Our third class was last night. We've had two weeks off to work on our blocks and get ahead with our cutting. Sadly, I slacked off this week and only had one block sewn by the time class rolled around. This week we learned how to draft 8-pointed stars and some related patterns like kalaidescope and spider's web - I really liked these patterns! The mathematics behind them were entertaining, too, and reminded me of why I was really good at geometry in high school.

I learned how to use my new sewing machine on Sunday. I ventured out to Jo-Ann Fabrics and bought six yards of some amazing black-red drapery silk, and then spent Sunday and Monday sewing curtain panels.

For a while at the beginning it looked like the sewing machine was going to beat me. I was *covered* in sewing machine oil, but I finally figured out how to get the thing threaded correctly. Sewing silk is tricky business, I discovered, and I had to fiddle a lot with the tension knob to get it just right.

Now I'm wanting to flex my sewing muscles and try this.