Paula Reid - Machine Quilter

Had a Fun Sewing Weekend!

2012-02-01T08:23:00.001-08:00

My friend Terry Wojciehowski drove out from Ridgecrest last Friday morning and we had a sewing weekend! She was making a quilt for a grandchild and I was working on a couple of things that I had started, including the Posey Patch quilt that I have shown on the blog.

Once we got going, things got a bit messy.....we set up on my kitchen table with machines, laptops, fabric, pins and thread.

Terry brought her brand new Viking Designer Diamond Deluxe, her SewEzi table and a cushion for her chair. Good thing, because she spent quite a few hours there!

She brought a lot of stuff! My husband thought she was planning to move in....

The blocks for her grandson's quilt -- definitely a boy's quilt!

By the end of the weekend, Terry had all of the blocks done and joined in rows; she'd also been shopping at Bolts in the Bathtub, my local quilt shop, for border fabrics.

I bought these coordinating fabrics at Bolts in the Bathtub two or three years ago and had cut out and started sewing some blocks at a retreat last year. The pattern is called "Savannah on my Mind" by Sandy Boobar and Sue Harvey of Pine Tree Country Quilts. It was printed in the June/July 2011 issue of Quilt magazine.

These are my completed blocks; I still had a couple of prints in the line that I hadn't used.

Decided on the large floral for the alternating blocks and saved the other for the final border.

Laying out the blocks on the fabric helped make my decision; unfortunately for the picture, there was lots of sunshine coming in one of my windows! It was a typical Southern California winter day -- almost 70 degrees!

The alternating blocks, setting triangles and corner triangles ready to be sewn.

Terry made a really good suggestion: Since the setting and corner triangles were cut from a directional print, she thought I might arrange them so that the leaves seemed to flow down the sides of the quilt.

I also got the Posey Patch blocks sewn together and 52 flying geese blocks made and pieced for the border. So that's ready to go for this week's sewing. I have a couple of days to sew this week; I'm leaving Thursday for Ridgecrest to take a couple of workshops with Cindy Needham -- very excited about that!

And, of course, I cooked some very good stuff and we finished a couple (well, maybe a few) bottles of red wine -- all in all, a most enjoyable weekend!

My Favorite Color -- in the Sky!

2012-01-24T17:34:00.000-08:00

Just a few minutes ago, about 5:30 pm PST, I happened to glance up from the book I was reading and saw a pretty colorful sunset. Normally, I get so totally engrossed in a book that flight attendants have to touch my shoulder in order to hand me a drink, so you know it was a really spectacular sunset!

Especially since I am reading a really good book! I'm a big fan of the Agent Pendergast series written by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child and have started another series by them about a physicist named Gideon Crew, who also happens to step in occasionally to save the world. I'm about 3/4 finished with "Gideon's Corpse", the second book in the series.

But back to the sunset:

I ran to my purse, grabbed my camera and dashed outside; snapped these three pictures real quick and within a couple of minutes, the colors just faded away....lucky shots! It always pays to know where one's camera is!

Continuing On with "Posey Patch" (Part 2)

2012-01-16T12:49:00.001-08:00

Had an afternoon this time, so made some components to finish the "Posey Patch" pieced blocks:

This unit combines squares and triangles to surround the centers that I've already made...

I really like the way this is going to look in the quilt!

My first finished unit -- couldn't wait to see how it was going to look!

After making 20 of the pink and burgundy units and 20 tan and cream four patches, the blocks are ready to be sewn together. I used several different tan fabrics in the four patches and wanted the various prints distributed through the quilt top, so didn't run the risk of mixing them up during the block piecing.

I laid everything out on the floor and then transported one block at a time to the sewing machine. This is a pretty big finished block, 16", so I used my 18" x 24" cutting mat to move the pieces. I use this method a lot when it is important not to get things mixed up.

Dan and I are leaving for Salt Lake City tomorrow, so I won't be doing any more sewing this week. Perhaps some sight seeing? And definitely a wedding! My last wedding pictures turned out awful, but maybe I'll have better luck this time....

Random Pictures from Travels

2012-01-15T12:21:00.000-08:00

Clearing the camera card again -- after a lengthy "blog vacation", I found that I had lots of pictures that hadn't been posted, but I thought were worthy of sharing. I'll intersperse them in among my sewing posts:

One of my trips this fall was in November; I taught at The Fabric Center in Morris IL for two days and then spent a night with my friend Carol in the Chicago area. From there I went to Grand Rapids MI and Lansing MI to teach for Gall Sewing and then back to Chicago to spend a few more days with Carol.

One of our nights out was at a restaurant on a street that looked like an autumn wonderland with all the colored lights in the trees -- had to get a picture of that!

A couple of weeks ago, Dan and I spent a few days in Lake Arrowhead. It's about a two hour drive through some small communities in the high desert area. We were driving through Littlerock and saw this sign -- what an odd combination! Ski gloves and beef jerky?

It was the sign right next to it, though, that really confused us!

A few miles later we saw a sign that announced that the speed limit was 24-1/2 mph. I wanted to get a picture of that, too, but Dan was driving too fast for me to get it....

Continuing On with "Posey Patch"

2012-01-15T11:48:00.000-08:00

Had a little bit of time on the second day of working on the blocks, between a dental appointment (ugh) and a mani-pedi (hooray!):

Putting my new "Izzy" through her paces by sewing the flying geese to plain squares. I helped introduce this machine to Brother dealers at their Back 2 Business convention last August; if you would like to read my review of Isodore at the convention, click here.

One of the first things I do when sitting down at a machine unfamiliar to me is to figure out how to get an accurate pressed 1/4". I think it has something to do with my vision, but if I use a 1/4" foot, the blocks always turn out smaller than desired. I just take too big a seam allowance with the 1/4" feet provided by machine manufacturers.

So I use a regular foot and adjust my needle position until I have a good pressed 1/4", not stitched 1/4". Accuracy also depends on the fabrics and threads involved, so I always do a little test to make sure that my stitching is as accurate as I can possibly get it. A consistently accurate seam allowance makes star points a whole lot easier with much less ripping involved!

This is what my block center looked like before I chose the fabrics to complete it....

I liked the way the breast cancer benefit fabric showed words in some of the little squares....

Here are the rest of the fabrics -- more of the floral print, a tone on tone pinky-rose print, a burgundy and the creamy dot background.....

....and here is where I am at the end of my short sewing time -- all the centers done and in their appropriate places. Now I'm off to get sparkly fingers and toes!

Back in the Sewing Room!

2012-01-14T11:06:00.000-08:00

After last autumn's busy season of traveling and teaching (I was home exactly two days in October!), I am happy to get back to my sewing room. I have two large tables where I do a lot of my away-from-the-machine work -- they're now cluttered with bags of fabrics, patterns, notions and books that I have either purchased or been given while I've been gone. Scattered in with some of these bags are fabrics pulled from my stash for consideration in future projects. In other words, quite a mess.

I'm also looking over some of my works in progress and deciding on a hopeful timetable for completion. One of these UFO's is a 56-1/2" square quilt called "Posey Patch" from the April 2011 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting. This quilt features nine 16" pieced blocks, four of which are appliqued. I had pieced the four blocks last year and given them to my friend Tiffany Hayes of Needle in a Hayes Stack to work her hand applique magic. Tiffany likes to have a bit of handwork to do in the evening while she is spending time with her family and she does beautiful work.

She gave the blocks back to me months ago and so I put this quilt at the top of my to-sew list. The applique is not exactly like the pattern in the magazine; we changed it up a bit for a more sophisticated look.

I also have a new sewing machine to play with, the Laura Ashley Limited Edition "Isodore" from Brother, so now it's time to shove a stack of "stuff" onto the floor and piece the other five blocks:

The little four-patch in the center combines a green print with a green-on-white polka dot. That is surrounded by a peachy-pink floral ; the corners are a brown/blue/pink butterfly print that is one of the fabrics from a quilt for a cure line by Marcus Brothers. Interspersed among the butterflies are words in script, such as "Hope", "Kisses", "Friends" and "Love".

Next, the pattern called for 20 flying geese to measure 2" x 4" finished. I used the method that takes one large square and four small squares to make 4 units. To make them the size required, one 5-1/4" square of one fabric and four 2-7/8" square of the other were needed.

On each of the smaller squares, a line is drawn from corner to corner to act as a guide for the sewing.

Then two small squares are pinned to one large square, as shown.

I stitched 1/4" on each side of the marked line...

...then used the marked line as a cutting line.

At right, the two resulting pieces after pressing.

I pinned another small square to each of the pieced units and then stitched 1/4" on either side of the marked line.

After cutting on the marked line, pressing and trimming off the notches, I have a pile of little bitty triangles and four flying geese units that measure 2-1/2" x 4-1/2".

When I stitch these to the other block components, the finished size will be 2" x 4".

I first learned this method of sewing flying geese units from Alex Anderson a few years ago and it has become my favorite method for making them. It seems to be easier and more accurate than sewing them one at a time. I even found a ruler that I can consult to determine the sizes of the large square and small squares for various finished sizes of geese. It is called Flying Geese x 4 "No Math" Ruler from Lazy Girl Designs.

After cutting 2-1/2" squares for the corners of the blocks, I stacked them up and was done for the day.

Thinking About Outstanding Summer Dinners!

2011-09-18T16:13:00.000-07:00

I've actually been pondering what I'm going to concoct for dinner out of the meatloaf left over from sometime last week, probably something involving pasta? We had pancakes and scrambled eggs for breakfast, but had a very light homemade soup for lunch so have room for a little bit more of a splurge this evening, perhaps with a nice glass of Pinot Noir.

