Summer Quilting Camp Has Begun!

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A sneak peak of the sampler lap quilt I made using MaryJanes beautiful Caravan Roundup Fabric (this is what the girls will end up with at the end of the quilt camp)!  This lap quilt just might become a give-away here on the blog at the end of the summer.  IF I can part with it!  

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Happy, happy spring to all my Farmgirl friends!  It is warm enough in Tennessee to feel like summer is here so I’ve gone ahead and jumped in with my first Summer Quilting Camp Class.  Just in case you missed my first post about it, you can read it here.

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Before we could have our first class I had a lot of prep work and one of the things that I needed to do was calculate how much fabric each girl needed for her lap quilt.  The different quilt blocks really call for a lot of different fabrics and I knew the easiest route to go would be a collection of fabrics.  It also would make it easier for the Mom’s to purchase for the girls.  But it was quickly getting very expensive and I began to worry about how this was going to work.  I really want to encourage the girls to use quality quilting fabric and not buy something that is lower quality just because it is inexpensive.

 

I decided to take the plunge and do something I’ve not done in this capacity before and I drafted a letter and emailed four of my very favorite fabric designers.  I told them about my Summer Quilting Camp and asked if they would be willing to share some of their fabric with the girls.  I was completely amazed at the response and so I’d like to share with you the fabric that was donated to the girls.

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Of course I wrote to MaryJane because I love MaryJane (who doesn’t?!) and I adore her fabric and also her latest line, Caravan Roundup, is so bright and happy I knew the girls would love it.  Of course she was thrilled to send them a complete bundle of her beautiful fabric.  And let me tell you, it’s so much fun! I can’t keep my hands off of it! As you can tell from the lap quilt I made right away!

 

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I wrote to Dana Willard, who is an amazing seamstress that writes a blog and also has a  YouTube channel with incredible sewing tutorials.  I’ve followed her blog for many years and made so many of her patterns.  She now designs fabric that is bright, girly, and incredibly modern.  She was so kind and so gracious and she actually sent us fabric from both of her collections – Boardwalk Delight and Fiesta Fun.  The fabric is amazing.  When you look at it, all you can think about is Summertime!

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I love all the fabric that designer Amy Sinibaldi designs and she has a collection called Playground.  It is full of beautiful, subtle prints that I knew would be a perfect fabric for the girl that doesn’t exactly go crazy over bright fabrics.  Amy was so kind to send us a bundle of scraps that she had left of her Playground collection.  There is just enough for one lap quilt – it is so perfect!

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I also wrote to Elea Lutz, who designs the sweetest fabrics that are so precious and I had a feeling would be perfect for the littlest girl in our class.   Elea has been in touch with me with such excitement to send fabrics.   I’m not sure what line she is sending, but the picture above is one of her collections that I’ve done a lot of sewing with in projects and it is probably one of my favorites!

 

I feel so excited because it was just a huge burden lifted to be able to start this class with enough fabric for each of the five students to choose from.  I can’t express my appreciation enough for all the help!

 

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So the next thing that I needed to do was draw each of the quilt blocks out on graph paper.  I made copies for each of the girls so they each had a copy of the different quilt blocks.  (You’ll see why this was necessary in a minute!)

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We held the first class one evening and I carefully lined up the different fabric collections out on my large cutting table and let each girl choose her collection.  My guess on what each of the girls would choose was spot on and there was no arguing over who wanted what.  Once again, I was just so thankful for all the amazing fabric they had to choose from.

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My instructions were to start with the first block that we would be sewing (the Nine Patch) and look at their fabric and choose the ones they wanted for that block.  Then to cut a tiny little piece and tape it to the appropriate place on the paper block.  Since I will be doing all the cutting it seemed like the best way for me to know what fabrics they wanted where.

 

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The girls did that with each of the different nine blocks and it went very quickly.  I worked very hard to stay out of their way and not give my input on which fabrics to put where.  I just feel like these quilts have to be THEIR quilts and so when they were worried about their choices I tried to remind them that they are individuals, and their quilts will reflect that.  I can hardly wait to see how they look!!!

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I think the girls had a lot of fun diving through their fabric selections and my neat stacks became a big, huge, fun fabric mess!  They also kept saying to me, “We are SO EXCITED for our Summer Quilting Camp” – it really made me so happy that I decided to plunge into the project!

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This week I’ve been cutting, cutting and cutting!  I have all the fabric cut except what I’m waiting for in the mail for the last little girl.  As I cut the fabric for each block, I placed that in a gallon size ziplock bag to make it easy for our first official sewing class in May.  This way I can just hand each girl their ziplock bag for their first block and we’ll be able to get started without any sorting, cutting, shuffling of fabrics, etc.

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What I learned from the first short class is that these girls are very quick and very eager to learn and SUPER EXCITED about the project.  It is not going to be easy and we will have some tough class days but I think we are off to a great start and that makes me so happy.  I will continue to keep you posted!  And I have a LOT more prep work before our official first sewing class on May 15th.  It’s exciting prep work that I’ll share with you soon!

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Now for the WINNER of the giveaway that I promised last month!  When I wrote my blog post about being a Maker, it was a spur of the moment decision to offer a give-away and I have to admit that I had absolutely no idea what I would make the winner.  The only thing I knew is that it would be made by me!

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So the last month I did quite a bit of thinking and finally settled on these darling little coasters for your coffee or tea.  I love this form of sewing called Illustrated Sewing and I think I need to make myself a set of these coasters now!

