Guest Post: Monique Dillard on Block Party

Today’s post is written by Monique Dillard of Open Gate Quilts. Monique is a QM 100 Blocks designer and joined us recently in Williamsburg as a teacher for Quiltmaker‘s Block Party.

Monique Dillard

We just got back from a fun-filled retreat in Williamsburg, VA. This was the first Block Party Quiltmaker organized and they did an outstanding job! All the wonderful details that they put into the retreat were enjoyed by everyone. There were giveaways, interesting speakers, a wide variety of classes and an excellent hotel.

 

I was blown away with the number of goodies that each participant received, including the teachers! We got a welcome pack that included patterns, batting, books, retreat information, thread and other goodies.

 

Tote bags were filled with surprises from our partners and sponsors in the quilting industry.

Each evening, there were more gifts and giveaways and everyone went away with a special package that included fabric, books and much more!

 

Our generous industry partners and sponsors filled the tote bags with quilty treasures.

One of my favorite parts of the retreat was meeting all the retreat goers. I enjoyed getting to know not only the students in my classes but also my table mates at dinner. Each teacher sat at a different table each night. It was a great opportunity to talk to lots of different people.

Six guest teachers at Quiltmaker's Block Party mingled with attendees each evening.

One of my favorite things to know about people is where they are from. We had many different areas of the country represented as well as a lady who lives in France and several Canadians. So much fun! It’s fascinating to me how quilting brings us all together with such a common love.

For the three days of the retreat, I taught a design class using my block from Quiltmaker‘s 100 Blocks Volume 1.

The class was called Red Rover – Playing with Design.

I had my students do some pre-cutting and pre-sewing so they could really have fun and work with their design in class.

This student sewed happily in Monique's Red Rover design class.

I heard a few grumbles about the pre-sewing but everyone was thrilled when they got to actually see the results of their labors during class.

 

Another happy quilter in Monique's class

They finished blocks  in the morning and in the afternoon we played!

Here are some of my students’ designs.

This block creates interesting secondary designs,

depending on how it is rotated.

 

By changing the fabrics, colors and level of scrappiness, they had amazing results!