But thinking about cooking inevitably leads to thinking about eating which, in turn, led to reminiscing about some of the great restaurants that I visited this summer. Dan and I attended the wedding of some very dear friends in Salt Lake City and got to have dinner at a restaurant that I had seen reviewed in a food magazine. It's sort of in the hills above Salt Lake, not right in the city, and it's called Le Caille.

Dan and I and our friends, Steve and Rhonda Lopez (Rhonda owns Nuttall's Fabric Centers; there are 4 locations in Salt Lake) went to the restaurant on an absolutely beautiful night. The temperature was just perfect for eating outside on the patio, so we did.

The appetizers were pretty enough for pictures: two of us had lobster bisque and two, French onion soup.

I got up and took a quick picture between courses; Rhonda looks like she is in deep thought, but Steve and Dan are ready to smile for the camera...

This is the view of the indoor dining from my seat at the table; if you look up on the roof, you can see the outline of the peacocks roosting up there.

Used the closeup function on my camera to see them better.

There were peacocks wandering all over the patio during dinner; we saw one of the baby chicks (I'm not sure if you call baby peacocks chicks or something more specific) fall out of a tree trying to fly to his mom! Fortunately, a rubber plant broke the little guy's fall and then one of the waitstaff rescued him, took him up a flight of stairs and leaned out a window to put the baby right back in the tree so he could try again -- second time was successful -- hooray!

A few days after we got home from Salt Lake, I flew up to Eugene OR to meet with Jerry Tippetts and his daughter Stacy, two of the owners of the Sew Steady company. Sew Steady makes the acrylic extension tables and cabinet inserts that we all use to make our sewing and quilting so much easier.

I'll be in the Sew Steady booth at Quilt Market in the fall; I'll be splitting my time between their booth and the Brother Int'l booth, so this was a planning session to see how our product lines fit together and what kind of synergy we could create to make Market fun and profitable.

My eyes are always open for new ways to help quilters do things more easily; while I was at Sew Steady, we found that using their new polish kit to keep the acrylic surface "slippy" works really well in combination with the Batt Scooters! I know slippy isn't a word, but slippery doesn't describe it, nor does slick -- it's just a really smooth surface that the quilt just glides on!

Of course, if you're gonna plan, you gotta eat, right?

We had a marvelous dinner at the King Estate Winery, located about a 20 or 30 minute drive out of Eugene. I ordered halibut with fresh pea puree and it was so good! I ate about half of it that night, took the other half with me and ate it for breakfast the next day, garlic and all -- brushed my teeth about four times before I went to the Sew Steady offices that day...

Here are a couple of pictures I took on the way in to dinner; the Oregon landscape is so beautiful -- all that green!

Well, enough daydreaming -- I probably ought to think about making some food instead of just thinking about it!

Holler Out to New York City!

2011-09-14T08:30:00.000-07:00

I'm scheduled to be at Hartsdale Fabrics in New York City October 1-3 and the classes aren't full yet -- darn! I've never been to New York, other than stopping at the airport on my way to someplace else, and I am really excited about being there and meeting quilters from NYC and environs.

If you happen to be in the area, there's a wine and cheese reception that includes a trunk show on October 1 at 4pm. How fun is that and there isn't even a charge for it; they just need to have you register so they know how many will be there! And there are two fun quilty classes -- my Tequila Sunrise and a kaleidoscope piecing class that I teach using only one pin for the whole darn thing. I've done Simply Quilts episodes on both of these classes so if you're in the area, come sew with us!

Here's a link to Teri Lucas' blog about the classes including pictures of the projects -- there are even kits so you don't have to bring much to class, just your basic sewing supplies!

Would love to see you there!

Appletree Quilting & Viking Center -- Columbia MO

2011-08-19T06:50:00.000-07:00

My last stop on my five state trip was Appletree Quilting & Viking Center, owned by Millie Kaiser. Millie has been a Viking dealer for over 26 years and has a big, beautiful shop in Columbia. I flew into St. Louis MO and Ann Regal, Millie's Viking district manager, picked me up from the airport and we got to know each other during the hour and a half drive to the shop.

I knew that Millie had just added a large classroom space to the shop, but even knowing that, I wasn't prepared for just HOW big! The space includes a kitchen and two bathrooms as well as the spacious classroom that housed 30 people and their sewing machines for my two day Fluff & Stuff class.

The classroom was decorated with Christmas quilts of all sizes and shapes:

But it didn't take me long to find the Halloween fabric!

Had to get some closeups of the cute panels....

I wandered through the store, taking pictures of the fabric and contemplating what might have to go home with me....

I thought the store was very well laid out; as I was walking through, I would be diverted by a display and then drawn into yet another area with goodies to explore...

Next: The animal prints in the front window! If you saw the Africa panel and fabric I bought at Shiisa Quilts last month, you know there was no escape for me......if you didn't see it, click here.

Back to Business, the Brother International convention -- Nashville TN

2011-08-18T07:29:00.000-07:00

On the morning of Day 21 of my 28 day trip, it was back to the airport in Lincoln NE, about an hour and a half drive from Kearney. I hopped on a Delta flight to Nashville TN where the Brother International Sewing Machine Company's annual convention, Back to Business, was to be held. I was very excited to be part of the team introducing a new machine to the Laura Ashley line. It's a beautiful machine with a very feminine look -- it IS a Laura Ashley, after all -- and she's PINK!

I had been sewing on a Brother Quattro machine for about a year when I switched to the NX-2000, the wider armed of the two Laura Ashley machines. I wanted to learn this machine because I thought it would be a really good machine for quilters. It's very well equipped, coming with the standard accessories you would expect a sewing machine to have, plus a single hole throat plate, three free motion feet, a quarter inch foot with guide, a walking foot (although it is a closed sole plate; more on that later in this post) and a good sized extension table. I've had some fun with her, done some piecing and some quilting and been very happy with my results.

The Laura Ashley machines and the Quattro (and probably other Brother machines as well; these are the ones that I have spent quality time with, though, and know the most about) are equipped with what I think is the easiest and most reliable needle threader in the business. If the sewer uses the needle up button on the face of the machine rather than the hand wheel to position the needle, the threader will work every single time, even on slippery and fragile threads that I am accustomed to threading manually.

The new Laura Ashley machine is a super addition to that line, coming in at the top. It will be equipped similarly to the NX-2000 (the one I call "Laura"); the main differences that I could see immediately were that it includes an embroidery module and doesn't include the extension table. However, I think it has the same footprint as my Laura, so my Sew Steady table should fit both.

I think she's beautiful! And did I mention that she's PINK?

Her name is Isodore; I am told that that is the name of one of the little flowers that frequently appears in Laura Ashley designs. As I write this, I am in Salt Lake City at the Ivy Place location of Nuttall's Sewing Centers, a Brother dealer. We are planning to un-box the new machine this morning --Rhonda and I are calling her Izzy!

Now I am by no means an embroidery expert, so I was partnered with Carol Bell, one of the Brother educators, in the Isodore classroom. She explained all of the embroidery related features of the machine to the Brother dealers attending our seminar. Carol and I gave the same 1-1/2 hour presentation 10 times! We got pretty good at it!

This is one of the 50 Laura Ashley embroidery designs that are installed on Isodore; I played a bit and saw many other designs. Brother machines are known for embroidering Disney designs, but that is not the focus of this machine. None of the Disney designs are included with this model nor is the machine Disney card compatible; however, Disney designs are available from ibroidery.com and can be purchased from there, downloaded and stitched out on Isodore.

Carol also pointed out some of the other things that come with the machine: a circular sewing attachment, a kit for bobbin work, software for monogramming, etc. I'll have a better idea of the whole package when Isodore starts arriving in stores.

What I got excited about is that in my opinion the only walking foot a quilter needs is one that has an open toed sole plate; I only use my walking foot for straight quilting and if I can't see it, I can't quilt it. A closed toe sole plate blocks my view and therefore I think it's pretty much useless for the type of sewing that I do.

So I was talking with Dean Schulman, the President of the U.S. branch of Brother Int'l; when asked what I would do to broaden the appeal of the Laura Ashley machines to quilters, I said that I would come out with a machine specifically accessorized for quilters that included an open toed walking foot. He said, "We can do that!"; they had a few meetings about it while convention was still in session and on the last day Dean told me that it was a done deal -- how is that for a quick response from a very big company!

I got so carried away about the walking foot that I almost didn't show you the wheeled trolley that also comes with Isodore so that we can take her everywhere with us! I know that the trolley that I have for my Laura has really come in handy for retreats and other places I have wanted to take her.

During our seminars, dealers got to play with Isodore -- they embroidered out a quilting design in the center of a piece of muslin, layered it with backing and batting and then played with free motion.

I showed a couple of things that I had done to embellish the same embroidery design and then dealers got to play in a creative way....

Loved this free motion -- really jazzed up the very basic embroidery design! I photographed a few of these, but there were so many individual variations....

How fun is this!

This morning I actually get to look at everything, set up the machine and sew -- Hooray!!

Nebraska State Guild Quilt Show -- Awards Banquet

2011-08-17T11:55:00.000-07:00

The closing banquet took place in the evening on the last day of Quilt Fantastica and included not only great food (I always notice that!) but a wrapup of all the details pertaining to the show. The people who worked on all of the various committees were recognized for all of their hard work -- so much work from so many hands goes into a successful quilt show and Quilt Nebraska was no exception.

The name was drawn for the winner of the beautiful fan quilt that Phyllis Hamaker had donated to the show.

This is the Quilt Nebraska 2011 raffle quilt -- I had wanted to buy tickets, but all of the tickets were sold! So this quilt was a good moneymaker for the guild....

Closeups of the quilt....

...liked the tiny piping worked into the border!

These are the three challenge quilt winners; I got to be one of the judges of this event, along with Sarah Smith and Sue Tilleman -- it was really hard to make choices! We judged on the workmanship as well as who we felt best reflected the theme of "fans". What I love about judging is that we are able to take the time to look past the surface appearance of a quilt and evaluate the work that goes into making it.

