Utah Quilt Festival 2017!!!!

This was my second year teaching at the Utah Quilt Festival and and it was oh so much fun!!! The weekend was filled with lots of sewing, laughter, and all around good quilty times.  And Barbara and I had such a wonderful opportunity to meet so many new quilty friends, I just love that about these amazing retreats!!!  Everyone is just so happy to sew and chat and laugh and just enjoy being with people that love quilting every bit as much as they do ;)   I will say,  we did have a little rotary cutter accident in the last five minutes of class that ended up with a trip to the ER for one of my students and some stitches, but she took it like a pro and was back to sewing away the very next day.  Amazing!!! 

The first class I taught was my End of the Rainbow pattern from my Irish Chain Quilts book ;)  This is always a fun class to teach as we play with so many different ways to make up our own fabric pieces.   It really is amazing to see just how many different ways these blocks can be sewn up making each one individual and oh so much fun.   These ladies were just amazing.  By the end of class everyone had finished a block and a great start on several more blocks!!  And I just love seeing what colors everyone chooses to sew with first.  Some picked their favorite first, and some picked their least favorite first to get it done and over with, to funny!!!

And here is a closer look at each of their blocks.  I just love seeing all of the different fabrics everyone chooses to use in their blocks.  Some used big pieces and some used tiny scraps, and everyone did some serious stash busting!!!   And one student even used a beautiful grunge blue background that is so going to pop!!(you know how I love grunge ;)  It was such a fun class and I am just so grateful that I got to spend the afternoon with each of these amazing ladies :)

The next morning I taught my Moroccan Lullaby pattern.   And I was just so proud of each of these ladies!!!  They all had a block finished by the end of class and were so super excited to get going on the next one.  This pattern really is so much fun to make, you can't help get sucked into it and you just want to keep making another block ;) 

And it was so much fun to see the different fabrics that everyone choose for the blocks!!!  Each one is so different and it never ceases to amazing me how much just the fabric can change up the overall look of the design ;)  Love it!!!   I can't wait to see all these ladies finished quilts ;)

And speaking of finished quilts, one of my favorite things about returning to a retreat a second year is getting to see the finishes from the classes I taught the previous year!!!  Julia Nokes was in two of my classes at last year's retreat and brought her beautiful finishes back to share with me!!!  So exciting ;)  This is her stunning Petal Pop quilt, isn't is just gorgeous!!!  I just love it :)

And this is Julia's Braided Irish Chain done in adorable Halloween Fabric.  How cute is that!!!   And it is quilted with purple thread that just makes me smile :)    I am just so happy Julia brought both quilts back to share!!  It is so fun to see how excited everyone is in class with the starts of their quilts, but to actually get to see them all finished up, well, that is a real treat indeed ;)

And that is the Utah Quilt Festival in a nutshell.  It truly was such a fun few days getting to sew with so many amazing people and just enjoying the general quilty atmosphere.   Oh, and Barbara and I even managed to squeeze in a little sewing in the hotel room as well, double bonus!!!  I know I say it every time I get back from a retreat, but I just love to teach!!!!  It just makes my heart happy ;) 

And I am heading back out in a few weeks to teach at the Prairie Star Quilters Guild in Illinois and I can't wait :)  Bring on some more Happy Quilting Teaching Times!!!