I took an appliqué class recently. The morning of the class, I had my sewing machine, class supplies and lunch all loaded up. I looked as if I was going off to camp for a week instead of a one-day class.

I had seen the wall-hanging appliqué quilt at the quilt show and I thought, “That’s really nice. I bet hubby would like that.” I bought the pattern, the fabrics and the thread. I was ready to go to class. When I bought the pattern, my goal was to have it ready for hubby’s birthday, in September. After a few hours in the class, I updated that time frame to Christmas. By the end of the class, I changed it to Christmas 2013.

The pattern I bought, the longhorn, probably wasn’t the best choice for someone who has never done any appliqué. The longhorn head alone has almost 50 pieces. I managed to cut out five pieces in class. Five. Now that I think about it, Christmas 2013 may be just a wee bit optimistic.