Dessert was not included with dinner on the other nights of the show, but there was a hospitality room where there were cookies, chocolates, etc. But on this last night, at each place was either a plate of tiramisu or the above dessert, which I would call a chocolate cake with brownie aspirations, but the server called creme brulee. NOT!

The next morning (Day 21 of 28) I was on my way to Nashville for B2B, the Brother International Back to Business convention where a brand new machine is being introduced!

Nebraska State Guild Quilt Show -- Some of the Vendors!

2011-08-17T07:35:00.000-07:00

There were a couple of booths where I felt compelled to leave money, either by the beautiful display of quilts that I could make or by the sparklies that I wanted to take home!

The first one I visited was The Quilters Cottage booth; I had already been to the shop and seen all of the quilts hanging there so I was surprised to see so many here in the booth....

...obviously Phyllis and her staff spend a lot of time sewing! And, of course, I LOVED all the PINK!

But the booth that I totally stalled out in -- as in I really didn't get anywhere else once I saw this one -- was Bead Ranch! I liked this booth so much that I brought my Embellishment by Machine class here on a field trip!

Here are Sherrill Lewis and her husband who run the Bead Ranch, "wrangling beads from all over the world"...

Although Bead Ranch specializes in goodies for crazy quilting, the booth is full of everything one would need to embellish a non-crazy quilt, garment, home dec or anything else you can imagine that needs a sparklie!

Sherrill's "My Eclectic Journey" was hanging in the booth.....

...but this is the piece of Sherrill's creativity that I fell in love with -- "The Three R's in Green". Just amazing work!

To find out more about Bead Ranch and how you can acquire embellishment goodies to add to your own collection, click here.

Nebraska State Guild Quilt Show -- Some of the Quilts!

2011-08-16T07:07:00.000-07:00

On the second day of Quilt Nebraska 2011, I had an early breakfast and went directly to the show area to see the quilts and vendors. Here are a few of the quilts that I especially liked, probably because of the embellishments!

The shape of this tree quilt was interesting as well as all the beading for the leaves....

Some of the following quilts are part of the quilt challenge section of the show. "Fans" were the theme and there was a challenge fabric that had to be used in the quilt:

This is a panel quilt made by Rogene Margritz; it is heavily beaded from her collection of Czech glass beads.

This fan quilt was made by Phyllis Hamaker and quilted by her daughter, Sandi Griepenstroh. It won a 2nd place ribbon at the Nebraska State Fair.

Phyllis donated this quilt to be raffled off at the show! The winning name was drawn at the awards banquet dinner on the last night of the show. Wouldn't you like to be her?

Next -- wandering in the vendor mall....

The Quilters Cottage -- Kearney NE (Part 2)

2011-08-15T09:15:00.001-07:00

Toward the end of my marathon five state trip, things got crazy and I didn't have time to get my blog updated. So to continue where I left off, here is the second half of the pictures I took at The Quilt Cottage in Kearney, Nebraska:

I mentioned that there was an excellent selection of stencils here; Sandy told me that the inventory was low right now, so I can't imagine how many they normally carry!

Downstairs there is a quilt gallery; had to wander down there and see the sights! Some of the quilts were for show and some are for sale; you can get information about the quilts for sale (size, etc) by calling the shop at 308-237-2701.

This "Oak Leaf & Reel" was made by Marilyn Johnston and is for sale for $750.

"Snowfolks" was made by Phyllis Hamaker and quilted by "de Fine Lines", the longarm quilting business located above the shop. This cutie is for sale for $225.

Here are more quilts from the gallery:

I'll be teaching at The Quilters Cottage in early June 2012. Introduction to Machine Quilting will be held on Friday, June 1 and Embellishment by Machine on Saturday, June 2. So be sure to call the store (308-237-2701) if you want to take those classes!

The Quilters Cottage -- Kearney NE (Part 1)

2011-07-29T04:25:00.000-07:00

After teaching class yesterday, Sandi Griepenstroh offered to take me to her mom's shop in Kearney for a little fabric fondling and quilt gazing. Also -- bless her heart! -- before we went to the shop she drove to Target so I could zip in and grab my usual iced venti sugar free vanilla whole milk latte to sustain me until after dinner, my next opportunity to caffeinate....

The Quilters Cottage, owned by Phyllis Hamaker, is located in the downtown Kearney area; the shop is a whole lot bigger than it seems from the front and there was a lot to look at:

The sewing machines and sergers carried here are by Baby Lock; most of the machines that would normally be in the demonstration area are at The Quilters Cottage booth at the quilt show, but I liked that these were displayed on a quilt!

This is one side of the classroom area -- love that it is lined with quilts....

There's Sandi in the back of the classroom...there are more stencils here than I normally see anyplace other than a stencil booth in a quilt show!

Really liked this green floral quilt!

If you are in need of direction, there are plenty of books to choose from.....

This is another book rack, plus there are many patterns on the wall. Sandi explained that the pattern selection was a little low right now.....yikes! I wonder what their "normal" inventory looks like!

The ceilings are high, but there is no wasted space -- it's quilts to the rafters!

This stained glass quilt is beautiful up close!

This plaque was displayed in front of a quilt made from "X blocks" -- I have to totally agree with the sentiment!

The Quilters Cottage is located at 2220 Central Avenue, Kearney NE (phone: 308-237-2701). To go to their website, click here.

Quilt Nebraska 2011 -- Kearney NE

2011-07-28T14:28:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of Quilt Fantastica, the Quilt Nebraska 2011 show. I can hardly wait to see the show; I'm hoping that my teacher's badge will sneak me in a little early tomorrow morning! Today I taught Borders & Bindings; on lunch break, I took a quick tour of the vendors' mall while they were still setting up.

One thing that is so fun about this class is all of the different fabric combinations that come up; here's one for fans of Nebraska..... a perennial college football powerhouse!

...and my always favorite, Halloween!

Proving that inspiration can come from anywhere, this ceramic tile art piece was hanging on the back wall of my classroom.

A closeup of one of the tiles....

Sandi finished her fat quarter quilt top first.....Sandi owns Lone Tree Designs, a longarm quilting business in Central City NE.

Not far behind her, Leanne finished next. Leanne was in charge of planning the menus for the conference -- judging by the yummy grilled chicken salads we had for lunch, she's doing a good job!

Different themes and moods....

There were 12 participants in class, but one of them wandered off while I was wielding the camera, so I didn't get her in here.

Sandi and I left after class so she could take me to the local quilt shop owned by her mother, Phyllis Hamaker. So, next up -- The Quilters Cottage, Kearney NE

Fabrics Etc. 2 -- Bensenville IL (Part 2)

2011-07-26T08:01:00.000-07:00

There are two classrooms at Fabrics Etc. 2; the larger one is all set up with the technology to put the teacher on a big screen so everyone can see the techniques. This is the smaller classroom and I was lured in by all the quilts on the walls....

"Mod Quads" is a class offered in September....

If you want to take the class for "Beacon Hill", this beautiful star quilt, you need to hurry! Classes are on Thursday evenings, July 28 and August 4.

You missed the class for Radiant Star; classes were earlier in July. But if enough people ask, won't they do it again???

I really liked the quilting on the log cabin quilt.....

...and for someone just learning to quilt, this "Start at the Beginning" class would be just the thing to get them going. The class is offered twice, in August and September.

Look at all the Halloween and autumn themed fabrics!

And two very cute Halloween panels -- with bats!!

Fabrics Etc. 2 is located at 1105 S. York Road, Bensenville IL (phone: 630-238-8000), so if you have a little bit of a layover between flights at O'Hare, you might be able to sneak in a visit. It's only about 20 miles away!

Fabrics Etc. 2 -- Bensenville IL (Part 1)

2011-07-25T15:22:00.000-07:00

Today my friend Carol and I did a bit of running around -- I've been away from home for two weeks so far, so wanted to get some errands run. It was a typical quilterly day: Eat breakfast, go to bank, go to dry cleaners, go to quilt shop, eat lunch, drive to second quilt shop, get and drink Starbucks latte, actually go into second quilt shop, go to grocery store to buy wine, eat dinner, drink wine, blog....all the while answering e-mail and texts on my phone.

Patrick Grant of Unique Sewing Furniture had given me the contact information for Mary Forte, owner of Fabrics Etc. 2, thinking that she and I might find it a good thing for me to include her on one of my upcoming teaching trips. So I told Carol that, if we had time left over when we were finished running errands, I would love to stop by to see the store and meet Mary while I'm here in Chicago.

Being a total machine person, the first thing I notice is what kinds of sewing machines are carried by the stores I visit. I love to see how the machine area is set up and what kinds of samples are available for customers to look at.

The machines are very well displayed, many of them in Unique Sewing Furniture cabinets.

You can see from the picture at left that the machine area is HUGE!

At right, one of the Bernina 830 machines signed by H.P. Ueltschi, Bernina's owner.

Carol loves to sew with Minkie, so she really liked the throw made of strips of animal print Minkie. They were sold out, so Carol ordered the kit to be sent to her. Peeking out from underneath the Minkee quilt is a log cabin made of animal print and black cottons.

This picture was taken from about halfway into the shop in the direction of one of the corners. I wanted to give you a good idea of the size of the store and how many quilts are hanging on the walls. Zeroed in on some of the ones I liked best:

"Cinnamon Toast" from Alex Anderson's book, Neutral Essentials

"Down the Pathway" from Serge & Merge Quilts....

Next: More quilts and some upcoming classes!

A Few Things I Missed at Shiisa Quilts

2011-07-24T08:46:00.000-07:00

One of the things that caught my eye at the shop was this embroidery, which was made by Alice Ridge. She couched down some threads that were too thick to put through the machine needle, used decorative stitches built into the machine and also did satin stitch around the outside of the appliques. She accomplished all this using the circular embroidery attachment on her Bernina 830, but the attachment is available for all of the Bernina machines.

