Block 61/100 of our Splendid Sampler sew along is my 'Traveler' pieced block. When i was designing this block I wanted to document and share a part of my design business that the Shipping Department and I do which takes up about a Third or more of our year, which is a lot of time!
That's travel We drive to give talks, teach workshops and visit you in your hometown. Gregg spends even more time than I do on this as he is the person that manages all of our event planning. When i travel we can't twitch our nose and be transported to you, there is a lot more that has to happen.. wink!
Here is a peek behind the curtain into what it takes for us to put on a fun and successful event.
- Gregg does all the communication and planning with the event host.
- There is much Printing of patterns so that the workshops can happen
- I spend the day before we leave getting all my quilts ready, my workshop things ready, and packing goodies to share....if i had "studio fairies" they would do this, but I don't.. it's just me!
- Then there is the travel. it doesn't matter what type of travel you do, flying or driving, it almost always takes a day to get there and a day to get home. TWO days of travel for almost every event we do. Since we drive along the east coat and south right now to teach, it can sometimes take more than a day to reach the event location.
- Then we do the fun part! Give my talk, and teach the workshops.
- But once we get home there is still a full day to breakdown from the class, put things way, do inventory and other business stuff that didn't get done while we were on the road.
Since we drive... or I need to say.. since the Shipping Department is also the driver, then I have set up an office in the car with the best of technology at my fingertips! This helps me keep 'somewhat' ahead of things so I don't get too far behind. I ALWAYS get behind but it's better this way!
1 Day of prep + 1 Day of Travel + 2 Days of Event + 1 Day of Travel + 1 day of teardown = 6 days for one event
We may be at your location only 2 days, but for us it's 6 days of time devoted to JUST your event.
My fun pieced blocks represents the intersection of the Four Main Parts of my small family owned business
- My Design life - The patterns, fabric, books, Designing/writing Mystery patterns, and same for the Sew alongs like the Splendid Sampler, plus tutorials.
- My Weekly Quilting Talk show
- Running my online communities, writing articles and cheerleader quilters everywhere to sew!
- And my Travel to teach and give presentations
In my block, depending on how you place the light, medium and dark fabrics... it can look so different. And a stripe makes it all super amazing!
To keep track of the stripe, place the squares in position on a design board, fold them back, and secure with a pin so you know which direction the stripe will run. This way you can be sure you love the layout before sewing.
TIP - sew one at a time, fold over, place back on the design board. Then you won't accidentally get the stripe turned the wrong way...
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DOWNLOAD at The Splendid Sampler page
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Get The Goodies
- If you haven't done this yet, sign up for my club newsletter!
- Design Boards are so useful!
- The GREAT block stand, table top or to hang on the wall
- My fabric, which is the fun word print, get some before it's gone!
- LOVE this Iron
- loads of awesome stripes, add some to your collection!
- And Aurifil thread, all the weights, I use 50wt for piecing.
- If you are on the East coast or south, you can contact us about visiting you at our EVENT page
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