A few weekends ago I took the Glam Clam workshop with Latifah Saafir, The Quilt Engineer. (You know, that famous quilt that people couldn't stop talking about at the inaugural QuiltCon in Austin.) Wow, what a fun quilt. It's based on the traditional clamshells quilt that our quilting forebears used to sew by hand. Well Latifah designed some oversized templates with little triangle notches that make it easy to machine piece without pins. I tell you, it works like a charm. You can get the pattern for free from craftsy ... Glam Clam pattern. (There's a 4", 6", 8" and 12" version.)
With so many size variations to choose from I opted to go with the 8" clam and to make it baby quilt size. I began pulling teals and aqua fabrics from my stash. (You do know that's the biggest drawer in the closet, no?) When I saw the Phillip Jacobs Summer Tree bird print in aqua/pink I suddenly knew that I had to add in some hot pink accents. I think it just makes the entire quilt pop.
Our classroom was amazing, outlets everywhere, fantastic tables with a plug cutout and rolling chairs. It was in a little community center near Santa Cruz in an area called Aptos. Several people stayed late after class ended at 4pm and worked through the night. I didn't stay because Steve was just back from a business trip and I wanted to catch up.
The night before at the Silicon Valley Modern Quilt Guild, Latifah gave an awesome talk about her quilt journey. She showed us quite a few of her quilts. I especially loved this one that she's calling Molehills. It'll be a new pattern soon. Can you believe that she was inspired by a flooring design in one of the big Las Vegas casinos. Goes to show you that you can find inspiration anywhere, and what happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas. Heh, heh.
So if you ever have the opportunity, take a workshop with Latifah, she's an amazing woman.
I still have 8 more rows to sew, but as you can see I finally have the layout nailed down. The next time you see it, it'll be a completed quilt.
