what a weekend - five and dime class

this weekend, i decided to get in a little “me” time before i started cramming for finals (which is in progress, i am waiting for some slides to print).

so, friday night mom and i went to sip and sew and i got one quilt bound (full story later) and then saturday i went back for more and took their five and dime class.

one of my favorite quilt stores - scratch that - it is my favorite :), prairie flower crafts in alden, ks hosted the class. the five and dime quilt method is from kansas troubles. so, i will be honest, i LOVE kansas troubles’ patterns - not her material…it is so dark! i do love brights. however, that being said, this is an awesome pattern that’s super fun and has a lot of versatility. i did end up purchasing the pattern book when all is said and done, so expect to see some more quilts using this method!

this quilt - and the others, use a special “l” shaped ruler -

you use a layer cake and a charm pack - you use the ruler to then center a charm square in the middle of a layer cake piece - you sew the charm piece on top (you will want it to ravel a bit, that is a part of the quilt’s charm at the end) -

then you use the ruler to help you cut in the middle length and width wise. you’ll then get four squares per block that you then mix and match to create a new square -

look at all those squares - i’m then trying to balance my lights and darks for the end result -

rhonda, our teacher showed us how to do the steps and then let us have at it. i ended the day with all my initial pieces put together, cut, and then assembled 13 “finished” blocks. one charm and layer cake will get you a “lap” quilt. i say “lap” as it is HUGE!

unfortunately, I didn’t write down the brand of material i used before i threw away my tags (dang it!). but, this quilt should finish up soon! it will definitely be added into the regular rotation.