Closeups of the embroidery....

Shiisa Quilts also had a class using the above pattern from craft apple, "Tree and Bird Baby Quilt". ....

Alice thought that the little bird pattern in the quilt looked like a pear, so she added pears hanging in the branches....

and then she made a nighttime quilt with an owl perched in the tree. If you look closely, you can see that this is a spotted owl!

And here's Alice with the finished quilt top....

I have been at Shiisa Quilts for a week -- I taught in the shop for the first four days. The last three days I've been teaching a really fun, creative staff retreat . There were eight people here working from my Tropical Seas pattern, which combines raw edge weaving with applique to make a 34" square art quilt. Janet Mease took a lot of pictures of the retreat and the progress on the quilts. To see them, click here.

None of the quilts looked anything like mine -- there are kitties in the garden, floral adaptations, butterflies, trains -- pretty much anything that could be appliqued! It's worth looking through the picture gallery to see the creativity here!

Today I fly to Chicago to visit my friend Carol, her daughter, son-in-law and grandsons. I haven't been here for a year, so it will be fun to see everybody, be surprised by how much the boys have grown, and get all caught up!

Winding Metallic Bobbins on the Bernina 820/830 Machines

2011-07-22T11:36:00.000-07:00

At Crazy 8's yesterday at Shiisa Quilts, we were playing around with Glitter by Superior Threads, a flat metallic thread that I describe as "stream lame" (pronounced la-may, I can't find the accent mark on blogspot!). If you pull it off the spool, it looks a lot like Christmas tree tinsel; when you stitch with it, it resembles a line of molten metal behind your needle.

We were doing bobbin work on the Bernina 820s and 830s, so wanted to find the best threading path to get even winding. Bev L. and I experimented with adaptations to the usual threading path that we use for regular sewing thread and the following method of threading worked really well:

A couple of grey foam discs come with the machine; one of them has plastic on one side and foam on the other. We put that disc, foam side up, on the outermost thread spindle, the one used most often for winding bobbins. Using the disc with the plastic bottom allows the thread to spin more freely.

The thread goes on the foam disc and then is threaded through the "auxiliary thread guide for metallics" that can also be used for spools that are stack wound and like to be pulled off the side of the spool rather than over the top. I've also had good results threading monofilament, water soluble and other specialty threads through this guide. In the illustration above, Bev is threading the thread through this guide.

If you have had your 8 a while, you may not have this thread guide. Around Christmas last year, an 8 Series Kit came out free of charge to owners. Also included in this kit was a thread lubrication and guide unit, an oiling pen, a pack of SUK needles, and a hook cleaning tool. There was also a book to explain how to install and use these items. If you did not receive this kit, check with your dealer.

Here's a top view of the threading through this guide....

The thread then goes through the telescope, front to back....

...down to the clip at the base of the thread stand....

...and down to the bobbin tensioner. Rather than wrapping the thread around in a counter-clockwise twist like we normally would, the thread was passed from the right, under the tensioner and straight up to the bobbin.

Bev then wrapped the thread clockwise around the bobbin several times until the end was very short, then held her finger against the end to keep it from unwinding while she reached over to the screen with the other hand and touched the bobbin winder icon. It's not recommended that the thread cutter be used with metallic thread as it could dull the cutter.

Using this threading path -- voila! We got perfectly wound metallic bobbins!

Crazy 8's -- Shiisa Quilts, Bloomington IN

2011-07-22T10:38:00.000-07:00

Once a month, owners of the Bernina 820/830 machines get to take a special class, just for them, at Shiisa Quilts. There are a lot of really great features on these machines and these classes are designed to give owners an opportunity to explore them.

Today we made small pieces that could be used as a center of a pillow, sewn to fabric to use as a journal book cover, framed as an art piece, or ? The features we were using were: flip and sew piecing using a 34D (dual feed) foot, bobbin work using the machine's built-in decorative stitches, as well as applique and some embellishment.

I had brought butterfly stencils for people to trace for the applique, but we had both turquoise and red kits available and the red people weren't going for butterflies! There was a poinsettia panel that had come into the store recently and so a couple of people cut sections of the panel to use for their applique....

This is Alice's project; she stitched down the applique and then, working from the back, used stitch #14 with Superior's Threads Glitter in the bobbin.

The stitch on the right was everybody's favorite; it is stitch #687 on the Bernina 830.

Bev L. (there are two Bev's who spend a lot of time here) did the work above -- different stitches in the bobbin work and another big difference, she inserted batting into the applique before she stitched it down. After she adds additional stitching to define the holly leaves, she will have a trapunto look to the applique. Bev is also planning to add some crystals where the berries are printed on the fabric.

Susan had one of the turquoise kits; she sewed some of her strips on the diagonal before flipping and sewing the strips to the stabilizer base....

....a closeup of one of Susan's stitches.

Susie fitted a gathered chiffon trim with a black edge to her butterfly and used a blanket stitch to sew the butterfly and trim down at the same time.

Here's a closeup so you can see how the trim curved around the butterfly; after I took the pictures, she did some additional stitching inside the butterfly with metallic thread in the top of the machine.

Billie chose a multicolor batik for her butterfly; below is a closeup of one of her stitches. Billie was using Superior Threads Razzle Dazzle in the bobbin of her machine.

Using a thick thread like Razzle Dazzle in the bobbin necessitated loosening the bobbin tension. On the 820/830 machines, it is very easy to change the bobbin tension and then put it right back when you've finished using heavy thread.

One of the most fun things about today was playing around with the various decorative stitches and finding the best way to get a perfect stitch. Threading bobbins with metallic or other slippery threads is sometimes problematic, so Bev L. and I experimented with various threading paths to get superior results.

Next post: How we got the bobbins to wind perfectly!

More Quilts at Shiisa and a Fun Technique for Machine Quilting Feathers

2011-07-19T18:51:00.001-07:00

It's always an extra added bonus not to feel rushed in the morning -- it's especially good to have a few minutes with a cup of coffee in one hand while the other hand is reaching to caress an exceptionally attractive bolt of fabric. Since Jan and I were at Shiisa Quilts over an hour before class started, I had plenty of time to prepare to teach, but also time to look!

Every so often this morning I also paused at a rack or table to pick up and read the packaging of a new notion or examine something else that I hadn't seen before. It's always fun to see what quilters are coming up with to make our sewing easier and more fun!

But, for me, it always comes back to the fabric:

The great holiday colors stacked inside the chest tempt me to make another Christmas quilt!

That stripe just makes everything sing.....

This is a page from a book from AQS Publishing called "Cuddly Snuggly Quilts" by the self proclaimed "Crafty Ol' Broads", Linda K. Johnson and Jane K. Wells. Shiisa Quilts is sold out of the book right this minute, mainly because of the wonderful quilt they have on display in the store that was inspired by this pattern.

Bev L. made this quilt using the above Africa panel for the center of the quilt instead of the small blocks. She sashed it with an orange giraffe print and then finished out the quilt using the pattern directions.....

....and came up with this stunner! Needless to say, my fabric is already cut and the book ordered!

This quilt is hanging behind the cutting table in the shop. Alice Ridge pieced "Sarah's Star" after finding the pattern in the Winter 2010 issue of Fabric Trends magazine.

It was quilted by Kathy Kessler. I'm having dinner with Kathy tomorrow night -- I love her quilting and am really looking forward to meeting her!

Today I taught the second day of my Fluff & Stuff machine quilting class; the second day always concentrates on free motion. This afternoon, we were playing with various styles of free motion feathers and Alice Ridge showed me how she jazzes them up a bit. Shiisa Quilts is a BERNINA dealer and we were all sewing on BERNINA 830 machines. If you are familiar with the Artista line and/or the "8's", you will recognize the screen below...

Alice is very particular about how her quilting looks when she is finished, so after she sews her feathers, whether they are free hand or marked with stencils, she sometimes adds a decorative stitch to the spine of the feather. This not only adds additional dimension, but also disguises any places where the feathers aren't perfect.

Since we were using the BERNINA Stitch Regulator with the open toe sole plate, Alice showed me how she can remove the BSR foot and install the open toe walking foot without having to take the needle out of the fabric; doing it this way eliminates additional stitching to anchor the threads.

Then, as shown above, she selected stitch #14 and adjusted the width of the stitch to 2.1 mm and the length to 2.0.

Then she sewed along the spine of the wreath that she was working on.

I did a demonstration in class showing various types of feathers that could be sewn freehand. After I sewed these feathers, Alice showed the class how to switch the feet and sew stitch #14 down the spine of my feathers.

This looks like something that could be a lot of fun and would be worth exploring with some other decorative stitches!

Goodbye, Knoxville -- Hello, Bloomington!

2011-07-18T17:01:00.000-07:00

Goodbye, Knoxville --

One of the very best parts about travelling and teaching is all the people we meet, both teachers and students. Learning tips and tricks from other teachers about the subjects they teach, equipment they like, travelling advice -- all of this makes our jobs easier. And, being quilters, we're all pretty good about sharing.

On the Knoxville trip, I spent most of my off time with the above teachers: MaryAnn Scheblein-Dawson, Karen Stone, Teri Lucas and Laura Wasilowski. This was taken just after breakfast Sunday morning; we had all finished our teaching the day before and were getting together for one more meal and our good-byes before departing for the airport.

Thanks, guys! It was wonderful getting to know you all and I'm looking forward to when our paths cross again! (P.S. Karen: See you next week at the Nebraska State Guild show!)

Hello, Bloomington IN --

Today I taught the first day of my two day "Fluff & Stuff" machine quilting class. Before students arrived and after they left, I spent some time walking around the shop looking at all the goodies. I've been to Shiisa Quilts twice before, but owner Jan Mease is always changing things up to keep it fresh and tempting!

