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With barely time to unpack and repack after teaching at IQF-Long Beach, I flew out to El Paso to meet my family there and also visit DH’s family. I suppose that there are not a lot of glossy brochures that suggest an August visit to El Paso, but I love the spare landscape of West Texas. Besides, the Lyon’s are fun to visit and my MIL makes some mighty fine meals. I usually gain 1 pound for each day I visit-it’s that good. It was fabulous to be reunited with my sons-both there at once! And yes, it was indeed…
How sad-this was the last year for International Quilt Festival-Long Beach. I taught 2 classes and a Forum and had THE BEST time! I feel like I just got my feet on the ground and now it’s gone. But it was a great festival and who can beat the location in beautiful Long Beach? IQFLB is an exhibit, not a competition so the quilts and art there were the best of the best-I was at times almost overwhelmed by the beauty of them. Two exhibits debuted there: “Maps” sponsored by Quilts on the Wall and “An Exquisite Moment” sponsored by…
I’m packed and ready for my trip to International Quilt Festival-Long Beach! I’m excited for so many reasons: -It’s my first time “on staff” at an IQF event. -A new Studio Art Quilt Associates exhibit will debut: “An Exquisite Moment”. -Half of my local guild must be going-I’ll see lots of friends there. -My classes are going to be so much fun! -I’m absolutely determined to fill my Table Topper class. -How much more fun can you have in a day? I’m trying to get one more sample of the technique that I use in my table topper done. I…
I am working on one last sample for my International Quilt Festival-Long Beach class: “Lazy Daisy Table Topper”. We’ll make this adorable table topper in class, but it’s really about the technique. This is such a fun class-it’s a forgiving, creative and versatile technique. There are some openings in that class yet my “Yes You CAN Free Motion Quilt” class is full. I really want to share this technique and fill the class! This latest idea percolated to the surface inconveniently at 2AM yesterday. I started with some drop dead gorgeous hand-dyed Radiance (silk/cotton blend). I wish I knew who the…
After all the intense work on my huge whole cloth quilt, I needed to quilt something that I didn’t have to think about too hard-something that was just a romp. I wanted to be able to quilt just for the simple joy of it. For once, I actually kept it simple. I grabbed one of my vintage hankies, waddled to my considerable stash of Radiance fabric and started making some simple design decisions. I used a single layer of wool batting, Radiance (45% silk/55% cotton) for both the top and back and layered my vintage hanky on top. All those…
I love State Fairs and I think I’ve gone to the California State Fair all 13 years that I have been a resident. I love to see what the Ridiculous Food of the Year is, the animal and livestock areas and the County Exhibits. I always cruise every single vendor in the stupid-stuff-you-never-knew-you-needed-until-now section, and then I head straight for the Crafts and Fine Art buildings. One cool new addition this year is that they permanently moved the 11 foot “California” letters from the Disney California Adventure Park in Anaheim to their new permanent home at the Cal Expo. All…
International Quilt Festival Long Beach is only 2 weeks away and I’m in the midst of making up kits and preparing for my classes. I have yards and yards of fabric to Mistyfuse and cut for my “Lazy Daisy Table Topper” class and mounds of batting and fabric to make into sandwiches for my “You CAN Free Motion Quilt!” class. I am enjoying this process even though it is taking me way longer than I anticipated. My Free Motion Quilting students will be stitching on luscious Ultra Sateen which is so soft and glowing. I am using two colors of…
I am so excited to be teaching at the International Quilt Festivals at both Long Beach (August) and Houston (Oct). If you’ve never been to an IQF show, you’re in for a treat! They know how to do a show and it’s a quality experience all the way. I am so thrilled to be teaching with some of the best teachers in the world. Taking a class at an IQF event is exciting-you get to learn from some of the best teachers out there and your fellow students might be from a country you’ve never been to. I’ll be teaching…
Does a girl ever have enough scissors? I do love my scissors, at least most of them. It is a luxury to hold well crafted scissors in your hand! There is a direct relationship between cost and quality with scissors. All my recent work has been back and forth between garments and quilts and it has helped me realize how important scissors are to quality work. Most of my work is quilting, so my tool choices reflect that. The Essential Tools that are always at hand for me are these six (clockwise from the bottom): my leader cloth to start…
I finished my linen dress before the Valley heat set in so I’m ready for 110 degrees! All that was left were 2 finishing details: a waist stay and a fringed hem. I love the waist stay-it keeps my dress from hiking up and the Petersham ribbon that forms the stay is soooo comfy next to my skin. This dress really feels lovely from head to toe. So just to review 8th grade Home Ec, ahem, a waist stay is simply a piece of ribbon cut to your waist size or a bit smaller, and inserted at the waist of…