Yesterday I took a class taught by Maureen Wood – http://quiltworx.com/teacher/teacher.php?tchTeacher=maureenwood. The class was was on the Judy Niemeyer quilt, Desert Sky. These are the two blocks I finished in class.

Maureen chose this pattern because it would give us an opportunity to work on two techniques–paper piecing and curved piecing. I thoroughly enjoyed the class! I have dabbled in both techniques in the past but did not enjoy doing them so they remained on my list of things to avoid. Maureen promised us that we would enjoy the hints she had to share and we would leave the class changing our mind about the techniques. Maureen was right! Judy Niemeyer has simplified both techniques to the point that they are almost effortless when done her way.
Something else I have always wanted to do was reversible binding. After researching several sites on the Internet for this technique, I settled on the method described by Betty Cotton.http://www.americaquiltscreatively.com/episodes/AQc_202.pdf

These are photos of my little sample that I made to try out the technique. I will be sure to try this binding technique on a future project where the backing I have chosen dictates a different colour binding than the front of the quilt.

I enjoyed adding these new techniques to my quilting tool kit–paper piecing, curved piecing, and reversible binding. Not bad for a weekend.