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One week ago today we moved to our rental house and the renovation of our “real” home commenced. So much has happened in a week! I have made 6 previous moves with my husband since we married, but this one was far more complex than even a cross country move with 2 boys in tow. Each item had a designation, every single one: donate, trash, storage, consignment or rental. Ugh. Other moves have pretty much been pack ‘er all up and move. I was reminded how much trash a move makes-moving is not eco friendly! I forgot to take a photo of…
I am still vibrating from my experience at Pokey Bolton’s Craft Napa. At one point I was unable to sleep and I just voiced these phrases into my phone to capture the moment: Collaborative synergy Porous minds, ready to absorb I poured out ideas and they ignited Fearless, open, adventurous students Tidal waves of energy and creativity Burned through curriculum in record time Students left ready to create their own personal vision Other teachers also felt that the Craft Napa energy put students and teachers alike into an uber creative state of mind. It is hard to describe and may…
My friend Catherine Redford asked me to review her brand new DVD which is all about machine quilting on a home machine. I met Catherine at the Houston International Quilt Festival last year and we became fast friends. Catherine is funny, personable and….. multi-talented: she machine quilts on a domestic machine, hand embroiders, beads, does English paper piecing, works with wool and is a Modern quilter whose work has been published many times. Check out her impressive gallery here. She originally hails from London but has been living in the Chicago suburb of Naperville since 1995. And she is a…
I’m in Napa right now at the inaugural Craft Napa. I am super excited about this new venue and concept. I can feel the excitement building from the social media posts of students and teachers alike. I’ll be sure to write about it after I catch up upon my return. Like any major teaching event there is lots of prep work. I offered students the option of a kit with their quilt sandwiches and most took the offer. That does make for a lot of stuff to carry. We need rain so desperately in California but did it have to…
What a way to end the year-“Prairie Afternoon” was juried into an international Studio Art Quilt Associates exhibit: “My Corner of the World”. The exhibition will open at the Stratford Perth Museum, Stratford, Ontario, Canada. I am over the moon excited! The concept of the exhibit as described in the Call For Entry follows: My Corner of the World invites you, the artist, to examine your world – the world, real or imagined, that represents what is important in your life. It might be where you reside, work, or grew up. It might be a favorite place from any point in your…
I’m working now on a quilt that I was compelled to make. My inspiration came directly from this book: I know, I know, it looks suspect with its generic title and a Foreword by Martha Stewart. But this book is filled with exquisite quilts made with skill and artistry and it is an inspiration for any kind of quilter: Modern, traditional, art, contemporary. (I have no idea why all the photos in this post are not “clickable”-sorry!) And here it is, the source of my obsession. I love this quilt in a way I cannot fully explain. It sounds overstated, but…
I am absolutely a project-oriented person. I am a little embarrassed to admit that only recently did I even begin to understand the world of process-oriented people. I just thought they didn’t finish their projects. It never occurred to me that process-oriented people are completely content with UFO’s. They want to play with the process and once that fun is over, they move on. What a concept! Giggle-Fall leaf speared by my cactus I did a Google search and this is odd: process/project-orientation articles focused almost exclusively on children, formal education or, get this, the dating and mating world. Oh…
Detail- “Emerge” Preparation is key for beautiful quilting. Before you take one quilting stitch, you have already made a lot of decisions that have a huge impact on how easy it is to quilt that quilt. Your quilt sandwich carries with it a set of decisions that are set for the duration of your quilting. So a lot of factors go into that “perfect” quilt sandwich and it’s best to make mindful decisions about each part of that sandwich. I finally I think I have found the best combination for an easy-to-quilt quilt: Terial Magic + Misty Fuse + batting of your choice…
I am passionate about free motion quilting-have you noticed? I am also passionate about teaching/enabling others to free motion quilt their own work. And I am so excited to be a part of Pokey Bolton’s brand new art retreat, Craft Napa. This week I’m part of a blog hop with my fellow teachers and there is a big grand prize drawing that happens at the end of the hop-a $500 gift certificate to eQuilter! Simply leave a comment on this post and you’ll be entered into the drawing! If you followed the whole blog hop and commented on each one,…
I hope all my American friends are enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving! This is my final post on Houston. I have a couple of comments: I don’t generally post photos of the big prize-winners. I figure you can find excellent photos all over the web for them. Also, as usual, some of my photos of lovely quilts were just not fit for print. If you want to see some great photos of the quilts at the Houston show, hop over to Pamela Holland’s blog here. Enjoy the last round of photos: Peeper, Phyllis Cullen Shall We Dance?, Jan Reed Wonky…