Carolyn's Big Visit

Last week was Carolyn Friedlander's big visit to North Carolina! It was even better than expected (and I had high expectations)! We started with a trunk show and book signing.

Cynthia made her a shirt! She's an active participant in the All Shirts Swap.

The next day was the Stripes class at Sew Original. Carolyn talked about arranging prints in color order. It was a great new approach to color and applies easily to this quilt. It was fascinating to see all the different arrangements.

I made this. It's going to grow up to be a pillow. It's for my pal Sarah.

Amy made these! Gorgeous!! She's doing a Wake Forest themed wall hanging.

Then we headed to dinner at The Porch! Here's Shirley, owner of Sew Original, Carolyn & The Guru.

Sarah showed off her just finished Tangelo! A full reveal is coming on her blog soon. She worked on this during countless retreats and FaceTime sewing events over the last year. It was so exciting to see it finished. It's amazing!!

The next day was the big class at Studio Stitch. There were so many fun folks in this class! We worked on another paper piecing pattern, Olive.

A bunch of the gals from my sewing group came to the class! Here's Carolyn, me, Xandi, Melissa, Amanda Jean, Sarah & The Guru.

Here's Shirley with her block. I love how well stripe fabric works on this block. Carolyn's original had stripes as well.

Here's my block! It's also going to grow up to be a pillow!!

Then we went out for burgers and shakes!

Carolyn brought tons of her quilts from her new book, Savor Each Stitch, and patterns. Eye candy was everywhere. This is Facing East from her book. It's on my "to make" list!

Aerial Grove, which is also from her book, is a favorite of mine. I love the subtle color change in the background.

This is Stripes, the pattern we made at Sew Original. It's so interesting how she played with color.

Sessoms, a pattern, is also an amazing color study. This is a close up, but the color change across the quilt is fascinating.

And here is Botanics, an appliqué pattern. It's amazing in person; photos can't do it justice.

They're all so unique, yet her aesthetic shines through. I love the use of color and different fabric types.

This is Olive, the pattern we made in the second class. Stripe fabric are so cool in this pattern. Love!

The last class was needle turn appliqué at Thimble Pleasures in Chapel Hill. I've never done needle turn and enjoyed the class. My assistant also enjoyed the class!

And Nicole and Amanda Jean had a blast! We were definitely the trouble table, but it was so great to hang out and stitch.

All in all, it was a great weekend of stitching and friends.xo LC