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This happens on occasion, a quilt or project becomes more than just a quilt. It begins to take up a good chunk of your brain and energy. You think about it when you should be on Brain Down Time. It creates strong emotions and becomes such a part of your life that it becomes a relationship. This can be good, it can be difficult. Or both. TFH (Trapunto From Hell) is both. I admire its beauty when I walk into my studio and the sun is skimming across her beautiful trapuntoed curves. That ice blue silk is divine. I love…
Great news! RNK immediately redesigned their thread labels after reading last week’s post. They do listen! Look, this is the redesign: Although it will take awhile to get the new labels into stores, this is what the newest labels will look like. Yahoo! No more sticky labels gumming up the spool holder and now the label will remain intact with all the product information you will need. Maybe there’s a lesson here? If we let manufacturers know what we want, maybe they’ll make it! RNK was unaware of the problem but was instantly responsive once they knew. We spoke,…
I’m in the midst of a wholecloth trapunontoed quilt, hellbent on finishing sometime this century. If you’re working in both wholecloth and trapunto, your entire world is thread and tension. So maybe I’m just a wee bit a little hyper-focused. But I do know my thread. I am working with two high-quality threads, no complaints there. But dang, the way thread manufacturers design their spools makes a difference! There are two things that that thread manufacturers need to fix: Problem #1: Please don’t cover the hole with your label! It prevents the spool from spinning freely. If you just…
This was definitely the best show I have seen from the Roseville Quilters Guild. The applique and quilting were exquisite and there was lots of variety. They installed additional lighting and every shot I took was right into a light, so I had to mess with the color to get definition on some of the quilts. They are moving to the Roseville Sports Center venue next year which is very well lighted and spacious. Spot; Leisha Belau. This was a BOM and I love that bubble quilting! Cherry Sweet; Connie Richerson, quilted by Debbie Lopez. What sweetness! Some hand applique…
I am still in awe that this happened: late in February, just as I was in full-tilt panic mode with deadlines, I got an IG message from Jennifer Sampou. She wanted ME to quilt something for her. Say whaaaat? Back story first: Jennifer pulled off a herculean move and timed the release of her new fabric line, Sky, with the release of her new book, Ombre Quilts. I can’t even imagine what that was like. Some unexpected complications occurred along the way and she needed a quilt quilted ASAP, on a domestic machine. As she tells the story, she…
Saturday’s schedule was jam packed with lots of art in the afternoon, followed by a banquet and the Spotlight Auction. I chose the tour with 3 museums, which was ambitious. There was so much art packed into such a short time that I felt like I just got a taste of each, but that was fine by me! After visiting the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles (I wrote about this in my last post), we walked a few doors down to the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art. I was not able to spend much time in the…
It’s hard to explain what a Studio Art Quilt Associates conference with 200 artists is like. Here is a jumble of words and feelings to get things started: -Happy, joyful, excited, engaged, inspired, encouraged -Unique hair, shoes and jewelry -Inclusion of all – no cliques -There were Legends in attendance, artists that created the very foundation upon which I stand -Friends from all over the US and world -A sense of being part of a movement and among “my tribe” -We are a part of a legacy – “Preserve, document, plan” -Known introverts freely introducing themselves -A room…
I focused my energy on getting projects done and I finished both my class sample for Craft Napa as well as my SAQA Auction donation quilt. It feels good to finish! My newest sample for “Free Motion Quilting – Start With a Square” is ready for Craft Napa. I like its joyful nature and that is what the class is all about – free motion quilting, playing with new designs, figuring out how to combine them and having a blast while learning! The back is kind of fun too, looking like its a whole cloth quilt! I like to make…
NOTE: My newsletter is a one-stop point where you’ll get a link to my weekly blog post as well as other articles of interest. This week’s newsletter will be especially newsy. What? You haven’t signed up for it? Just hop to the bottom of the page and in 10 seconds you’ll be signed up. You can always unsubscribe if it isn’t your cup of tea. It has been a rough week but I did get to do some quilting – probably because I am massively behind and absolutely need to catch up! Now that is a lovely problem to have…
I’ve never visited Tucson at the peak of Spring. Our timing was fortuitous – everything was in bloom and the color was glorious! We both had allergies with headache and sniffles, but it was worth it. We stayed at La Paloma, a golf resort on the northeastern side of Tucson, hugging the Santa Catalina mountains. It’s a beautiful place, with incredible landscaping. The second day we were there, I came upon this! It was more spectacular than the photo coveys. The common name for this is the Flying Saucer cactus. These guys were about 6″ across and as deep. The…