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I posted my quilt photos on another post here. I loved exploring the city of Grand Rapids! It is a river town and I hail from a river town, so I felt a kinship from the start. I stayed at the Amway Grand and had a lovely room with a great corner view. I watched the sun set each evening, a lovely end to the day. I could walk downtown Grand Rapids alone and feel safe. I ALWAYS am heads up no matter where I am, but I felt comfortable walking a downtown park by the hotel and the surrounding…
I just returned from AQS Grand Rapids and what a show! I have a lot of photos to follow, but first let me review how I chose what to post. I don’t generally post photos of the big prize winners as there are professional photos of those quilts available on the AQS site. I also try not to post photos of quilts I have posted before…but sometimes I forget and post twice. I have a separate post about teaching and hanging out in Grand Rapids. So here is a sampling of a great show, in no particular order; enjoy! Pretty…
NOTE: No blog post next week; I’ll be teaching at AQS Grand rapids. I almost get more questions about shoes and feet than quilts! In the last 8 years I have had to “reshoe” my entire shoe wardrobe 4 times to accommodate my then-current foot condition. That is expensive and an unpleasant process as I search for cute but comfy-for-me shoes. I still cling to cute as much as possible. Apparently many of my readers have foot issues too, so I decided to write about what I’ve done. I have had plantar fasciitis, as well as a general condition of…
I love the California State Fair with all its quirky and eccentric ways. It’s the unbelievably unhealthy food, the aggressive vendors, the arts and crafts area, the animal and farm exhibits and of course we have a whole area for both CBD and wine. The Fair is a real melting pot, with youth from city to farm, families, performers, and people of all stripes. Now that is so California. Attendance was down this year and I hope the Fair attendance improves when it’s moved to the fall next year. There was a huuuuge improvement to the Crafts section (all manner…
Amazingly enough I finished a baby quilt and a class sample this week! Both were easy and straight forward. I deliberately created space this summer to be teaching-free and I’m trying to get as much done as possible. I worked really hard on my abstract class this week and I just don’t have time to create a post about that now. I also attended the California State Fair last week and I have a bunch of great photos of mainly art from that. A photo-heavy post takes a lot of time so I’m waiting on that also. And, I’ve promised…
If only I could show the quilting world how cool and versatile trapunto can be…. I am one step closer to maybe, maybe, maybe making an on-demand trapunto class a reality. I finished one sample this week. There are (hopefully) many to follow. This piece shows a very traditional approach to trapunto. I’ll be creating samples that show it is perfect for statement quilts, Modern quilts, home decor, wall quilts – it is so useful! Tada, my finished traditional trapunto sampler: The trapunto adds incredible dimension. The photo below of the piece wet from removing marks shows the dimension beautifully:…
Sometimes you have to work on life stuff instead of creating, sigh. Every moment seems to be filled, but I don’t have a lot to show for it yet. Three life things have taken my attention and I’m working on two creative things in between: Life: Shoes. I’m working on shoes. Shoes that don’t hurt my damaged feet. We are way beyond the “shoes that are cute” phase. Now it’s shoes-that-are-cute-and-don’t-hurt-my-feet-and-have-room-for-inserts phase. Comfort shoes that work for others do not work for me. I have re-shoed 3 times in the last 2 years. Until these 2 successes, I had 1…
I am overwhelmed at the moment; too many things have happened in a short time period. Nothing bad, nothing dramatic, just too. much. I switched from Android to Iphone last week and that consumed days. It’s not an easy transition. Rule: pleeeeease don’t tell me how much I’m going to love my iphone. It’s. a. phone. And reeeeally don’t tell me how easy it is. It’s a foreign language. Yes, I’m grumpy. I do want this phone; there are things I want that it has. I made the right choice for me overall, but what a huge time suck. I’d…
I am playing catch up with Real Life after getting back from the Minnesota show. My Spring was jam packed from beginning to end and now it’s time to start conquering the more mundane things around the house and my studio like mending quilt sleeves that have been damaged. I do have a few things to catch up about: I didn’t write about judging the San Mateo County Fair late May. I don’t know how many quilts there were in total, but there were 6 quilt judges and I judged about 50. I’m guessing then that there were around 300…
NOTE: This is a long post, photo heavy with fabulous eye candy. New readers, you can automatically get my weekly blog post plus more content in my newsletter, my preferred source if you are interested in following me. My weekly newsletter includes that week’s blog post, a Quilt of the Week, an article about something in the textile/art/quilt world of interest, my schedule, and….my snort laugh of the week. I make SURE my newsletter is not all about me. It’s fun! You can sign up here if you wish. I recently attended the Minnesota Quilt Show (MQS), an annual show…