An Evening with Karen K. Stone & UFOs

Karen K. Stone was in town last Wednesday for a trunk show/lecture and 2-day Clamshell Quilt workshop for my guild.  As a beginner quilter, Karen's work peaked my interests, especially her Cinco de Mayo and New York Beauty quilts.  Her trunk show was impressive and her slide presentation was entertaining and fun.  I love her use of color and the randomness of her designs.  I took her New York Beauty class sometime ago and unfortunately I didn't get very far.  It was my first foray into paper piecing, so the finished block leaves a lot to be desired, but I have since made progress with the paper piecing skills.  So I will dig through the UFO pile soon and finish it one day. 

Speaking of UFOs, the pile is steadily growing.  Not necessarily unfinished blocks, but I have a lot of tops  that need to be quilted and/or the binding put on.  I am trying to work through them, but it has become a bit overwhelming.  But I press on.  Below are a few pictures of Karen's clamshell quilt (lots of color and texture) and a reposting of the wonky NY Beauty block from her pattern. It is not listed on my works in progress list because I have vowed not to add another quilt until I complete something and remove it from the list.  Somebody pinch me (virtually) if I fail to keep to this promise!

P.S.  I did not take the Clamshell class because I also vowed absolutely not to take another class for one specific quilt unless there is some awesome technique that I just have to learn...pinch me again!