Stimulated. Very, very stimulated.

After anticipating this for over a year, I took two quilting workshops taught by Barbara Olson, an internationally known art quilter. The first workshop was on Cosmic Spirals, and she taught the technique she used in her quilt of the same name.

Here’s my version (still pinned together, and the center isn’t turned under yet, but you get the gist):

For those of you wondering how in the world that got put together, here’s a hint:

It’s a pretty slick technique, and I learned a nice little trick that would have been quite helpful during the construction of this recently finished quilt.

The second workshop was more about the creative process, and less project-oriented (even though we each worked on the project she has on the front page of her website, “Wild Child.”)… She gave us each the pattern so that we wouldn’t be stumped by that part of the design, and it was VERY interesting to watch the different flowers come to life all around the room, as people chose different fabrics. One woman was using very vintage/heritage-looking fabrics, so her flower had an old-timey feel… Another used lots of pastels, so it looked springy. My mom’s looked kind of African because of the fabrics she chose, and mine took on an Asian feel.

Three of my petals have been machine-appliqued together, the one on the bottom left is pinned up there, and I’m getting ready to cut the pieces for the one on the top right. It’s a REALLY neat process and something I can totally see myself doing more of.

Obviously, the white background is the pattern, and I’ll put this on a different background once it’s finished.