Wow it's been a fun but slow month

I hate that I have not been posting much recently.  Quilting slowed down a bit or at least the picture taking side of things did.  February was full of colds around the house.  Many weekends were spent resting in the house.  March has been better, with nice weather we made it out for some walks and even a very nice trip to the local art museum.  I loved getting to spend some time outside.
March also included the workshop I've been waiting for since my very first quite.  Paula Nadelstern came to town.  I'm pretty sure by the time she made her way to the center of the country she was pretty tired.  I took my sister to her first local guild meeting.  We went to dinner with Paula before the meeting and she actually sat right between me and my sister!  I tried not to be too excited but really I was insanely excited.  I found out who Paula was while making the first quilt when I kept buying all this great fabric and one day looked at the selvage edge and saw her name.  I googled her and found her website.  That next Christmas her books were on my list.  I got one and couldn't stop looking and reading it.  Then in November 2009 I found out she was coming to the guild in 2011.  I signed up for the puzzle quilt workshop as soon as they let us.  Now at dinner she is sitting right next to me.  It was really a very nice dinner and then later we made it to the guild meeting a bit earlier than I normally do.  We had front row sits for her lecture.  Wow are her quilts amazing.  I knew they were but to see how small those pieces really are was something else. 
The next Sat. was the workshop and really it was more like a lecture.  She took us through the puzzle book and we got to see the fabrics she used!  We talked a lot about fabric choices and her design process.  Really it was everything I wanted.  I know how to sew half square triangles the chance to "get in her head" for just a few hours was exactly what I needed! At the end of class we worked a bit with our fabrics.  I must say I was very nervous about this.  I really didn't know if my fabric was good choices for this class.  Usually I can see the design in my head and know I like what I have, this time was completely different.  Walking into class I heard others saying the same thing so I know I wasn't alone at this point.  She sat down with me and we looked over the fabric.  At first I thought she didn't like my choice but then as she looked a it longer she felt we could trust the symmetry.  We found some great ideas and she actually had the class come look at them :)  It was an amazing weekend. 
A few weeks later I had a bee meeting.  It was nice catching up with everyone.  After the meeting 3 of us T, J and I decided we should start having Friday Night Finishers again.  All of us needed some motivation to finish  and start some projects.  Wouldn't you know the first night of FNF at T's house I forgot the power cord for my sewing machine.  I still had a very nice dinner with friends and got to help them with a few projects.  Hopefully the next time I'll be better prepared and maybe even have some pictures to share. 

Happy Quilting

CDC