Bonnie Hunter "My Blue Heaven" Class

This past Tuesday I got to participate in Bonnie Hunter's "My Blue Heaven" Class, and I had an absolute blast!

The ladies I sat and sewed with all day were a riot, and they were fabulous quilters to boot!  On this trip to Dayton I got to meet an "On-Line Friend", Ed.  Ed and I met on-line about two years ago and he has held a special place in my quilting world, as he was the first other male quilter I met.  Tuesday, I met him face to face, and while he wasn't quilting (he had to work), I did get to quilt with his wife, Janice all day long.  We then met for dinner and went to quilt guild meeting together.

I spent the weekend in Denver on business and decided to take some fabric, a small cutting board, and my rotary cutter with me to make useful use of my down time while in Denver.  So, I took the fabric I was going to need for the "My Blue Heaven" class, as well as some other fabric that needed to be cut up for another quilt and I watched the Heat beat the Celtics while cutting fabric in my hotel room!

My Setup... The bed is to the right where I have the fabric all laid out...

All of the fabric I brought with me.  The Tangerine and Teal in the middle
is the fabric I used (am using) for my "My Blue Heaven".  This fabric all
came from a fabric Swap with other Male Quilters from all over the world.

The Tangerine All cut into 2.5" Strips.  I finished by halftime, enjoyed a short
break and then attacked the Teals...

All of the Tangerine and Teals Cut, Baggied, and ready to quilt!

Next I de-boned several shirts.  This is the waste pile.  I was in "Production
Mode" and didn't think to take "Before, During and After" shots...

All of my cutting work for the evening.  A rather productive Basketball
game, Tennis Match, and Soccer Game!

I found it funny that while I was cutting fabric in my hotel room, I thought
"This is what Bonnie would do in her hotel room"... Then when I got home
I found that TSA had searched my bag, something that happens to Bonnie
all the time.  It just made me laugh because I have NEVER had my bag
searched before...

I forgot to take photos of Step One... This is Step Two, Hourglass Squares.

There's my Step one, HSTs next to the first part of my Step Two QSTs.

My Classroom Setup.  Leonidas is not ready for sewing yet, let alone
traveling, so I had to take Queen Luise with me.

Bonnie doing a Demo.  We learned how to use the Easy Angle and
Companion Angle Rulers for this class.  I had used the Easy Angle
ruler before, but not the Companion Angle Ruler, so this was new to me.

Here's Bonnie at our table using Debbie's Flame Throwing Featherweight.

My Companion Angle Ruler at work...

Half of a Day's work.  (I actually got a LOT more piecing done, enough for
probably 10-12 blocks, but only assembled four blocks.)  These are the
Star Blocks.

And the Star Blocks with the Alternate Blocks.

Love seeing iPads being lifted to take photos...

That's Janice, Ed's wife, on the right, talking about her hexie quilt.  This is a
HAND Pieced, and HAND Quilted project with over 900 Hexie Rosettes!
That's 6,300 Hexies in the flowers ALONE, then there are black Hexies
around all of those!

And as if the shear number of hexies in this quilt isn't impressive enough,
EVERY flower is fussy cut.  Look at the symmetry in those flowers...

The little angels...

And Horses, and Leaves...

And Rubber Duckies, Elephants, and the Dachshunds...
The Dachshunds wouldn't fit on ONE Hexie so she cut them to span TWO!

And Rainbows...

Stars, different Rubber Duckies, a few plaids, and geometric shapes...

And more but completely different rainbows...
10 years in the making, and still not completely done, but stunningly
Beautiful Nonetheless... Almost makes me want to take up hand stitching...

Well, I had a great time in class, and I could go on and on, but 20 something photos is enough for one post!

Thanks for Reading!

Until Next Time,

Paul