Jane in Janesville

This week my cousin and I took off on a road trip/adventure to Janesville, WI. From here it was a six-hour drive! We went to Janesville to attend a workshop being taught by Jane Sassaman. I've been a fan of Jane Sassaman fabric, so I was excited to get a chance to meet her and attend her workshop.

First thing we did when we got settled in our hotel was check our smart phones for quilt shops in the area. We found one which is in a woman's basement. She sells fabrics for $3.50-$5.00/yard!! She also has wide and extra wide backs. I found a 60-inch wide fabric for $3.50/yard; most of them were around $9.00 for the extra wides (108").

We kind of went nuts. We found some beauties and had fun piling up the bargains.

Later we went here for dinner. Challenge: try to pronounce this restaurant name! I've already forgotten how to say it. It comes from an old Steve Martin movie which I had never heard of, because I had a toddler at home back then and no time to pay attention to movies. Food was good and very affordable.

Next day, it was off to the workshop. We learned so much and had a lot of fun! These collage quilts are 100% applique, which I never thought I'd enjoy, but I'm starting to get into it! (I had a similar collage lesson recently here at home, and now I'm kind of hooked, although we'll see how much I really do in the future.)

Below: some examples of Jane's beautiful work.

cousin, Jane, me - I'm all hot and bothered in the very warm and humid conditions.

More of Jane's beauties:

After the workshop ended, we took our stuff back to the hotel and spent several more hours sewing in our hotel room. We were able to make some very good progress. Here we are, with our projects not-yet done, but much further along than we'd had time for in the workshop:

Then, on the way home, we took a gamble on a road-side sign and a 10-minute trip off the freeway to check out a quilt shop. It was a very nice one, and we had lunch in this cute little town, too.

Today I spent all day working on my project. I got it all done and am now working on hand-sewing down the binding. Hopefully I can show you the finished quilt tomorrow. I'm happy with it. (Also, thankfully, it has cooled off and I'm no longer sweating. I had to put socks on to keep my toes warm.)