This immediately caught my eye; the asymmetrical design was very cool and I also really liked the odd (as in not square or rectangular) shape of the quilt itself.

Here's a close-up of the center area which is accomplished with a surface design technique known as discharging.

Alice Ridge adapted this from a vest pattern in the "Australian Spirit" book...more details at right.....

"Midnight in the Forest" by Jan Mease; the pattern is from the book "Quilts with Attitude" by Deb Kerasik.

Is this a yummy batik display? All these beautiful colors! The displayed quilt is "Amazon Star", a pattern designed by Judy Neiemeyer. The top was pieced by members of the Bloomington Quilters Guild Board and quilted by Kathy Kessler. It will be raffled by the guild in December 2011.

Wanted to show some closeups of the excellent piecing and beautiful quilting!

The pattern is available for purchase at Shiisa Quilts as are tickets for the raffle.

This was another quilt that really caught my eye -- at first, it pulled me in mainly because I loved the colors.....

..but then I took a really good look at Kathy Kessler's quilting and liked it even more!

At right are more details about the quilt; kits are available from Shiisa Quilts.

Shiisa Quilts is located at 2536 W. Industrial Park Drive, Bloomington IN (ph: 812-333-8311). To visit the website, click here.

Knoxville Convention Center -- Knoxville TN

2011-07-17T07:22:00.000-07:00

Before leaving Knoxville this morning, I wanted to share one last look. There were quite a few interesting art pieces displayed in the public spaces of the Knoxville Convention Center and many of them had a "quilterly" feel to them, even some that were constructed of stone, metal and other not soft materials. A couple of the fabric pieces were irresistible, however, and I just had to show you!

"Under Tennessee Skies" was created by Village Quilters Guild and gifted to the Knoxville Convention Center in June 2009. 21 guild members collectively spent over 840 total hours on this project!

Of course, I was hooked in by the masterful machine quilting and embroidery!

"Mountain Tradition" is a tapestry hand-woven by Betsy Worden. The colors are so vivid and clear....

There were so many other wonderful things to look at in the convention center, but we were all just racing from place to place and event to event, then falling into bed.....just didn't spend as much time with a camera in my hand as I would have liked to!

This morning, Sunday, I'm flying to Bloomington IN to spend a few days in one of my favorite shops, Shiisa Quilts, owned by my friend Jan Mease. Even when I'm not in town, I get all the facebook posts and e-mails that keep me informed of all the good stuff going on there.

And I get to eat at Lennie's -- bwah-hah-hah.....I've waited all year for this!!!

Borders & Bindings -- AQS, Knoxville TN

2011-07-16T18:55:00.000-07:00

There were six participants in our Borders & Bindings workshop on Thursday -- everybody finished their little quilt tops, then gathered 'round to learn how to do mitered borders, prairie point finishes, double fold mitered binding and scalloped bias binding. And, of course, we had to do a group ta-da!
There were some really fun fabric combinations in this class, so we have to take a closer look:

Dee used a patchwork type fabric as her focus and inserted a tiny plaid as her crumb catcher (narrow folded strip inserted between two borders) between the first and final borders. The crumb catcher really stood out....

We had great seasonal fabrics represented -- Carol chose Halloween, one of my very personal favorites!
Andrea chose this great oriental motif fabric and surrounded it with some interesting prints for a very sophisticated effect.

Nothing shy about Kathy's fabrics -- very wild 4th of July, all RW&B with stars!

And we all really liked her sparkly flip-flops, too!

Jan's focus fabric was such an elegant Christmas print; her other fabrics helped to capture the feeling of the holiday season.

Susan also worked in Christmas prints, but in a more playful, laidback fashion.

Thank you, ladies, for spending such a fun day with me at AQS in Knoxville!

AQS Guild Challenge Winners -- Quilt Artists of Kentucky

2011-07-15T18:38:00.000-07:00

Each of the 20 entries in the Ultimate Guild Challenge consisted of a series of eight quilts submitted by the sponsoring guild. As judges, we evaluated 160 quilts to decide on the winners.

I decided to take a photo of the information displayed with the quilts so that I won't run the risk of leaving anyone out or matching the titles and quilts up incorrectly.

The first place group is "Table Art Inspires Quilt Art" by Quilt Artists of Kentucky, Berea KY. The quilt photos are as they are displayed in the show, taken from left to right:

Just had to get a closeup of the bare branches -- love the embroidered leaf falling off of the edge of the quilt!

Other guild challenge winners (not pictured) are:

Second Place: Winter Wonderland Challenge, Des Moines Area Quilt Guild, West Des Moines IA

Third Place: Sunrise/Sunset Challenge, PTA Fiber Artists, Asheville NC

AQS Authors Exhibit -- Knoxville TN

2011-07-14T18:32:00.000-07:00

Continuing to gawk at all the beautiful quilts in the Knoxville AQS show, I found the exhibit of quilts by the very talented authors that AQS publishes. Here are a few:

They are displayed in a zigzag format so that you can get quite a few in one picture...

"His Light Reflected" by Ranae Haddadin was so stunning with all of the colors and the excellent, intricate quilting. The quilt is from Ranae's book "Amazing Ways with Circles and Rays".

"Beauregard" by Margie Engel is from her book, "Bodacious Applique a la Carte". Her artistry and use of color just pulled me in to take a closer look.

Here are pictures of Ranae and Margie's books so you know what to look for when you go "inspiration shopping" at your local quilt store's book rack!

Next: When guilds issue a challenge, quilters answer!

NOW You Can See the Winners!

2011-07-13T17:37:00.000-07:00

This is the third and final year for the American Quilter's Society to hold a quilt show in Knoxville TN. Next year, the four AQS shows will be held in Lancaster PA, Paducah KY, Grand Rapids MI and Des Moines IA. There is a lot of information about these shows on their website; to go there, click here.

Knoxville is an easy walk around city (I've already found some great restaurants and Starbucks, so what more is needed?) -- the hotel where most of the teachers are staying is right across from the Convention Center where all the action is.

There's just no excuse for not figuring out immediately where the escalators are that take you down to show level...which just doesn't explain why I wandered around on the third floor (two floors up) for about ten minutes. Found the classrooms up there, but not the show...

And now, drumroll please!!!

BEST OF SHOW is "Redbud Ramble" by Linda M. Roy of Knoxville TN -- awesome, awesome quilt! There is also an exhibit at the show of award winning quilts by Linda; I thought the most interesting part of her personal exhibit was not only seeing how her work has been recognized for excellence, but being able to follow her progression through various stages and methods of work.

Best Longarm Workmanship: "Essence" by Ronda K. Beyer of Tualatin OR. I have to say that this quilt stole my heart! It is not easy to pull off a quilt made entirely of "neutral" fabrics and the quilting has to be killer to make it work. I wish this photograph could convey to you how beautiful this quilt is and how wonderful the machine quilting is done.

Best Hand Workmanship: "Annie's Legacy" by Zena Thorpe of Chatsworth CA. Zena lives not too far from me and I have always enjoyed seeing her quilts in our southern California quilt shows. This is a small quilt and all of the applique and hand quilting that is lavished on it is extraordinary.

Best Machine Workmanship: "Winter Wonderland" by Leah Day of Shelby NC. This award is given to the best example of domestic, rather than longarm, machine quilting. When I teach free motion machine quilting, I recommend that people go to Leah's blog, The Free Motion Quilting Project (to go there, click here). She has a lot of great ideas for background areas and has short videos to illustrate the techniques. If you are stuck on stippling or meandering as your background choices, this blog will really expand your repertoire of ideas!

Next: Some pictures of an exhibit of quilts from AQS authors....

One of the Judges for the AQS (Knoxville TN) Show Today!

2011-07-12T19:38:00.001-07:00

Judging a quilt show is one of the most difficult things that I love to do -- it's a dichotomy, love and dread at the same time. You get to look at the most beautifully done quilts without the crowds and the hustle and bustle of the show; just you and your fellow judges (in this case, Karen Stone and Laura Wasilowski) and the quilts. You can stand in front of each entry and contemplate the elements of design and workmanship, all coming together to result in the quilt hanging before you.

Of course, I can't tell you what quilts were selected; I didn't even bring my camera because that wouldn't be fair to break the news before AQS did, but I can tell you that there were some magnificent quilts that richly deserved the awards that they won. Some of the prizes here are many thousands of dollars, so our decisions were not made lightly, nor easily!

The three of us did our judging this morning, then walked around Knoxville. Luckily, we ran into Jan, a friend of Laura's, who lives here and was a wonderful tour guide. We went up to Market Square and had lunch at Tomatohead; then returned to the hotel, where I decided to read for a while, but fell asleep instead!

Dinner was a yummy New Orleans gumbo at a restaurant who shall remain nameless because only the address appears on the receipt (?), also in the Market Square. The gumbo, and a Dos Equis Amber, made a great meal....

Tomorrow I teach my beginning class, Introduction to Machine Quilting -- looking forward to it!

4th of July Weekend -- Sewing in Lake Arrowhead CA

2011-07-08T09:57:00.000-07:00

Spending a long weekend in the mountains, and away from our 100 degree heat, was such a treat! Dan and I left Thursday night for Lake Arrowhead, which is only about a 2 hour drive from our house. As we were approaching Crestline, just the sight of all of the trees put me in a peaceful, calm frame of mind. I lived in Crestline for a few years and it always felt like I was on vacation.

Of course, I brought all my sewing paraphenalia and a project:

One of the stops on my 4 week trip that starts Monday is the dealer convention for Brother International, which will be held in Nashville. Carol Bell had sent me a few embroidered blocks to play with to prepare for teaching my free motion class on the Laura Ashley machines. I took four of the blocks and laid them out the way I wanted them positioned in my little quilt.

