Melinda's Cutting Garden: April 2012

If it's going to rain in California, let it pour when you have a good quilting project in hand. Who cares if I am missing all the fun in the sun? The peaceful and content feeling you get with the rain tapping on the roof, snuggled up in your favorite sweater and a needle or scissors in one and working on a fun project. Well, that's what it was like this last week while I was teaching at Empty Spools Seminars in Pacific Grove. I had 11 students in my class which I think was pretty good considering we all had to arrive on Easter Sunday. But that didn’t stop the flow of beautiful flowers. So here are some of my girls and their beautiful flower quilts. I won’t be teaching at Empty Spools next year - I am taking a break but I am having my retreat at Lake Tahoe in 2013 and will post more information when I have a firm date.

Ann Shaw was the featured artist this session.

Her table was bursting with color.

Each day she would select the fabric of the day and they where some great fabrics. She is very talented and will be teaching there next year.

I got a little carried away with the tulip bouquet on her table.

This is Marie Brown's blue couscous. The blue/periwinkle color just took your breath way.

Above are the flower quilts that Nancy McCain made from some of my patterns last year. This year she stepped out with her own flower photo. Her Husband, JD, is also a quilter and was there taking in another class. He likes to do pieced quilts but we love him, anyway.

This colorful rose, made by Jo Anne Coss, just knocked our socks off.

When Trish Nicholson is not paddling her sailboat on the Potomac River, she will be finishing her beautiful Coneflowers that I suspect we will l see in a future show. I hope.

Sheila Cory made these delightful Orchids. After a few additions of the right pinks she just flew. 4 girls in class brought their iPads with beautiful color photos on them but when we tried to closely match the iPad photo we had a very hard time because of the brightness of the screen but using the iPad to enlarge was great. I know there is a way to use this great tool so stay tuned. But in the mean time we still have to print out photos.

It's fun when friends take your class. Melanie McFarland and I meet years ago in a Mary Lou Weidman class. She and Mary Lou have written a book together called Out of the Box with Easy Blocks. She has a wonderfully creative eye for color. She made a still life flower arrangement in a vintage green vase. You can see her photo in the picture below. I just love this color combination. WOW!

Another great talent was Cheryl Malkowski. She also is an author of 5 books with C&T. Wow - I got all the talent in my class. Look at the photo she took. Now look at her quilt. It's great! I can’t wait to see it finished. She could easily match the colors using my ColorFinder technique.

Jan Carte is a true Californian who loves the beach, California Poppies and the San Francisco Giants. Her classmate, Sherie Bertelson, flew in all the way from Alaska. On a plane, of course. She picture was of a delicate blue flower that grows in Alaska in her backyard. I called her Miss Alaska most of the retreat. Once we found the right colors she was off and running. I always take a field trip into town to Back Porch Fabrics. It's a must when you visit Pacific Grove.

It was pansies for Brigitte Red. She was obsessed and I understood her passion. It was like she couldn't stop. It was so fun to watch her see more and more. I called her Miss Canada. I love Canadians.

Last but not least, A rose by any other name is Kim McFarland, Mel's sister-in-law. This rose just flew out of her. She did her base shape in a medium hue and then added the dark shadows and, finally, the lighter shades. That's not a plain black fabric she has laid it on. it’s a textured bark cloth with an Asian motif. It give a very elegant look. Check out her border fabric in the photo below.