You've been Kaffe-ed!

Wednesday.....

A special knitting friend from the UK joined Mrs. Tishell and I on our Wednesday class.....a day with Kaffe Fassett, picking fabric and cutting pieces for his Sunlight in the Forest Quilt from his Quilting in Sweden book.

Both my friend, aka Mrs. Cartshed and I had never used a rotary cutter before, we weren't quilters, and we were a bit nervous to say the least!

Mrs. Tishell, although she doesn't quilt now, was an accomplished quilter in a past life.....so she wasn't quite as paralyzed with fear as we were.

Well, let me tell you! With a frenzied start with everyone grabbing fabrics and madly cutting.....we were told to just cut the prescribed sizes and slap them up on the wall in the proper order......I wasn't feeling any better !

It didn't help that despite the title of Sunlight in the Forest......my main fabric was somewhat light with birds on it......

Both Kaffe and Brandon tried to dissuade me....but I held firm.....

So as you are cutting and getting your pieces stuck up on the wall....both of "the colour guys" are walking around and keeping an eye on your work.....they would give you advice on how to change your fabric choices to lift, bring down, break up, make more cohesive, or give a pop or a bit of a pow. All highly technical colour terms!

We referred to this experience as.....

"You've been Kaffe-ed!"

We worked at a frenzied pace with Brandon's iPod cranking out the music in the background. (The music is to help you focus on the task at hand, to set a pace, and discourage talking between participants! Eyes on your cutters and fabrics ladies!)

I don't think I followed the brief really....I did incorporate some of the fabric suggestions of both Brandon and Kaffe......and I was frankly just cutting squares of the required size from the fabrics I had selected and putting them in their spots...trying to avoid having two blocks of the same fabric touching.

At the end of the day, Kaffe goes around and talks about each quilt. I must have blanked out when he was talking about mine.....but I was trying to catch what he said on video.....I messed it up of course...but I did catch his last comment....

"Of course, if that's what you like!"....with a bit of a facial grimace!

Here is my quilt...

I can see that they were totally right about the bird fabric! Too light, not enough pattern to stand up as one of the largest square choices!

When I get home, I'm going to look for this fabric......I think it might do well with my other choices.....

Here is their version of this quilt...it is lovely.

I was surprised how much I enjoyed this class! It was a challenge!

That is exactly what I wanted from the Stitchtopia experience! I had purposely chosen the Jane Crowfoot crochet classes, and this colour in quilts class to stretch myself from my usual comfort zone.....and I was happy with my choices - feeling challenged, vitalized, stretched.....and exhausted!

That evening, we were given a talk by Sharon Brandt on the beginnings of Rowan, how it has developed and grown into the fabric area, how it is a part of the Coats company...and she told us, with a big smile...

that the upcoming fall magazine, no. 54.......

Is, in her opinion...

SPECTACULAR!

There will be new yarns......with one being a replacement for a long discontinued favourite! (I asked if it was a Magpie replacement....sorry, no....)

To wind up my Stitchtopia experience....I chose something more familiar....tomorrow...back to some knitting!