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So, my piece “Prairie Conversation” juried into the World of Beauty show at Houston-yippeee! Ah, but there is an interesting story behind all of that-read on. “Prairie Conversation” was inspired by a quick photo I took while visiting my hometown in north central Illinois, in farm country. The wind is eternal there and I love the way it tostles the crops and roadside weeds. After I took the photo, it just seemed to me that they were in conversation, hence the title. A closer look shows the quilting a little bit better. For most of its life, this piece did…
I ended my Spring/Early Summer calendar on a high note, visiting Chicago for BERNINA University followed by a visit with my friend Catherine Redford. I had the best time! This was my first time to attend BERNINA U. Typically this event is for dealers-only but this year Ambassadors were invited, as BERNINA was celebrating its 125th year. I am a dedicated BERNINA girl, having sewn exclusively on BERNINA’s since the mid-70’s except one brief flirt with another brand. I really love my BERNINA’s so it was particularly special to be able to attend BU. Jeanne Cook-Delpit is the Manager of…
Before I left for my Chicago trip to BERNINA University, I taught my last guild workshop until August and I went out with a bang! The North/South Quilters are an activity group, part of the Newcomers Club of Reno. Reno is a 2 hr drive so I was able to pack my car with everything I could possibly want. Reno is located in a high desert, about 22 miles from Lake Tahoe and is experiencing significant growth, mainly to retirees I suspect, many of whom are fleeing the taxes of California. Before my trip to teach, the only thing I…
This will be a short post as I am running behind in getting ready to leave for BERNINA U in Chicago. I’ll be there from Wed, June 26-Mon July 1. I’m taking a little extra time to spend with Catherine Redford and we are sure to get in a little bit of trouble! BERNINA U is an event that I don’t know a lot about. It is geared mainly towards dealers but this year is BERNINA’s 125th anniversary and they are adding BERNINA Ambassadors like me to the mix. I’m excited! It was a little tricky packing for this event:…
I had a wee bit of down time during my visit to Denver in April and visited the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum in Golden, CO. My sister sits on the Board of the museum and had some great insight into the two exhibits that were showing: “No Girls Allowed: 13th Biennial Exhibit of Quilts Made By Men” and a collection of story quilts of the Wa Shonaji quilt guild. I was thrilled that the timing of my visit coincided with the men’s exhibit as I’ve seen a previous show and really enjoyed it. It was a dreary day, perfect for viewing…
I’m kind of on a roll here with some quilting basics so I thought I’d focus on fabric this week. Your fabric makes a difference! I learned this early in my quilting days: This is a portion of a well-loved quilt that I made for my now 30 year old son. See how all the other fabrics around the pink print are intact? All over the quilt, the pink print gave way long before the other fabrics. I do remember where I bought that fabric, I do—at a big box store. You have to be vigilant when buying fabric at…
I continue to read articles and blog posts about the “perfect” stitch length for free motion quilting, as though it were a singular number. All that I have read and heard refers to the standard 2.5mm stitch length we would get with the default setting on our machines for feed-dogs-up quilting. Nope! It depends. This is a good example of my point. I hope it’s clear from the photo-the stitch length on the background with thin blue thread is much shorter than that of the thicker white thread. I hope my less-than-excellent photos can convey my message. Stitch length really…
It’s been an intense week as I frantically worked to finish a new quilt to submit tothe World of Beauty show in Houston. I have been 100% accurate in my previous predictions of whether I’d jury in or not, but this time I am not feeling confident. But it doesn’t matter what I think, it’s the Juror’s job to decide. The way I typically work is to quilt LOTS of ideas “offline” to see if I like them, if they work, if they are true to my vision. This is just a bit of my offline work. Here’s a…
It was a fun week! I visited with my Sister and Brother-in-law in Morrison for a few days before spending time with the Colorado Quilting Council. CQC is not a guild, but state-wide organization that focuses on “preserving the heritage of quilting, to be a source of information and inspiration, and to encourage a high standard of excellence in quilting and related arts”. They meet in different locations around the state and bring in top-notch teachers so I was thrilled to be invited. Because of the nature of their organization, there was an abundance of talent in the room and the…
I’m packing for my trip to Denver this week. I get to mix business with pleasure as I will visit my Sister and Brother-in-Law on Wed-Fri followed by a lecture and workshop for the Colorado Quilting Council on Sat and Sun. The weather is a little iffy but I’m stoked. Someone is a little less excited about my visit. Poor neglected Basset Boy fell asleep guarding my suitcases. I had an interesting problem this week. I am working a whole cloth quilt and have been quilting the background all week. It has been fabulous to do mostly quilting all day…