I decided that I wanted the blocks to have a bit more color around them, so sewed a narrow, 1/2" finished border around each block.

Playing around with the blocks and some Christmas fabrics from my stash....do I want a straight set?

Or maybe add an additional fabric and put the blocks on point?

I totally took over the kitchen island with all of my sewing stuff -- I decided on the straight set and put the four blocks together with sashing...

...then started adding a narrow border with the striped fabric. I must have had a lot of distractions because this is as far as I got in three days!

I shopped at the Lake Arrowhead village and bought a dress, a few tops, a couple of belts and a fairy themed necklace and earrings.

There were spectacular fireworks over the lake on Sunday; that was our 24th anniversary, so Dan and I thought it was a really fun way to celebrate it!

Monday morning breakfast -- beautiful flowers right next to our table...

...and a great view of the golf course and the tree covered mountains.

The house where we stayed belongs to my in-laws, Len and Leslie. They've been married for a little over two years and still act like newlyweds! Love them dearly -- it was so fun to spend the holiday weekend with them.

Today I have to work on this Christmas quilt; it's hard to believe that I'm leaving in just four days!

Bolts to Binding -- Bakersfield CA

2011-07-07T08:57:00.000-07:00

Quilters seem to do three things at retreats: Sew, shop and eat! I did all three, pretty much in that order -- sleep is vastly overrated....

While I was sewing, I was listening to conversations around me and people were talking about a new shop in Bakersfield called Bolts to Binding. So a couple of carloads of us descended upon them on Saturday and most of us bought some fabric (I bought quite a lot of fabric, actually) and then Terry, April and I went back again on Sunday. This time I took my camera (and bought some more fabric....)

In case we forgot where we were, the name of the shop is spelled out in great big bright letters above the notions wall. The three of us came back on Sunday because Terry was taking a guild class in a couple of weeks and needed quite a few coordinating fabrics. April took the role of color consultant and I wandered around taking pictures.

When you first step in the front door and look to the right, there is a pretty display of fabrics, quilt blocks, pillowcases and sewing accessories.

Had to get a picture of the pink quilt on the pink wall behind the register area. Patterns, tote bags and samples were displayed in this area, too.

One thing I really liked about Bolts to Binding is that, although there is a lot of merchandise here, it is spread out enough that you can see it all. I've been in some stores where the fabric is packed so densely that unless something really stands out, you miss the individual bolts.

As you walk through the store, you move from room to room and the fabric themes change.

There's Terry and April at left and the poor girl who cut all of Terry's fabric --she probably had to get treatment for carpal tunnel when she was done! Just saying.....

There were batiks on both sides of this corridor; at the end is the red hat room where there were hats, purses and jewelry. I found two cool pieces of Halloween bling -- a rhinestone spider ring and bracelet! No bats, though.....

More rooms, more fabric!

This quilt was displayed at the front of the store; a lot of the fabrics had patterns pinned to them for inspiration....

The Red Hat room would make non-quilters happy while they wait for you -- well, women non-quilters, anyway....

The fabrics that I purchased on this Sunday afternoon trip; I had been eying that black background print the day before, but then seriously started looking for some things to go with it when we came back. I like the Bali Pops in the various color combinations as a quick and easy way to add a variety of colors. Pulled CC (color consultant) April in to help me decide which Bali Pop collection worked the best.

Even with all the time spent shopping and eating, I did get some sewing done. One of the things I like to do when I drive to a trip and don't have to worry about the weight of the stuff I bring with me is to rotary cut in my hotel room during evening down time. In Henderson a few weeks before, I cut a couple of the quilt kits that I had thrown in the car on the off chance I'd have the time and space to do that and then brought them to the Gathering Friends retreat to do the piecing.

I got this quilt kit at Bolts in the Bathtub a few years ago; the pattern is "Shoo Blue Fly" quilt by Nancy Odom.

Here's a closeup of my border fabrics.....the quilt will finish at 52"x65".

I also purchased this kit at Bolts in the Bathtub, but not so long ago, maybe late last year. The pattern is "Winter Pinwheels" by Tiffany Hayes of Needle in a Hayes Stack. The quilt will finish at 73"x89".

The kit was in flannels, but I prefer to work with regular cottons, so Tiffany picked out other fabrics for me. At left are my border fabrics...

....and here's a closeup of the pieced blocks. I was going to take another picture because my foot was in it, but then I decided that the polish went really well with the quilt!

The weekend was really successful -- got two quilt tops pieced except for borders and found a new shop that's within a couple of hours of my house -- hooray!

Gathering Friends Retreat (Part 2)

2011-07-05T08:27:00.000-07:00

Continuing with the prolific twosome.......

This is a quilt top that Dawn pieced for Bolts in the Bathtub; it is available as a kit that includes all of the fabric for the top and binding as well as the pattern. The quilt is named "Isabella" and if you want further information on it, you can contact Bolts in the Bathtub at 661-945-5541. I love this setting and the striped borders set it off beautifully.

Here is Dawn with her sister, April. They don't live close to each other, so these retreats are especially fun for them. April came down to the sewing room that morning wearing a T-shirt that said "My sister has the best sister in the world!" She was sewing earlier than Dawn and when Dawn came in and saw the shirt, of course she started laughing --then April took out a matching shirt for her.....

On the other side of the room, Diane was making table runners for gifts. I was intrigued by how easy they were to make, so she showed me how.

I recall that you needed 1/3 yard of one fabric and 1/2 yard of the second, but I don't remember how to make that darned point!

Danielle showed us this awesome appliqued butterfly that she started in a class taught by Marjan Kleupfel at Pacific International Quilt Festival in October 2009.

Danielle's daughter, Katrina, made samples for Hart's Fabrics, the shop where she works in Santa Cruz. I saw Katrina at Spring Quilt Market in Salt Lake City -- she got to buy fabric and get paid to do it!

It was fun to see how the same basic shape played out in the various sets and fabrics that she chose.

Dawn and Theresa were working on this quilt when we all met up at Terry Wojciehowski's house in Ridgecrest in January, so it was in pieces then. LOVE how it turned out! I've seen a lot of black and white quilts, usually with red or sometimes yellow, so the turquoise was a nice twist.

Closeups...

Really liked the way the values of the black and white fabrics worked so that you see the designs in all the blocks.

The next Gathering Friends retreat is scheduled for September 17-19; hopefully, the gang will all be able to meet up again!

Next: A new shop that just opened in Bakersfield, Bolts to Bindings.....and the two pink quilt tops that I worked on whilst retreating....

Gathering Friends Retreat (Part 1)

2011-07-04T08:25:00.000-07:00

Gathering Friends Retreat started several years ago as a cooperative effort between members of the Hi Desert Quilt Guild in Ridgecrest CA and the Antelope Valley Quilt Guild, my local guild that covers the Palmdale/Lancaster area. It has since evolved into a non-guild event run by Carol and Diane, two impressively organized and energetic ladies who get us all together twice a year.

Originally the retreat was held at a resort near Bakersfield; it was probably in that location for three or four years. The resort changed hands a few times, became a bit seedy, and the retreat was moved to the Hilton Garden Inn, just off the 99 freeway in Bakersfield.

The move was really good in that we have a wonderful big room to sew in, reliably clean and comfortable sleeping rooms, good food and a convenient location from which to visit all the quilt shops in the area.

One of the members of the Ridgecrest guild, showing one of her latest quilts....

I don't know who this is, but I sure liked the quilt! If you recognize your quilt, please leave a comment to this post! I think it's one of our sub-group of 10 people; we all sit together at one end of the room. The tables are arranged so we can all see each other and chat while we sew.

One of the things I like best is the sharing of finished and in progress quilts:

Dawn is one of the most prolific quilters I know -- she brought a lot of things for us to look at...

I've quilted a lot of Dawn's quilt tops -- her piecing is exquisite, as you can see from the closeup.

This is Dawn and April's mom, Theresa (you'll meet April in part 2). Theresa and Dawn make a lot of quilts together, like all of these:

I know Dawn has a full time job, so how do they get so much done? I think one of her secrets is diligence -- she starts a quilt and just keeps working on it every day until it's done! Much better than my scatter shot approach!

April JAM Meeting

2011-07-03T08:27:00.000-07:00

I know that some of you really like our JAM, Just Another Monday, meetings (Hi, Glorianne!). To get a little history on the group and see why we meet once a month, click here. We set our goals and then bring our work to the next meeting. As you can see, I'm pretty much failing miserably; I'm still working on the quilts that I wanted to finish in February....;-(

These pictures are from the April meeting:

Karin (person on left) has been working really hard in April! She finished this top......

....and this one!

The fabrics in both quilts are pretty cool!

This quilt would be perfect to snuggle under at a beach house with a good book!

Tiffany brought a block that she had finished appliqueing -- she's doing four of these, for me!! So I was really excited to see one finished. I had pieced the blocks and given them to her for her beautiful hand applique magic....

Dawna showed part of a pinwheel block quilt that she is making to teach at her store, Bolts in the Bathtub. I don't know if she didn't do her hair that day, or what -- she's hiding behind her quilt.

I brought this quilt top that I had made to get some advice from the group. It was a kit and I had finished the quilt top as the directions were written, but I had also purchased a lot of the white fabric with the thought that I would add an additional border to do some trapunto or something else "feathery". The quilt is already pretty big, so the group decided that it didn't need the additional border. So I inadvertently had a quilt top done; that probably doesn't count as a finished goal!

My goal is to empty my camera's memory card before I leave for my mammoth, 4 week long, trip on Monday, July 11. The next two or three posts will be about a retreat held at the Hilton Garden Inn in Bakersfield that I attended with a bunch of quilting friends....

New Goodies to Make My Quilting Easier!

