Irene Blanck came back to visit our local chapter of The Applique Society this week on her way to Quilt Market. We always love having Irene here and I never get tired of watching her demo her techniques - it's always a great refresher! She had several new projects to share with us this year, including the quilt she is holding in the picture below. The quilt, named "Class Action", is made from fabric she collected from many of her students and friends last year. The inspiration for the quilt came when she was teaching a class in Toowoomba and fell in love with some of her students' fabrics. She collected little hexie-sized chunks of fabrics from those students and many others in 2018, recording the names of all who contributed.
The quilt has a long label down the center of the back that lists all of the students who contributed. We are on the list!
Her binding on the quilt was very interesting - I don't think I've seen this done before. She prepped the hexies and joined them in a chain and then lined them up with the ones on the front, whip-stitched the edges together (trimming the batting to fit) and then appliqued them to the backing.
I was especially excited to see Irene's latest project - I love baskets! Everyone in the class loved it too and we are already planning for Irene to return next year to teach it.
The borders she designed for the quilt are outstanding! The corner blocks are baskets also.
I didn't get a lot of sewing done during the class - I spent more time visiting than sitiching - but I did make a little progress on my Auntie Green quilt. I'm looking forward to having some time to stitch on it this weekend. Next week I am off to Houston, and I am anxiously awaiting the color reveal for this year's Bonnie Hunter mystery. Hard to believe that Thanksgiving is right around the corner!
