More Sewing Classes

My last couple sewing classes have been fun! The next one is tomorrow, so I'll have to post pictures later of the placemats we're making.  :)
The March class was quilting with circles. I love making quilts, so I was excited to learn a new way of doing it. And the best thing about this technique is that you do the actual quilting as you put the blocks together so you don't have to go back later to finish anything. The suggested project was a table runner but I didn't see any fabric that screamed "put me on the table!" so I opted for flannel, thinking that if I liked it, I could use it for a baby quilt. I picked out a white print with animals and trees and a coordinating piece with green and brown dots.
As usual, I went ahead and washed/dried the flannel and ironed it to make sure any shrinkage was taken out before I sewed it. Although I'd love to write out a tutorial for making it, I'm not sure I could get all the directions across clearly, especially since I don't have pictures of the process. But I'm sure if you look up circle quilting online, you'll find plenty of helpful sites!   :) This is what I did in class...

I really liked how it was turning out, so I got a little more  fabric and cut out more blocks to make it a full sized baby quilt. I worked at it over a few days and this is the finished product...

I like that you end up with a pretty, scalloped edge around it! Or if you prefer a traditional straight edge, you can just fold in the scallops and sew across them so all the blocks look square. Although it took a little time, it was a fun project! I was going to use it for a baby gift, but I may end up keeping it. It might come in handy in a few months....  :)

The class I took in April was on applique. I've done applique before, but decided to take the class for fun anyway. They did it a little differently than what I'm used to. I normally iron my pieces onto interfacing, then stitch them on one at a time. In the class, we used a type of fusible web and put all the little pieces on at the same time. You build the picture first, using all the pieces, then you sew around them, changing thread color as you go. Not sure which method I prefer...

Anyway, I decided to make something for Parker, so I stitched a little taxi onto a piece of muslin. My plan is to cut it out and make a little pillow for him. I need to get a small pillow form to finish it, but here's the applique, though. 

Looking forward to my next class tomorrow night!