A Little Trip to Montreal

I'm recovering from a cold I caught in Spain just a few days before returning home. I am thankful it was only a cold and not influenza! Friday night I drove to Montreal, spent the night in a hotel, and on Saturday I visited with the West Island Quilters' Guild, teaching my "Reflections" (improv curved blocks) class. 

The group opened up the extra spaces to the Beaconsfield Quilters' Guild, so we were full at 20 students. Students gathered for introductions and an overview and demonstration of the process. Photo by Claire Durivage. 

My work table. Photo by Claire Durivage.

My design wall, where I showed a variety of ways that one can design with these blocks. Students started putting up a few completed blocks near the end of the class Photo by Claire Durivage.

 I just love the skinny, expressive lines in this one:

and the dramatic contrast speaks to me in this one.

I've been teaching this class for a decade now, and I still find it a lot of fun, and really gratifying to see each student turn out something different. I always feel motivated to come home and cut up some fabric myself. Speaking of which, I did cut the squares for another quilt like this about a year ago. This one will be a challenge because I want the blocks in the piece to be in a variety of sizes. The colours were inspired by a Mussel shell I saw on the beach on Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick two summer's ago.