Tapas Gitana

Tapas Gitana was featured on Chicago's Best! If you like Spanish Tapas - this place is a MUST! The chef-owner, Andrew Novak, has a love for tapas and it shows in every plate. Just watch the video, it'll make your mouth water. The restaurant is in Northfield and worth the drive. Call for reservations - You are in for a treat! The website is www.tapasgitana.com. We know Andy from the old days and couldn't be happier for his success!

 

You Can Quilt That Out....right?

This is SO funny.... and yes, we do see it all!  Before you click on the video, shut off the music that automatically starts up, scroll to the bottom.  The words of this song are hilarious, to us longarm quilters anyway!

Penny Haren

I recently took Penny Haren's workshop on Pieced Applique. Her technique is to use a simple block, like a 4-patch, then add some shape on top, to make the block look more complicated. Each applique shape is cut out using a iron-on freezer paper template. Then she has you fold the edges and glue them down.  After the block is made, the applique needs to be machine or hand stitched.  After it's stitched down, you have to wet the block to get the freezer-paper template out. 

Too much work for me!  And I hate soaking blocks like that.  (Mine shrunk by a quarter-inch.)  I don't think I'll be using this technique myself, but others say they like it for Dear Jane blocks.  I learned that fussy cutting certain pieces can make a block look more complicated.  I  had more pictures, but I lost all the ones I had taken in the class that day - bummer!

For this block we made half-square triangles for the center, then pieced squares and rectangles to form the block.  Added fussy-cut triangles (from templates) for the flying geese.  It's not pieced - it's appliqued on.

This is the back of the same block. See --No pieced flying geese.

This is a square-in-a-square block, with a fussy cut template shape on top.

These are the four blocks we made in the workshop. The bottom left started out as a 4-patch block.

Long time no pics...

I'm sorry no pictures lately. I've been swamped with this and that and have to upload some photos for you. Finished a t-shirt quilt for my niece. Quilted some cute music-inspired quilts. Working on a biggie now. Couple of deadlines due in July. Will get you some photos soon.... :)