Saturday, November 22, 2008

North Star Quilt Block

North Star (WIP)
The Legend of the Underground Quilts
c. 2008 Eileen J. Bennett


Thank you to Sharon H & the members of the Sycamore Ridge EGA Chapter. On Nov 15th, they sponsored Eileen Bennett, The Sampler House to present her class on The Legend of the Underground Railroad Quilts.

I had not taken a class from Ms. Bennett & it was interesting to learn new stitching tips like: try a size 24 needle (which to me, was like using a toothpick), paying attention to thread lengths, using an away waste know (I couldn't get it -- but fun to try), and seeing the difference on the front of our projects in ending threads. I tried a couple pieces of linen, 2 & 3 strands of floss. Eventually, I managed stitching one of 10 quilt blocks in the sampler. When I came home, I found a size 24 Petite needle & was better able to stitch with a shorter needle -- still tough to end threads with such a large needle (IMO), good to try new things.

I had a great time riding along with Karol blogging at Rosebud's Stitching. I know Karol as we are in the same EGA chaper; however, riding there & back was fun chatting away & getting better acquainted!! Our table mates were equally delightful. We were joined by two more NANI members: Sue D (w/o Blog, but needs one) & CiCi blogging at Stash Queen. I wished our table had room for one more NANI stitcher, Terry T (w/o Blog, but needs one)!! Terry recently moved & I think needs to blog for sharing her projects! What fun to sit next to our speaker during lunch. She is a gracious and patient teacher : ) If you get the opportunity, sign up, don't pass on any of her classes.

I'm in the process of buying a sewing machine & stitching a sampler for the 2009 State Day Project (no photos yet). Stay tuned : )

3 comments:

Sandra said...

I'm stitching a one over one sampler by Eileen Bennett and her tip of using a larger needle than normal really works, in that it stops the thread going fluffy quite so quickly. The needle makes a bigger hole for the thread to go through the fabric more easily. I switch to a sharp pointed needle for fastening off though.

Anonymous said...

Ohhh Leila, I can't wait to see your progress on this. I've always had a fascination for the whole Quilt/Signal concept during the Underground Railroad era.

Sherry said...

That sounds like a class I would have loved to take!

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