Workshop with Bonnie

I met Bonnie this week!



The first time was last Thursday at a talk she did for a guild in Delafield. She spoke about the fabric food chain. I thought I had a solid grasp on this, but I still learned a lot. It was great to see all of her quilts up close and personal. Photos and websites don't ever do justice.



While at the talk, I found out that there were openings in the Saturday workshop!! I had tried to register for this a while ago, but it was full. As it happened, they had room for me and my mom. The pattern being taught was Virginia Bound (seen in the background of the top picture) from her latest book, Scraps & Shirttails. I got my copy that day and this is probably my favorite pattern. The long diamonds really shine.

On Friday I shopped for more shirts at a pay by the pound thrift shop. I bought a bunch of shirts 2 years ago and cut up half of them, but never got around to using them. This is the perfect opportunity! My mom and I spent the rest of the day washing them, drying them and then "de-constructing". We had a great variety of darks/colors, but very few tan/white/neutrals. So instead of shirts, I decided to use tan scraps that were lying around. Perhaps I'll thrift store shop some more and find a few shirts to mix in. There are 79 blocks total and we only have 8 done, so there is plenty of time!

Here is our messy work area on Saturday:



And here is our first star (made from 4 blocks):



The pattern name is Virginia Bound, but because the workshop was held at North Prairie, I'm naming mine North Prairie Bound. =)