Wonderful Wednesday - Road Trip Edition

Welcome to another edition of Wonderful Wednesday!!  This week's post gives you an in depth look at my visit to the mountains of Western North Carolina (Quilt Guild.)

Note:  Some photos have been reposted from ScrapHappy Saturday's post. Sorry!

In depth details of trip, purchases, lecture, class, quilts...

blow by blow!!!

Me, the book, and Deborah:

Wait!!  Is THIS a better shot??  You decide:

Wow!!  The Western North Carolina Quilt Guild members were AWESOME!!!  Thank you, again, for your hospitality:

Deborah's tricky "pop top" hanging system:

It was a lovely night just outside of Asheville:

These fabrics were purchased on the way up here.  They will be part of a special gift:

Here is a (sideways) close-up of Deborah's book:

Classroom set-up the next morning...

In the photo below, you can see that I attempted to bring my entire sewing room with me to the class:

Samples of Deborah's work:

Needleb is ready for class to begin:

Class began with a stamping demo...

... And a mock-up of one of Deborah's 8 design guides:

She walked us through her process of fabric selection...

... And gave thoughtful responses to our questions...

... as details were added to the Demo Quilt:

Then we broke up to begin our own art quilts.  This photo shows one classmate's multi-step honey bee stencil that she will use:

My Class Quilt began with a hand stamped circle fabric that I got from Deborah for being one of the first 50 purchasers of her book:

Our table looked a mess, but our pieces were coming together:

Britt began with this background arrangement:

By the time our backgrounds were done, it was time for lunch:

After lunch, we started adding details...

Let's get a different view of my quilt:

Britt's quilt is getting some attention, too:

Let's see what it looks like turned on its side:

Sometimes the smallest movement makes a BIG difference:

Isn't that interesting?  We just keep moving things around until the piece "feels done."  We left room to add stenciling and stitching:

Classmates were kind enough to let me show you their pieces:

Everyone seems to be progressing well:

Different stages of the process...

... But making progress none the less:

SEW many colors and patterns:

Then it was time for another demo...

Deborah shared her thoughts adding stencils:

She uses an unexpected technique...

... And acrylic craft paint:

Deborah also shared her "Stitch Map" technique...

... Along with some of her own sketches for stencils:

HERE is how her Demo Quilt is progressing:

This is a closer look at her Stitch Map:

Deborah's "Leaf in Hand" stencil is one of my favorites, but it didn't fit the space available on my quilt...

However, this tree seemed to work well:

The fabric scrap that I drew the colors from didn't make it in:

Oops!  I almost missed getting a photo of this quilt...

... And my favorite creation of the day:

I found cutting a stencil from freezer paper to be challenging:

Britt auditioned a tree for stenciling, but wasn't convinced...

I got all of my pieces stitched down...

... And bravely stenciled a rough version of Deborah's tree:

Last came a demo on finishing and sharing our day's work...

This was the ONE quilt that I was able to get a shot of:

The class agreed to pose for a group (quilt) photo:

Oops!  The quilt on the top left is sideways:

Two happy quilters with one of the BEST teachers EVER:

I borrowed this thread from Britt:

We cleaned up...

... And went shopping:

Look for Deborah's Art Quilt Collage video Blog Hop:

Watch for another quilt to come... because I still want to use this:

Thank you, again, to the Western North Carolina Quilt Guild for allowing two quilters from Durham Orange Quilters Guild to join in for one of the most wonderful experiences we've ever had. Thanks to Deborah Boschert, for coaxing the artist out of all of us!

Until next time...
Stretch your creativity!!!