Handwork, Machine Work, Footwork

Last week I was lucky enough to be able to attend my very first AQS quilt show; this was the one held in Phoenix. I stayed with my very good friend, and we had *such* a good time — as usual.

Handwork
At any rate, I took two classes while there. The first was a hand appliqué class from Karen Kay Buckley, and I’ve rarely had a more organized teacher! I had intended to apply Karen’s techniques to machine appliqué, but I’ve decided to try to finish this smallish project by hand, just to see if I can.This is what the piece is supposed to look like, and we’ll see how close I come. 😉

Fiesta block 3

Machine Work
Two days after this class, I took one from Sarah Vedeler, who does gorgeous machine quilting. I’ve had lots of classes featuring feathers, since I love them, and this one approached them from a different perspective. Sarah issued us all a challenge to practice for ten minutes *every* day for 30  days. I will definitely be taking up that challenge, but it will have to wait a little while to accommodate the “footwork” part of this post. Here is a sample of some of Sarah’s beautiful quilting:

Quilting by Sarah Vedeler

Footwork
I injured my foot about 30 years ago, and it’s become more and more uncomfortable with the resulting loss of cartilage and arthritis, The result is that I’ve finally given up and had some foot surgery. Naturally, it’s my right foot that’s affected, so I’m not driving at this point and really need to keep my foot elevated most of the time in order to remain comfortable as I recuperate. At least I have that hand appliqué, my knitting, some good books and a slew of DVDs to keep me occupied! 😉

Stylish footwear