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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.…
This is one reason you go to Empty Spools. There are many others! For 42 years Empty Spools has hosted some of the most influential and inspiring artists from across the globe. The very foundation upon which current textile art and quilting stands has been built in part by those who have taught there. I pinch myself that I have taught there for 5 years and am scheduled to teach in 2027. I had the most wonderful visit this year in Session 1. My class was packed and full at 20. This is an independent study class where each student…
I was happy to be in town for the Valley Quilt Guild show in Yuba City; I don’t always get to make the show. The Valley Quilt Guild Show truly is unique and it starts at the entrance: The guild makes a new windsock each year. It’s so cool to see it fluttering in the breeze. And their welcome tables reflected the current year’s theme, “Three Part Harmony”: Other welcome table: And then you enter the cavernous space to see a display of previous year’s windsocks. This is just a portion. They have made a windsock every year since their…
I have never gone this long without posting since I began my blog in 2010. I have a lot to catch up on here and I’m starting with my visit to AQS Daytona Beach. This was my third time to teach there and this trip was very different from previous visits. The Daytona Beach show was concurrent with QuiltCon. Although each show has its own audience, I do think QuiltCon had an impact on the turnout for Daytona Beach. It was a great show! But there were not that many attendees. Of my 5 events, 2 almost filled, and my…
NOTE: I won’t post next week as I will be in Daytona Beach, Florida teaching. My home guild’s show was last weekend and it was faaaaabulous!! The Folsom Quilt and Fiber Guild always puts on a good show, but this one was one for the records. The weather was perfect, attendance was heavy and the vendors were great. And oooooooh the quilts! I MC’d and organized the Fashion Show which had a 30 min run with 19 looks. It was very well received and I am going to do it next year. My guild is filled with talent and we…
NOTE: I’m not sure I can do a blog post or newsletter next week. It is my guild’s show, I’m doing Fashion Show, I’m getting ready for a very busy spring and I’m working on the quilt judging thing. I’m kind of overwhelmed. Let’s start at the beginning. My love of trapunto has been greatly inspired by two quilts: I saw this on Pinterest, an antique quilt of unknown origin. Oh my, I just love this! In all honesty, it’s probably boutis, not trapunto. Boutis is a hand stitched and corded technique, a traditional French craft. Never mind that it…
It has been a wild and wonderful week of scribing for Road to California, and celebrating my Grandson’s 5th birthday. I reached out to Linda Rasmussen, a Certified Judge (CJ) for the National Association of Certified Quilt Judges to see if there were any upcoming shows that I could shadow or work. Road was coming up, so I was able to scribe for the two day show in Ontario, CA. I am wanting to become a CJ myself, and one of the steps before entering the program is to work a show with a certified judge. I had initially planned…