The last hurrah!

So, where were we....

Oh yes, Sunday.  I didn't get to hang out with everyone on Saturday evening for various reasons, but I was back bright and early on Sunday morning for my foundation paper piecing class with Lynne.  Now, I have done some of this before, with the double wedding ring wall hanging I made for my sister and her new husband, and my Good Friday wrestling match with my beach scene mini.  We had a choice of 3 patterns and unknowingly I picked the 'advanced' option!  Yep, I've done it before but I'm far from advanced level.  So, double circle of flying geese it was...

Anyway, I'd chosen Countdown to Christmas for my fabric and after a really tricky initial hour trying to manipulate my brain into the backwards thinking necessary to work out how the heck* (insert own expletive here) to accomplish this method, I managed to block out everyone else and concentrate hard on getting my first 1/8th of the pattern done.  When it came to starting the second eighth, though, my brain got a bit complacent and I made more errors. In the 3 hours of the class and part of lunchtime I managed to put the two triangles together and make a quarter of the full design.

I'm determined to finish the full cushion cover before Christmas, although I may need to spend a lot of time asking Lynne for help!  Just so you can see how tricky the pattern was, here's a glimpse at one part - admittedly this picture is upside down, but don't let that conceal it's complexity:

Anyway, lunch provided a welcome chance for the grey matter to recover, and to catch up with the LMQG girls and compare notes on our morning's achievements.  After lunch was the class I was secretly looking forward to more than anything, which was wonky log cabins with none other than Quilt Dad himself, John Adams.  I loved John's tutorials when I first discovered them, they were so clear and detailed, and it's my comfort block - when I want something easy, fun and enjoyable to make, it's a wonky log cabin I turn to.  Again I used Countdown to Christmas and actually put a bit of thought into the arrangement of the fabrics rather than the more usual freestyle choosing from a big heap!

I was really pleased with how this turned out, and am looking forward to adding a solid border and quilting it ready for a jolly festive sofa in a few months!

All too soon, it was time to hit the road, cram myself into a packed tube train and head home.  It was sad to say goodbye to all the lovely people there, some of whom I didn't get anywhere near enough time to talk to.  And I cannot wait till next year and have started putting my pennies in my piggy bank to save for my ticket for 2013.