelmed when I go shopping for fabric. So many choices! How do you pick? Slowly I am getting a decent stash together and am starting to fulfil those dreams of finishing more quilts! If I have a certain project with certain colors, I would go out and just buy fabric for that particular project. Then, the project would be done and I would search for another project and buy fabric according to the recommendations. I never stretched out and went against the color choices. Silly as it is, I was too afraid to try other colors because it might look "stupid". As they say, there is no wrong color choice! I started reading about color choices and color saturations, etc. I started buying my own colors of fabrics for those new patterns. It was refreshing and at the same time terrifying. Why terrifying? If you buy all that fabric out of funds that could be used differently, and the hours to cut, sew and then it turns out horrible? Chef Murphy has been incredibly supportive with my hobby. He calls it "talent", I smile at him and thank God for this man who encourages and indulges me with my love for fabric! He is the one that plans those trips to include fabric and quilt shops and hunts down the addresses. So many times I've been surprised with a side road drive only to find that he's parked outside of a little quilt shop!

If cat's could talk, this one would say, "Take the picture alreadly so I can continue staring that squirrel down outside!" Along with my fat quarters, I bought a layer cake and matching jelly roll. I find that I can quickly throw together a quilt with pieces that are already cut. Working full-time makes it a bit difficult to fit in time to sew as I have to put in time cutting and the like. I'd like to just sit down and sew, sew, sew!

VOILA! I finally did it! It was after the arrival of the jelly roll and layer cake that did it! Why am I buying these pre-cuts when I could be doing the same with my growing stash! So exciting! I have gone to all the quilt shops in Calgary and of course the sewing store where I bought my Symphony. My travels led us (Chef Murphy in tow!) to Out of Hand Needle Arts located in Lakeview in Calgary. http://www.out-of-hand.com/ I've been there a couple of times to buy fabric and they have a fabulous selection of ribbons not to mention all those yummy fabrics! Deirdre was full of great ideas and information and was fabulous with all the questions that Chef Murphy asked. Terri was great when it came to choosing dies to start with. His prior experience with quilt shops here in the city have been totally negative. Bless his heart. On Valentine's day he walked into one of the quilt shops where he was looking for "red fat quarters for my honey". This is the man that has terminology down and knows what he is looking for. The woman he encountered said, "We don't have anything like that," and then (because it was Valentine's Day) continued to say, "You sure are leaving it a little late!" Now being in customer service myself, I've seen how they treat him in quilt shops. Deirdre and staff were so welcoming and so different than the other shops in Calgary (especially when it comes to a man in a quilt shop)! Thank you all for that! Regardless of the sex of the customer, what happened to, "I'll be right with you!" (when they are busy with another customer), or "How can I help you?" or "Is there anything special that you are looking for?" AND what about a SMILE? I am not surprised why a man (who doesn't quilt) wouldn't want to step in within two feet from the front door! Thank you Out of Hand for being so welcoming to my honey! I am sure he will be back! Happy Quilting everyone! :-) Birthday Girl Margo!