A Busy June

This has been a busy month.  Last weekend was my painting class and this week I attended a quilting workshop in Des Moines with good friend Jackie.  It was a wonderful learning experience! We arrived in town on Tuesday afternoon.  Had to stop at TLC Vintage so I could pick up more Annie Sloan colors (of course!) and then onto Penzy's for some great spices. Had a great meal at Cool Basil and then onto the meeting of the Des Moines Quilt Guild where we heard guest speaker  Melinda Bula, a fabulous, world renown quilter who shared her story.

The next day we attended a workshop taught by Melinda.  What a fun woman and great teacher!  We learned her process for making her beautiful floral quilts and worked on making a rose with her pattern.

 Above is the assortment of fabrics I brought to make the pattern of the rose.  Next is Miss Jackie anxiously waiting to begin the process!

Next are some pictures of the fabulous quilts Melinda brought to show her methods.  Absolutely stunning!

These are just two examples of the exquisite work that Melinda does. And, with her patterns, you, too can make these beauties!

Above, is a rose quilt that is unfinished so Melinda can show the process.

The next day, after spending the night with David and Marcia(THANK YOU, THANK YOU!), we returned to learn Melinda's method of free-motion quilting which she calls 'renegade quilting'.  What a blast! I learned soo much and it was not intimidating at all.  

Above Melinda talks about renegade quilting. She made it look soo easy.  And it was! Next Melinda is signing her book that I brought with me (it is currently out of print).

Next, Jackie gets a hug from Melinda. 

Below is another of Melinda's award winning quilts.  Isn't it outstanding?

What a great learning experience!  Thank you, Melinda!