Cinco de Mayo

By chance a few weeks ago, I stopped at a fabric store in Sacramento, Quilters Corner, that I hadn't patronized in over five years. I needed a quarter yard of red fabric to finish Lauren's floor mat. I was on a mission and as I told Verne, "I'll be in and out in five minutes." A half an hour later I walked out having bought the fabric, bought a book, and signed up for a class in foundation piecing (it's also been over five years since I took a quilting class of any kind). The class had been on-going since January, so interest had dwindled by the final two 6-hour sessions in March. There were just two students and two teachers. Truthfully, I learned the secrets to foundation piecing in the first 30 minutes. Thereafter, time was spent sewing (ripping a bit at first), chatting, laughing and, in general, bonding with the three women. My teachers are master quilters and overall incredible women. It was an experience I won't forget soon and definitely a turning point in my quilting journey. What fun!


On to the quilt...Cinco de Mayo is comprised of 12" blocks that are foundation pieced from fabrics of all colors, with a focus on high contrast brights. I have limited myself to using my stash (remember my "stashbusting" goals). Each square contains as many as 50-100 small pieces of fabric. To put this in perspective, each square takes between 3-4 hours to make. That doesn't include sorting through fabrics to find just the right combinations. During each class I made part of one block (yep! and that was working steadily for the six hours). To date, I've made ten blocks and thought I'd share my progress with you. My hopes are to have this quilt (about 60" square) completed by Cinco de Mayo, at which time I'll post the final pictures. Here's a picture of one of the easier blocks in-progress...

...and a few of the almost-completed blocks...

I LOVE FOUNDATION PIECING!!!

P.S. I've signed up for another class in May...this time it's hand applique (something I thought I'd NEVER do)!