When I went on the road trip to Macomb, IL with my peeps last month, one of my purchases was this jacket pattern. I had tried on the store sample, and liked the way it looked and felt. Yesterday I found the beautiful batik behind the pattern at SewSassy in Urbana. I was with my cousins who agreed that the blue would look great with my white hair. Today being a drizzly, rainy day, I decided to dust off my tailoring skills and dive in!
Ta da! The pattern said it would take about 3 hours to complete. It took me a little longer than that, as I always have interuptions! But the directions were well written, and there was NO frog sewing! Woot! It is very light, but will be great for work when I just feel like I want a little jacket to cover up with. I like the shorter sleeves, as I wash my hands constantly and I don't like damp cuffs!
We have been waiting anxiously for 2 years, and now the time has finally come! Yes, Jan Krentz has come to our guild!
We shared Jan with the Decatur quilt guild. After Jan was done teaching in Decatur, two of the Decatur ladies, who also belong to our guild, brought Jan to Champaign in time for supper at Panera's! And guess who got to sit across from her! Such a warm, and instantly friendly soul. Instead of being exhausted from a day of teaching and travel, she was a delightful supper companion!
After a fantastic lecture, she opened up her trunks and let us ooh and aah over her glorious quilts! We got to feast our eyes on this beauty through the entire evening. This is the reverse side of "Out of Africa"! 
I love this spiral lone star! All those glorious colours!
I love the extra little star burst in the corners of this hunter's star! That is tissue lame making the dark arm! Love it!
I love the free motion couching of the yarn in this lone star! Jan gave lots of great design tips to make these stars sing!
I am loving the look of these diamonds! I now own all of Jan's books. Now, I just need more time to make some of these wonderful projects!
This one reminded me of Laura Wasilowski and Frieda Anderson!
Monet's Water Lilies! Yes, I am definitely going to have to make this one! Jan sells a kit to make the water lilies. Yes, of course, I brought one home with me!
Friday's class was asymmetrical hunter's star! Out of Africa was the star, and our inspiration! Jan is a fantastic teacher. After teaching us how to make templates, she let us loose to work with our fabrics. She came around to everybody's workstation several times during the day, sitting down and chatting with the student. What wonderful attention!
Those that read and FOLLLOWED Jan's preclass instruction sheet brought flannel for design walls. Although I read that, I failed to act on it. So I did my designing on the stage floor! I shall know better next time!
Jan spent time with this student and helped her to get her quilt to this stage! Isn't it glorious!
Here is our class at the end of the day! We are all smiling because we are so proud of ourselves of all that we have learned and accomplished!
Jan was impressed with my white hair! She insisted we had to be photographed in front of the dark quilt (there are some glorious oriental prints in there!) What a great day! And what great memories were made! And a new quilting friend!
Oh, I guess you want to see mine! I went more traditional with my colors, but still used an asymmetrical setting. I made my blocks 6", so I will have a nice little wall hanging soon! The green is a Ricky Tims' hand-dyed, and the yellow/orange star points is a Frieda Anderson hand-dyed! An All-Star Quilt!
When I went on the road trip to Macomb, IL with my peeps last month, one of my purchases was this jacket pattern. I had tried on the store sample, and liked the way it looked and felt. Yesterday I found the beautiful batik behind the pattern at SewSassy in Urbana. I was with my cousins who agreed that the blue would look great with my white hair. Today being a drizzly, rainy day, I decided to dust off my tailoring skills and dive in!
Ta da! The pattern said it would take about 3 hours to complete. It took me a little longer than that, as I always have interuptions! But the directions were well written, and there was NO frog sewing! Woot! It is very light, but will be great for work when I just feel like I want a little jacket to cover up with. I like the shorter sleeves, as I wash my hands constantly and I don't like damp cuffs!
