Too much fun!

We are having so much fun! Here is my good friend, Silvia, with the result of her fusing today! AND the inner squares are made with the fabric we dyed yesterday. We've been two busy women!

Silvia and her husband Paulo are in the US for two weeks, with Silvia playing while Paulo is working a short-term project. We met them when Caroline started school and she was in the same class as their daughter Daniela. Then they rented the house up the street from us, so we became neighbors which made it that much easier to develop a friendship.

Our families have blended well. Daniela and her sister Paulina play well with Caroline. Paulo and Roger have a great deal in common, especially a love of high-tech gadgets. And Silvia is a very talented artist with a love for fabric. She trained in fashion design in Guatemala, and has only recently discovered quilting (within the last several years). She was just developing a healthy obsession about it when they decided to move back to Guatemala. Silvia is also a talented water color painter, and we have several of her paintings in our home.

So...I was excited to see her again, and I knew we'd have a great time working on projects together. Yesterday, after a long talk over coffee, we mixed dyes and experimented with tray dyeing as demonstrated by Melody. Since we had no idea what we were doing, it was quite exciting to see how the dyes flowed and colors mixed. We were using these big plastic trays from Dick Blick... they're big, but not big enough to hold a full half-yard of fabric. So we scrunched the fabric and did some fat quarters and had a grand old time.

Silvia hadn't been introduced to the wonders of Wonder-Under, so that's what she wanted to play with today. I told her about Melody's block creation method and strip sets, and she played with those. Then, she was eager to try quilting on the Juki so she could experience the thread cutter and knee activated presser foot. She's debating whether her current project needs more quilting, but she's close to done.

So, it's been a very fun two days. Tomorrow we have separate chores to attend to, but we're planning to meet Silvia and Paulo for sushi for dinner, and Silvia will return for another playday on Thursday!