2011-07-02T08:39:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been giving some thought to the various tools that make our quilting lives better, faster, easier. To that end, I've made some purchases over the past few months to update my sewing room and thought I would share the details with you:

A standard size ironing board is not shaped properly and it's not quite wide enough to press a full 45" width of fabric, let alone the quilt tops and backings that I press before pin-basting. I looked around at various ironing boards and available add-ons to see what would work best for me. Patrick Grant of Unique Sewing Furniture made this 72" long board with wood framing underneath so it just slides onto my regular ironing board. A batting with reflective coating (I think it's called Insulbrite) and the cloth cover were included with the board.

I don't use my iron all the time and like to take the ironing board down and put it away to give me more room in my sewing area -- another benefit of this board is that I can take it off and stow it behind my sewing room door when I'm not using it.

The second present that I bought my ironing setup is this Digital Velocity V100 by Reliable. It has a very large water tank and awesome steam capability. This is a very heavy iron, which could be an issue if you have wrist problems. I really like a heavy iron as I feel it helps me press my piecing and quilt tops very flat, so this was the iron for me.

Besides weight and steam capability, another reason that I chose this particular iron is that it is known for not spitting yucky stuff! The company does recommend distilled water for filling the iron, so I'm using that, but there is an additional filtration system (filter should be changed every 6-12 months depending on how much ironing you do) to keep those spots off your fabric.

Also important to me was the fact that you can override the automatic shutoff function. It will shut off after 8 minutes of idle time, but you can turn that function off -- hooray! I always seem to finish chain piecing and get to the iron after it's cold and then have to wiggle it and wait for it to heat up again. LOVE that I can turn that off!

I purchased this iron from Carrie Mecherle at Downtown Sewing Machine Company in Henderson NV. You can contact Carrie at 702-457-9600 if you can't find one locally.

One of the reasons that I can quilt really big quilts on a standard home machine is the placement of my machine cabinet. My cabinet is 65" wide by 24" deep with a leaf on the back that extends the depth to 48". I always leave the leaf up, so I am working with a 65" x 48" surface all the time. My cabinet, as well as some other furniture pieces in my sewing room, was made by Unique Sewing Furniture.

One of the nice things about this cabinet is that you don't have to leave the leaf up all the time. If the leaf is down, your cabinet measures 65" x 24" deep. If you have limited space in your sewing area, you can piece or applique with the leaf down; then, when you want to quilt, you would just pull the cabinet away from the wall and put the leaf up to gain that additional space.

The important thing to notice about the picture above is that my cabinet is pushed into a corner with no space between the furniture and the walls. That means that my quilts bank up against the walls as I am sewing; the weight of the quilt is supported by the cabinet, so all I have to worry about is what's in my lap!

There is a 29" x 15" hole cut in the cabinet to allow me to drop my machine down so that I can quilt on a level surface; that size cutout will accommodate any home sewing machine. I can adjust the height of the platform that the machine sits on to work with the various machines that I use. For each machine, I have an acrylic insert made by Sew Steady to fill in the space around the machine. Each machine has a different "footprint", requiring its own insert.

I've had my cabinet for a few years; my new purchase in this picture was the Sew Steady insert for my new Laura Ashley machine made by Brother International.

I talk to people who take my classes about setting up a quilting space. Quilting on a level surface is so much easier than working over the tray that comes with a lot of machines; I even have some people in class trying to do their machine quilting without any tray or extension table at all. That is really difficult as you have no place to put your hands and the quilt isn't getting any sort of support to help you manage the weight.

At the very least, if you don't have the space to put a cabinet/insert setup, consider buying an acrylic Sew Steady extension table to fit your machine. They come in several sizes and are also ideal for classes, retreats and anywhere else where you are taking your machine with you. I have both: the insert for my cabinet when I'm at home and the extension table when I get to go someplace fun.

Another recent purchase that I am finding most helpful for these eyes that are not as young as they used to be is the Koncept desk lamp pictured above. There are four high power LED lights on a bar so thin that it doesn't obstruct my vision when I'm sewing. The lamp comes with two bases: the round one that I have set up and a clamp that could be attached to my table.

I decided to use the round base because I want to be able to take this to retreats and other places where I sew without having to mess around with the take down process. There is never enough light at these events and this lamp easily folds up to a pretty small size that will fit in with my other sewing supplies.

I purchased this lamp from Carrie at Downtown Sewing Machine Company (ph: 702-457-9600) and I'm very pleased with the additional lighting. It can't help but improve my piecing results, and everyone who has ever taken a class from me knows that I'm always saying, "You can't quilt what you can't see!"

I'm really excited about these additions to my sewing room efficiency -- now all I have to do is find the time to sew!

Susan Moore's Drunkards Path

2011-07-01T09:43:00.000-07:00

I LOVE this Drunkards Path quilt! Susan made it for her husband Paul's birthday and needed it by April 26. I got it out just in the nick of time....

As I was working on it, I just kept thinking about how I wished it was mine! If I owned this quilt, I could use it as part of my trunk show as a terrific example of both marked and freehand quilting in the same quilt. But curved piecing isn't my idea of a good time -- does anyone want to piece one of these for me? Didn't think so....

I used this leaf stencil as the inspiration for the quilting in the dark areas; of course it didn't fit, so I marked some of it with a chalk pouncer, the Ultimate Pounce Pad, and then stitched the rest in the same leafy style. The Ultimate Pounce Pad is a very cool marking tool -- you just swipe it across the stencil to do your marking. It doesn't smear and, if you make a mistake or don't want to wash the quilt, you can remove it with an iron. If you click the link, you can read all about it.

A variegated rayon thread, Sulky #2243, was used for the leaf quilting; Mettler 100% cotton silk finish #731 was in the bobbin.

I just sort of made the leaves fit within the space provided, letting some spill over into the border area.

The thread used for the feather quilting in the light areas was also a Sulky rayon, #1149 Deep Ecru. I didn't mark any of the feathers, just "let 'er rip"!

My goal was to have the feathers go over and under as they met at the intersections for a braided effect.

Small feathers for each of the four corners of the quilt were also stitched in the ecru thread.

The border stencil is a 4-1/2" wide stencil from The Stencil Company, #SCO-245-4.5. Since it was marked on both light and dark fabrics, I used a blue water soluble marker in the light areas and the Ultimate Pounce Pad in the dark.

The thread for the border was the variegated Sulky used for the leaves.

And a picture of the border after the stitching was complete.

This was a very fun project that challenged my skills and really made me think -- love that!

Next post -- some things that I have purchased lately to make my machine quilting life easier!

Las Vegas Quilt Show -- March 4-6, 2011 (Part 2)

2011-06-30T09:03:00.000-07:00

Here is the second half of the quilt pictures I took at the Las Vegas Quilt Show in Henderson NV:

"Baravelle Spiral" by Sandra Foster; Sandra stated that her design source was "geometrical quilts". She made this as her entry in the guild challenge.

A closeup of the center where she quilted a spider web type design in the center and then feathers swirling out from it.

"Winding Ways", made by Sandra Foster and quilted by Gerda Hanson; in her artist's statement, Sandra quoted that her design source was "traditional" and that she "meant to try this pattern for some time, as I love the effect of the circles".

This is not an easy pattern to piece, but looking closely at Sandra's work, the piecing was awesome, with points matching beautifully.

The quilting also truly makes this quilt stand out; both elements together definitely deserved that big blue ribbon!

"Running Rivulets" is an original design by Peg Cummings. It was inspired by a picture seen in a magazine. "I took that idea and completely recreated it into this fast flowing stream. I embellished the wall quilt with all kinds of beads, yarns & threads. I now have water in the desert whenever I want to enjoy the cool refreshing mirage."

Closeup of the heavy embellishment....

"An Ocean of Stars", paper pieced by Carolyn Ratola, quilted by Tony Ratola. Her design source was "Reach For the Stars", a Mariners Compass book by Brenda Henning. "Originally started in 2006, took apart, changed fabric and added borders for a more finished look."

Closeup of the borders and the heavy quilting in them....

...beautiful, beautiful quilting! And a big fat blue ribbon!

"Texture Games" by Karen Garth was inspired by a Jenny Rayment class. Karen combined a number of textured blocks and borders from Jenny Rayment's classes and books to make this small quilt.

This was not a large show, but there were some beautiful quilts here. As a machine quilter, I always tend to look more at the quilting than the piecing or applique. The quilts here were particularly of interest to me because most of them were very traditional quilts that were made special by the nontraditional quilting.

Next up: A Drunkard's Path that I quilted for my friend Susan Moore....

Las Vegas Quilt Show -- March 4-6, 2011 (Part 1)

2011-06-25T20:40:00.000-07:00

This show was held in Henderson NV the first weekend of March. I spent three days in the booth of Downtown Sewing Machine Company sewing on one of the top of the line Pfaff machines, talking to people about the cabinets made by Unique Sewing Furniture that were displayed in the booth and, in general, hanging out and having fun! However, I couldn't resist getting out of my booth once in a while to look at the quilts:

If you are a long time reader of my blog, you know that if only one person's name follows the quilt name, it was made and quilted by the same person; otherwise, I identify all people who worked on the quilt that are included on the description card. Thoughts enclosed within quotation marks are also from the description card and I usually refer to those as the artist's statement.

You know I had to like this one! "Butterfly Garden" by Patty Miller; Patty stated that it was her "take along" project when visiting her daughter and family in Tucson.

Because of the cross-stitched blocks, this quilt was entered in the "Mixed Techniques" category. I think that the striped sashings (you can just see a little bit at the far left in the bottom photo) took this quilt from a simple setting to traditional with a twist.

"Celebrate!" by Carol Bruce took first place in the "Dimensional/Mixed Media/Collage" category. The quilts were made using "fusible applique, thread painting, beading, hot fix stones and a touch of fabric paint".

