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NOTE: I’m traveling to Minnesota next week to help with judging (volunteer, not judge) of the Minnesota Quilt Show as part of my training for my Quilt Judge Certification. I won’t be putting out a newsletter this Saturday and no blog post or newsletter next week. I clicked on one….. I clicked on one upcycle/redo of a men’s shirt and the floodgates opened! There are LOTS of people doing this. It’s amazing the creativity that is shared on social; this is social at its best. I asked loooooong retired Hubby if he had any dress shirts that I could use…
The Loomis Quilt and Fiber Guild always puts on a good show with a wide variety of genres. This year’s Featured Quilter was Tamera Failla whose work runs the gamut from art quilts to garments to quilts and other ephemera that suits her fancy. This is just a small selection of her work shown at the show: There was a lot of special work in this year’s show, pieces that had meaning and memories behind them. I wish I could add write ups about each, as each has a story: I hope you enjoyed the show! Visit in person next…
I visited the Beach Cities Quilters Guild last week and enjoyed some lovely weather and a large and creative guild. The Guild has around 300 members and there was a great turn out for my lecture: Yes, that is Jean Impey front row, second from right. We have crossed paths at a variety of venues, but never met. It was great to meet her. I was pleased with the strong response to my “Imperfection” lecture. This was the snack table – oh my! Every month has a theme and the chairperson asks for small quilts to fit the theme. This…
Well this week’s trip was a true adventure. I taught a two- day free motion class to 18 students and also lectured to the Hi Desert Quilt Guild, a rousing guild! And surprise, surprise, I was invited to an 80th birthday party, plus I caught the first half of the local orchestra’s concert that featured youth talent. Wow, who knew? Traveling to teach and lecture holds its surprises. The Hi Desert Guild is in Ridgecrest, CA, in the Mohave Desert and home to the China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station. Interesting stats (these may be a bit off; I’m going…
I have a very well developed skill of taking something simple and making it complex. Here I go again. I’m going to be taking a Quilt Coat class with my local guild, the Folsom Quilt and Fiber Guild. The instructor, Diane Karna, sent out directions for prep work before class. The idea was to take an old quilt and cut it up. I grabbed this photo from Diane’s site, an example of the pattern we will be using. I wrote about my process last week that led me to a beautiful piece of hand dyed silk that I had pre-quilted…
It’s a catch up week, lived in 3 segments: a visit to the Quilt Guilds of the North Quarter (QGNC), prepping for a class to make a quilted jacket, and I FOUND 3 quilts in my home! First, a visit to the QGNQ Meet the Teachers event last Saturday. QGNC serves and supports the quilt guilds of far northern California, mostly smaller guilds. I have not visited for a while and it was a great visit! Country Quilts and Crafts, a new-to-me and I think new shop in Willits, hosted the event. They have a great selection of fabrics and…
I am catching up on my domestic and work life this week after a super busy Spring. I taught a delightful group of newbie (mostly) free motion quilters at Meissner Sacramento last weekend and I took exactly two photos: I am sooo proud of Sally, who took the class last year and came back for a refresher. She has completed SEVEN projects in the meantime! That warms my heart; she has taken her quilting life into her own hands and enjoying the results. And get this, this quilt was for HER – what a concept! I really don’t think…
I packed a lot into my 28 hour visit to SoCal! One of the wonderful things about traveling to teach and lecture is getting to visit places as a traveler, not a tourist, and meeting other quilters. I visited the Los Angeles Modern Quilt Guild over the weekend and hung out in Santa Monica and Brentwood, oh my! The guild was absolutely fabulous and I was thrilled to teach free motion to a Modern guild. I would love to see more free motion on Modern quilts. Literally every person I interacted with was a delight. I found Santa Monica to…
It was the best Easter ever, except of course the original Easter. I had both boys and wives plus my 5 yr old grandson and almost 2 yr old granddaughter. Oh it was so much fun! A kinetic and creative 5 yr old Grandson + an adorable almost 2 yr old Granddaughter = lots of joy! It was beyond what I expected, just so delightful almost every minute. The weather was perfect the entire time – mild and sunny, with cool evenings and a gentle breeze. Easter Sunday’s egg hunt was so cute, just a simple scattering of eggs: The…
NOTE: No newsltter this week. I will be enjoying Easter with my family. You know it’s been a good time when you are sad to leave. Yes, I was super sad to leave QuiltAway 2026, the San Francisco Quilters Guild‘s semi-annual retreat. The SFQG is a 250 member guild, created in 1981. Eighty members attended this year’s QuiltAway retreat that has been going on semi-annually for 34 years! The guild has a diverse base in many ways; I am guessing here, it seemed like almost half of the attendees were under 50, and a lot of them were much younger.…