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I don’t have all my photos organized from taping for The Quilt Show so I’ll post about that next week. I returned home from TQS on Wed and flew out to Austin, TX on Sat for a family wedding. I have lived in Texas for a total of 17 years, at 4 different stages of life. I attended Texas A&M and lived in College Station for 4 years, then attended/graduated from Corpus Christi State for 3 years followed by Houston for 3 years. Insert 3 years in Albuquerque and add 4 more years of Houston 2.0. Both boys were born…
I had an amazing, inspiring and fabulous few days at The Quilt Show! I didn’t sleep after the taping and yet got up at 3:30AM MT, so I am beyond beat. I’ll post next week about my crazy wonderful adventure. In my little head I keep calling it #beyondbucketlist…and it was. Who’d a thunk? I cannot even begin to describe how it felt to have 20 (guessing here) people working on my behalf to produce 3 segments about ME! And to see my work hanging on The Quilt Show walls….it was amazing. More later.
NOTE: I have a few openings in my Santa Rosa SWAS class this Saturday. If you want to learn this technique, join me-it’s a really fun, loose class! I need step-outs and lots of samples for my upcoming The Quilt Show taping. One segment will be on “Start With a Square” (SWAS). When I teach this, I bring along stitched out samples of over 30 motifs. You choose which you are interested in to use on your piece. Since I began offering this late last year, it has become very popular and the guilds are raving about it! So I…
NOTE: I am revamping my website so any comments made after Sunday Aug 12 will be blocked. I got to spend a week in the Bend/Sunriver area of Central Oregon with my family-such a treat! With grown men as sons, I don’t expect this to happen that often and it filled my Mommy heart. It’s a 7 hour drive for us and it’s pretty tedious with about 3 hours of 2-lane roads. It’s the very beginning of tomato season so I saw a few ‘mater trucks along the way. I don’t know why, but I find ‘mater trucks charming. If…
I am piecing a quilt! Yes, me, piecing! I am not the strongest piecer but I fell in love with this super cute pattern, Feathers, by Margot Lunguedoc Designs at The Pattern Basket. It has aged in my stash for a few years and it is now ripe:-) It’s so stinkin’ cute! There are 30 pieces in each 81/2″ block and some of it is a wee bit challenging. So of course I ran into….The Visible Learning Curve (VLC). A VLC happens when you are learning something new. As you progress on your project, your skills improve and it shows! I…
I love the Ca State Fair! It’s soooo cheesy and hot and fun. Each year it intrigues me in a different way. One thing I like about it is that it attracts a diverse group of attendees, seems to me like a good representation of California and its diversity. And you can’t attend the fair without being reminded, this IS a very agricultural state. Outside of the coast and the mountains, California is a top producer of almonds (pronounced amonds in the valley!), grapes, lettuce, strawberries, tomatoes and walnuts. Many of the exhibits highlight farming. I usually spend a good…
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:…