I told you a few posts ago that I would continue to tell you about the kits and how it is that they come to be.

Right now I have the blocks done for one of the two quilts I will be teaching in Houston at Festival. These blocks are for the “Let Me Surprise You! More!” class. They are a little different from the normal blocks…one of the MORE things. There are lots of them as well. This kit is larger and a little MORE difficult than the regular Surprise class kits. I am trying something new with this one. It is amazing how much easier it is to sew when the cutting is so precise. I do believe the studenst will be impressed with how great this quilt will be…I am impressed and I still have the add ons to work on. There will be additional kits available to make the quilt larger. Some students like this and others like the kit with just the blocks. It makes it good for both.

The second kit is in route to me now and it will be for the regular Surprise class. This one will have less blocks, but I think will take me about the same amount of time. Also in route is the add on for the More quilt. Things are coming in spurts since John also cuts his own kits as well as other things. He has a great frame that he manufactures and all of that takes time as well. It is amazing what each teacher brings to the class room. So much work is done before the show ever starts.

Now I am going to tell you what has happened up to this point. I ordered fabric for both kits. I try to order new fabric so that it will still be available in shops when the students get home with the kit. That way if they want to change something or add to the kit they will be able to find the fabric. This doesn’t always work. In this case some of the fabric that was ordered wasn’t ready in time. By the time it was ready my designs were already to John and he was getting ready to cut. Since the Festival is early this would not have worked. So, some orderes had to be cancelled and other fabric already at John’s had to be used. This fabric isn’t old it was bought for something else though and not enough to get the number of kits we need. Can you see the problems? It is like this with every job.

Additional fabric was ordered, luckily it was still available, it is now to John and the cutting has begun. It is amazing how much fabric it takes to get this many kits. There are 150 students in the regular Surprise and 100 in the More class. Each takes many yards and there are times when we run short. Then there are times when I over order like a crazy person.

Whenever you take a class at a show, no matter how small the show or how large, please think of what all has to happen to make it happen. 

 My supply list is a seam ripper and pins.

That’s it.

The machines are set up and hauled into the well lighted, air conditioned rooms where they sit on cloth covered tables. Thread is furnished by the machine company and the kits are there waiting for you.

It doesn’t get any better than Quilt Festival in Houston. Really. It is the best. Be sure to sign up for classes now. They are starting to fill up.