Its finally time for me to tell you all about my day with Anna Maria. I’m just going to start from the very beginning. Around 11:30 on Friday morning, Emilee, Layla, and I packed into her car ready to hit the road. I had had an awful morning and was just ready to escape and have an awesome weekend. We arrived in Tampa around 2 pm and ate at Panera, and then quickly got on our way to the Keep Me in Stitches S. Tampa store to catch the remainder of the meet and greet with Anna Maria. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing about her creative process, and learning about her inspiration. I have a ton of her fabric, and so I was familiar with the fabric itself, but learned so much more about the stories behind each.

I was pretty much giddy the whole time, still thinking that sitting feet away from Anna herself could only be a dream. After her presentation, I met Stephanie who was sitting next to me. We shared our ecstatic feelings about being there, and finally she asked what on earth I was waiting for and insisted that we go introduce ourselves. The coolest thing was when I said I was Meredith Daniel and Anna said “Oh!” and hugged me. Hello! She totally knew who I was. That was awesome. And then I showed her I had brought my needlepoint along, and I immediately regretted pulling it out. When she began to examine it, I nervously thought, “Don’t turn it over. Don’t turn it over. Don’t turn it over.” And then she turned it over. I really thought she was going to gasp at the messiness of the back but she identified my stitches right away, and even commented that I had an even hand. Phew.

(Thanks to Stephanie for taking these shots with your iPhone!)

I did share her with the rest of class. Honestly, I could have kept her all night just chatting away if the words could have left my mouth, but I was so happy I could hardly speak or think straight. When Emilee and Layla came to pick me up, I was able to introduce the two of them to Anna. That was really cool. We then left and went to the International Plaza and did some shopping before hitting up our hotel and getting minimal rest before class in the morning.

I didn’t sleep well at all. As Anna Maria pointed out, toddlers and hotels do not mix well. In addition to that, the air conditioner in our room was possessed. Every single time it came on it made this awful beating noise that kept me up for a half hour each time. At 6:30 am I’d had quite enough, so I just got up and made myself look half human. After a quick trip to Starbucks, the red in my eyeballs started to fade and I think I looked mostly normal by the time I got to class.

The ladies at Keep Me in Stitches are so sweet, and they greeted me with such kindness. I took a place at one of the machines and chit-chatted while we waited for everyone else to arrive. When we began, Anna explained everything we were doing, and even gave us a quick rundown on color order and how to separate multi-color prints into families based on their surroundings. We wasted no time, but got right to cutting our pieces. Anna was such a sweetheart, and helped many of the ladies with their cutting. After that, we began organizing our pillow tops on batting. I had a bit of a moment since I made the mistake of grouping reds with pinks, when in fact the reds were supposed to be paired with the oranges. Anna set me straight, and even shared some of her own triangles with me so that my pillow would have more visual appeal and color balance.

I really appreciated her help on that, not only because my second and third ring were nearly indistinguishable prior to her assistance, but because she put off eating lunch to help me out. I’m so used to not eating while sewing simply because I like to pack in as much as I can while Layla is occupied that I don’t want to add an interruption myself by stopping to eat. Anna has six children and totally understood, but we did take a break to eat after fixing the colors.

After our lunch break, I sat down to the Janome and began piecing together the triangles, pressing, and repeating until I had completed six rows of nineteen. By the time I had finished that, class was over. We did have a few times between lunch and the end of class where Anna briefed us on piecing together rows, and quilted with a Janome.

(I didn’t bring Layla. She went to the aquarium with Emilee, but she did help me when they returned.)

Many of you know how much a detest machine quilting. I mean, I really do dislike it quite alot. But I really learned alot from Anna Maria’s instruction. I had no clue that you were supposed to hide the threads with a hand needle, for instance. The majority of the people I know who machine quilt simply overlap their stitches, which frankly is not very neat. With Anna’s example, I was able to come home and have my most successful go at machine quilting to date. I took my time, and realizing that hiding the threads was part of the process, I did just that, and I truly enjoyed myself. If that was all I took from the class, for me that was a pretty big deal. I mean, she was able to take me from something I would avoid like the plague, to a place where I felt educated going into it, and really enjoyed myself once I gave it a try. I’m not saying that I’m turning to machine quilting everything now, because I do think for me personally that handquilting is really my niche, but atleast now I know enough about it that I can do it cleanly and properly without pulling my hair out. So props to you for that, Anna!

My other thought from taking the Patchwork Prism class is this: I’m not overly comfortable sewing on the bias. I’m really a grainline kind of girl. So when I began sewing on the bias and I was getting puckered or uneven, I was a little frazzled. I guess I was thinking, “Great, I’m finally meeting this woman I so admire, who inspires me everyday, and look at the crap work I’m doing. She’s going to think I’m totally incompetent.” And honestly, I don’t think she thought that at all, but I did want to do a good job and I just wasn’t nearly as comfortable with this as I would have been with something square. Alot of my mistakes really did correct themselves with pressing and sewing rows together. And though its far from perfect, I’m pleased with my sham. I worked hard on it, and I got to make it with Anna Maria Horner! So regardless of those tiny bits of discomfort I felt, I’m just so blessed to have been able to spend a whole day with Anna Maria, learning straight from her.

She is truly just what I expected. This is so silly, but the only thing I felt unsure prior to meeting her is what she would sound like. I mean, she’s Greek and lives in Nashville. I didn’t know whether to expect a heavy Greek accent, or a sweet southern drawl. And my findings? Neither. She has the most clear, normal sounding voice ever, and she is among the most genuine of people I’ve met. That sweet person that blogs multiple times per week? That’s her. She really is just an awesome person with amazing gifts and talent who makes you feel totally at ease when you’re around her.

I’m so privileged to have been a part of this class. I learned alot, and I’m looking forward to turning my discomfort with 60° triangles into ease with lots of practice. I think practicing in my own studio, in my own element will be easier. I’m going to attempt making the full Patchwork Prism Quilt, and with a good attitude and plenty of determination, I’m confident that I can do well. If you are still reading this long-winded post, God bless you. I will save you here and bid you a good day. Thanks for stopping by!

-Meredith

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