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So, congratulations to our winner:  Ann Riddle

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I also want to say thank you to all of you that commented on my blog post last month.  Every comment meant so much to me and I truly do appreciate all of you!  Now that I won’t mess up the Random Number Generator (used to pick a winner) I’ll be going through and responding to each of you personally.  Honestly, those were the biggest bunch of awesome comments ever!

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Until our gravel roads cross again… so long.

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Dori

  1. Krista says:

    The quilt you made using MaryJane’s fabric is beautiful! I love how bright and cheerful the colors are in that fabric collection. Also, that’s some wonderful donations from each and every one of those designers. It’s very generous of them to share such wonderful fabrics. Now I really can’t wait to see how each of the girls lap quilts turn out! Your going to be an awesome teacher! Your coasters are so cute! Love love that red one! Congratulations Ann on your wonderful surprise!

    • Dori Troutman says:

      Krista,

      I think that fabric is absolutely DIVINE!!! The girl that chose it is so happy she got to use it. And it will look completely different than the one I made because of the way that she chose to combine her fabrics! So much fun!!!

      – Dori –

  2. Marvene says:

    You are to be commended as are the girls and their parents — to still care about learning the skills of their ancestors.

    You are and will do a tremendous job. Your joyful attitude is a blessing from God.

    Mamaw would be proud of you too!

    Love, Ms

    • Dori Troutman says:

      Oh….. thank you Aunt Marvene. Sometimes I miss Mamaw so much and wish that I could pick up the phone and talk to her. Better yet, have her here working on a project with me. I’ve always felt if I could be the kind and loving grandmother that Mamaw was to me, then I would be a success!

      xoxo

      – Dori –

  3. Denise Ross says:

    These are gorgeous quilts and coasters, Dori. I can’t wait to see how your girls put them all together. Very exciting you’ve got your project classes off the ground. I’m sure it will be a very rewarding experience for both you and the girls who do your class, in confidence building, knowledge and skills. So glad you’re doing this.
    Wishing you a blessed Easter season.

  4. Kristeen Gough says:

    Love you blog,,

  5. I think you need to do this for adults also!! I would love to come take a basic quilting class, because that is about how much patience I would have would be a lap blanket!

    Lucky girls Dori

    Edee

  6. Vivian Monroe says:

    Dori, this is gonna be such an awesome experience, I only wished I lived near by and I would take the class as well. 🙂 (I would just fib about my age) haha..Cant wait to see their finished projects. Have a very blessed day and BLessed Easter as well. Neta

  7. Judy from Maine says:

    So wonderful that you are sharing your considerable skills with these girls. I feel it is so important to impart the skill and joy that quilting brings to our younger generation. Sadly, these skills don’t seem to be taught in schools anymore, so your efforts are even more important. I can’t wait to see all the finished quilts. Who knows you might be teaching a quilt artist of the future. Above all, you have fun too, I know it is a lot of prep work, but I promise you the reward will be in the joy you and your class will share.

  8. Jodie says:

    Dori! Those coasters are darling!!! Did you hand stitch the designs? Simply darling! You are a whiz with the sewing machine. I always enjoy your creations, including the lap quilt the girls will be making! Keep up the great work! You inspire me to finally start working on a quilt project I’ve been getting up the nerve to make! Thanks!

  9. Sandi King says:

    Dori, what a wonderful start to summer for you and the girls. I love all the fabrics but my favorite is the Playground by Amy Sinibaldi – partial to blues. I want to make a quilt or more than one actually but I was thinking of cutting up material I have on hand like older clothes no one wears anymore or sheets or cases that are a bit worn in places, or drapes etc. You get the idea! I lucked out at an auction and picked up a lot of polyester batting which I intend to use as the filling. I also want to use some for stuffing in a couple of dolls I hope to make also this summer. So glad you are starting the quilt season off. Looking forward to more exciting things from you and the girls.

  10. Joan says:

    I too am excited for the girls and to see their results. Thank you for doing this, it is important for youngers to learn quilting. God bless.

  11. Cyndie Gray says:

    So excited to follow along with your sweet class! What a wonderful learning experience for these girls…with beautiful finished lap quilts as the results. Your fabulous idea to contact fabric companies was spot on! Can’t wait to see the next posting!

  12. Irene says:

    Dori
    I love the coasters. The girls are so lucky to be learning how to sew. Can’t wait to see the finished projects. You are such an inspiration to so many. I am knitting the first of three blankets for Xmas and working on two cookbooks for Xmas. Thanks for inspiring us. Have a great Easter.

  13. Marlene Capelle says:

    Dang, I wish you were around when I was a little gir.

  14. dana willard says:

    This is so awesome! I can’t wait to see their finished products!!

  15. Robin Reichardt says:

    Good luck with this class!! I hope they will be a new generation of family quilters! On a recent shopping trip I bought several yds. of a fluer-de-lis fabric that inspired me to promise my sister-in-law some quilts (she is from the New Orleans area). What apprx. dimensions will your classes lap quilts be? I recently googled lap quilts for nursing homes (another project my club is doing) and read of several dimensions!! Do you have any experience or suggestions on them?? Thank You and love reading your blog!!

  16. Susan Ewing says:

    I love the coasters! Did you design the patterns. Would love a pattern and I think I would do the whole set in red material and red work embroidery.

    • Dori Troutman says:

      Hi Susan,

      I wish I could share the pattern, but since it is a purchased pattern I cannot do that. However, it is in a book called Sew Illustrated by Minki Kim. I’m sure you could order it from Amazon if you wanted to purchase it. There are so many fun projects in the book it is totally worth having. And YES!!! Red work embroidery would be beautiful!

      – Dori –

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