Benartex Project #2- Peacock Petals

 We round up the first quarter of the year

with my second Benartex project....

Peacock Petals using fabrics

from the Peacock Symphony

line by David Galchutt.

It hit store shelves in January so

keep an eye out for it.

Deep rich colors and 

a spring vibe kept niggling at 

the back of my mind.

I thought about 2 particular 

design workshops that I

adore teaching, Scrapplique'

and Fabric Collaborations.

Both concepts along with these

two fabrics inspired

my work for this challenge.

Thankfully the style of the fabric

goes beautifully with my own 

aesthetic of swirls and dots!

Admittedly, I got a bit carried away

with my design work.

It was only supposed to be

one small wall hanging.

THEN, I got excited about working

in lights vs. darks and so only

one of four blocks is done...

Now you will be intrigued enough to 

come back and see how it goes:)

HOW CUTE IS THIS?!!!?

I cannot wait to finish the 

whole quilt now!

My ambition thought I would

do it all by hand-LOLOLOL!!

SO many little circles.

Then I saw the work of 

Kyra Reps at Daytona...WOW!

So, I tried the prepared edge

applique' method using apliquick

bars that my friend,

Susan Marth, has been prodding 

me to try for years.

I am so resistant to change!

It did make my circles a bit

better but I really do loathe 

all that prep work.

So far this piece has 3 applique' 

methods on it:

Needle turn hand applique'

Prepared edge applique'

and fusible raw edge applique'.

Whatever gets it done right?

So, keep stitching in whatever

way makes your heart happy:)

THANK YOU PIGEON FORGE!!

This is a beautiful shot of 

the Old Mill.

I was able to eat dinner here one

evening and the food was 

delicious, home cooked, stick

to your ribs eats.

I spent weeks cutting kits

and preparing patterns and 

packing quilts....

so that I could arrive

in Pigeon Forge

and teach in this 

lovely setting...

The day before classes 

started I took a short 

drive toward Gatlinburg.

So Beautiful!!

Found a covered bridge

by accident:)

Here is the wonderful

slate of instructors I 

had the honor to share

a page with!

The FUN banner 

outside of my room 

showing my schedule

for the week.

 My room set up...

The staff was super helpful

and the students were eager

and patient and fun!

It truly was a lovely way

to come back to teaching!

Found this fun treasure in an

antique shop in Pigeon Forge-SCORE!

Yes that says 1853!!

I have wanted one for awhile now

and so happy to have found a 

sweet little one that looks

darling with my machines

and spool cabinet!

Also shown here is my new

POPPY POD LANE now 

available in 

Primitive Quilts and Projects.

Lastly, on my way home, I 

stopped in to see mom:)

We did some much needed work 

around the place and also 

took time to have a couple of 

fun nights out together forcing

us to put on nicer clothes...lol.

LECTURE / TRUNK SHOW

HOUSTON 2011 BOOTH

EVERY quilt has a story and when your guild books my lecture #HHCIB, How Hard Could It Be, they get the fun and weird stories of how I arrived at this point in my journey as well as the quilt stories too!  Lots of eye candy and laughs and nodding of heads! We have more in common than we think.

Description: "One GIANT Show & Tell from start to present.  Meet Robin Koehler and hear how she stumbled upon this journey of quilting and design.  Trunk show quilts include 1st quilt, some winning quilts, pattern quilts, quilts juried into Paducah and Mancuso Mid-Atlantic shows, and a few art quilts just for fun."

Lecture/Workshops: http://nestlingsbyrobin.com/lectures--workshops.html
Email for more info: robin@nestlingsbyrobin.com

Go see who else is blogging today: http://muppin.com/wordpress/index.php/the-2016-31-day-blog-writing-challenge/