Guess who came to our Guild?

The April meeting at Moonlighters Guild in Bellingham, WA was blessed with the fantastic guest speaker, M'Liss Rae Hawley. She joined us for a presentation on "Be a Better Quilter". Her lecture, along with amazing samples, was both inspirational and refreshing. I was glad to hear that M'Liss is a perfectionist and she's OK with that. I like that in a quilter, after all, it is our quilt that we are making and if "good enough" isn't, then get out the seam ripper and make it right! M'Liss was educational and she shared with us many things that will help make us better quilters. Here is one of her cover quilts that she brought along, what a lesson in color theory. One lesson M'Liss spoke about was reducing your variables. In this picture below, the cover quilt of M'Liss Rae Hawley's Round Robin Renaissance, she explained that she reduced her variable by using only batiks. The WOW factor is amazing, this photo doesn't do this quilt justice. The piecing, border choice, and quilting combination make this a fantastic piece of work that validates what M'Liss was speaking about.
Here is the back of another quilt that was in her trunk show. M'Liss brought up the subject of Longarm quilters and how some piecers have been disappointed in what they have gotten back from their quilter. Not so much on the quality but on the design. She suggests you work hand in hand with your quilter, give them ideas of your vision. This includes your thread ideas, how dense you want your quilting, design elements that you want enhanced, and motifs or border designs that will add to your quilt. After all, it is your quilt and you need to communicate your vision of the finished project. I love when my customers bring their ideas to the table, it helps me do a better job on their quilt tops. Here is some quilting by Barbara Dao.
M'Liss has written several books that focus on Fat Quarters and here is one of her samples. Many quilters think Fat Quarter quilts are quick and simple, in the one below M'Liss has put together a design that may stretch your quilting skills, partial seams. The end result is well worth the effort as this top is stunning. Her quilter, Barbara, has enhanced it with outstanding work and the collaberation M'Liss has with Barbara shines in evey quilt we saw.
It wasn't all fun and games for M'Liss. The guild members put her to work signing many of her books. She does look like she is having fun though! Thanks M'Liss, your presentation was awesome and inspiring. You gave everyone something to strive for in their own personal quilt world.And on a more personal note, Miss Molly is healing quite well. Her eye is almost back to normal, thank goodness she wasn't blinded. She doesn't like her meds, all the scratches on my hands can attest to that, but I have managed to get about 2/3 's of the antibiotics in her every day. She has poked her head out the door for a few minutes the last few mornings, but she is sticking very close to the open door so she can make a run for inside when she hears a noise. At night she has taken to sleeping with me, I don't mind that at allUse a needle and thread today..........
Sharon