"Spirit Star" by Karen Garth; design source, Pineapple Stars by Sharon Rexroad. "I made this quilt for an ugly fabric challenge. I fussy cut the shibori-style 'ugly fabric' to make the starpoints, and used OESD's "Spirit Songs' designs for the setting blocks."

Had to get a couple closeups....

"Shattered Memories - Shattered Lives - The Tragedy of Alzheimer's Disease" is an original design by Ann Louise Pugh. This piece was one of those chosen to travel with Ami Simms' Alzheimers exhibit. The picture is nothing like seeing this piece "for reals"....

"Kaleidoscope for Sugar Bear" by Anthony Ratola and quilted by Tony Ratola; design source was stated as "Sky Dancer".

I really liked the bright colors and thought the quilting was very interesting. It wasn't as heavy as a lot of the quilting you see in shows now and the quilting design was very effective in bringing out the piecing.

How could I not love the Halloween quilt? It's called "Girls Night Out"; the top was made by Rebecca Rowley and it was quilted by Di Chipman. This was a personal round robin at friendship stars group. Rebecca started with the Halloween print and each month added the required quilt task. So I guess this differs from the round robins that I am familiar with in which the quilt top travels from person to person while adding borders. This is very cool!

And some closeups of the batty fabrics and the bats quilted in one of the borders....

These are about half of the pictures on my camera card from this show -- my next post will have the other half!

Annie's Star Quilt Guild -- Chico CA

2011-06-25T19:39:00.000-07:00

Looking through all the great stuff on my camera memory card is really fun! These pictures come from my February 3-4 visit to the Annie's Star guild in Chico:

Dinner with some of the guild members was at a Chinese restaurant just before the meeting; when we arrived at the meeting place, I was very excited to see my friend Loretta Kleinsasser and her husband Tommy, who live in the area.

After Friday's workshop, Loretta and I went shopping at Katie's Place, a very nice boutique where I bought a couple of skirts and a jacket, then she took me out to the property where she and Tommy are building a beautiful house. I'm definitely planning to drive up to visit when it's finished. We also had dinner Friday night at Spice Creek Cafe on 3rd street -- can't recommend the restaurant enough! I ordered one of my favorite foods in the whole world, cioppino, and it was way yum!

But back to guild stuff:

I don't have in my notes whether the compass quilt was a guild opportunity quilt or ?, but I thought it was stunning!

The truck quilt was fun -- it's a fund raiser for the Ord Bend Volunteer Fire Department....

The library was extensive and remarkably well organized.

The rest of the pictures are from my favorite part of every guild meeting: Show and Share!

Got both the front and back of this one -- thought the backing fabric was interesting; if I'm remembering correctly, she said it was on sale for some ridiculously small amount of money....

Pretty much all of us in the audience were saying "Aw, wish I'd seen it first!"

A big thanks to the guild members for such a great visit! Whenever I see people selling tickets for a fundraising quilt, I always buy some. I've never won, but WOW -- I would LOVE to own that compass quilt!

SoCal Quilters Run -- Bolts in the Bathtub, Lancaster CA

2011-06-24T19:17:00.000-07:00

This was the second four day weekend of the Southern California Quilters Run, an annual quilt shop hop that always seems to take place when the temperatures are 100+ degrees! All the better to get into our air conditioned cars and take a tour of our favorite shops and some that are new to us...

Each year there is a theme and each store designs a block to contribute to quilts reflecting that theme. The stores on this run -- there are almost 40! -- are divided into four areas and prizes are awarded by drawing from "passports" submitted from runners who have visited all of the stores in an area; there are also grand prizes for people who have completed the full run of all of the shops.

This year, each area's shops made blocks and quilts reflecting the four seasons. Quilters participating in the run would get their passport stamped at each shop they visited; at the same time they could pick up a free pattern for the block designed by that shop. Each of the shops made blocks for their own quilt plus one for each of the other shops in their area, then quilts were made from these blocks in each shop. Even though the blocks are the same, the quilts are very different -- you know, just like the quilt you make from the same pattern as 20 of your closest friends doesn't look anything like theirs!

Bolts in the Bathtub is in the Autumn season of the year and the seven shops in the area all made Halloween blocks and decorated their shops spookily -- which was really cool because we all got to dress up in costumes! Visitors to the shop during the run could pick up a free pattern for the center block of the quilt, which depicts a witch taking a bath in her tub -- very cute!

Patterns and kits to finish the quilt by making the setting triangles and borders are also available for purchase at the shop, so if you haven't been there yet to grab yours, you still have tomorrow and Sunday!

The decorations were really fun! That's Dawn Sammons ready to stamp passports; some of you may remember that Dawn worked with me for about 8 years, pinning quilts, sewing bindings and other quilterly activities....

Scary things on the table! The quilt in both pictures is a "Just Can't Cut It" pattern with naughty witch appliques; the quilt was made by Dawn Sammons and Leith Bergier (he's a he & one of the owners of the shop)...

Leith's wife Fay and I sitting in the BERNINA area -- we were supposed to be sewing, but evidently we were caught in an unsupervised moment! I did get some quilting done on that big quilt piled in front of me during the two days I was in the shop, though...

Does anyone know if there is a 12-step program for quilters who buy too much fabric? Do I need to define "too much" before anyone will hazard an answer? All too often I say, "I'm not buying any more kits!" The problem being that kits are so handy, all the fabric is picked for you and they are darn near irresistible when you run into them!

Of course, it's a kit and I loved it, all piled up on the table without the borders on yet. The bolts of border fabrics were stacked up near it and a few cut kits strewn merrily about. I wandered around with one, knowing that I was going to "kick out" the cream fabric used for the squares and substitute a gold that would go more with my house.....

At left is the pattern by Tiffany Hayes, who owns "Needle in a Hayes Stack". Below are the fabrics I bought; the only one that's different is the gold fairy frost in the upper right hand part of the picture.

My next major distraction was when I saw a lady buying some of this fabric -- love pink and roses! There were 1-1/2 yards left on the bolt; I bought them and then scurried around the store finding things to go with it.....

Found some pinks, greens, a very cool stripe and a sandy creamy color, so had to have some of those.....

Don't really know what I'll do with it, but this quilt was hanging in the classroom and I think I would like something along those lines. It would be very soft and pretty in the above fabrics, I think.....

And then, lastly but not leastly, what self-respecting owner of a company named Batts in the Attic could resist buying a layer cake and jelly roll of awesome Halloween fabrics??? I know there are a couple of books out featuring quilts that use these pre-cuts and they must be very popular books as whenever I look for them, the stores seem to be sold out. So that's on my "to look for" list!

Now I'll go pack for my two day Fluff & Stuff class at Sew N Sew in Glendora -- have a super weekend!

Hi Desert Quilt Guild -- Ridgecrest CA (Part 3)

2011-06-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

These are the last of the Show & Share quilts from the guild meeting -- this is a very prolific group! These are not all of the quilts that were shown; some of the ladies held up their quilts for a very short time and then folded them up before I could get a picture. No need to be modest -- everybody wants to see!

I took a second shot of this one so you could see those dramatic borders!

I got a lot of pictures of Maryann holding the quilts -- sometimes the quiltmaker just hid behind her quilt! During the Friday/Saturday workshop, I got to spend some time chatting with Maryann; she is one of the funniest people on the planet!

A quilt and Christmas stockings....

And here's a lady with pink and purple streaks in her hair, just like me!

I am so glad that these pictures were on the memory card so you could see them -- this is a great guild! If you happen to be in the High Desert area, the Ridgecrest guild meets on the first Thursday of each month with workshops often taking place on Friday or Saturday or sometimes both! If you are interested in learning more about this guild, leave a comment after this post and I'll put you in touch with one of the guild members.

Hi Desert Quilt Guild -- Ridgecrest CA (Part 2)

2011-06-18T08:00:00.000-07:00

Continuing with the Show & Share portion of the guild meeting -- isn't this gorgeous?

I thought the color combination in this quilt was interesting...

Took a closeup of the quilting -- simple, effective and fills the space nicely...

Stars and diamonds -- and PINK!

I very much like the shot of color that the yellow border provides!

A different take on curved piecing, a technique that I keep saying that I am going to try one of these days....

This was made as a mystery quilt in one of the International Quilt of the Month series. I was talking to this lady about it as I have been participating in the IQM at my local shop, Bolts in the Bathtub. I didn't realize that there was more than one twelve quilt series, but she said there she knew of at least three! So you could keep this thing going for years!

Dawn Hoskins and I are part of a group of friends that gets together a couple of times a year to sew and catch up with what everybody is doing. Some of us come from southern California, some from northern CA and still others from Mesquite NV. It's always fun to see this group of people that I consider close friends and I wish that we could get together more often.

I think Dawn should get an award for "Darn Good Use of Border Print" here!

Hi Desert Quilt Guild -- Ridgecrest CA

2011-06-17T09:25:00.000-07:00

Still sorting through all of these great pictures on my memory card......I visited the Hi Desert Quilt Guild in Ridgecrest CA last November for a few days. I did a lecture and trunk show on the first Thursday evening of the month, then taught the two day Fluff & Stuff workshop on Friday and Saturday. Got home Saturday night and flew out Sunday for a two week trip to Salt Lake City UT, Las Cruces NM and Tucson AZ. I didn't get these up on the blog in a timely manner, but still want to share....

Before the Thursday night meeting, my friend Terry Wojciehowski took me to a home accessories store to see.....

TINKERBELL CARPET! Oh, I SO want that in my sewing room -- and look at all the pretty colors!

After dinner, we went to the meeting -- the banner is very cool and definitely representative of the southern California high desert.

The Block of the Month for this guild is a star variation made in Christmas fabrics!

Here's a closeup of one of the blocks.....

There were many many many Show & Share quilts! I've broken them up into three posts and will run them this weekend. The lady in the blue jacket is the guild president, Maryann. She was holding the mic, helping to hold the quilts -- a Jill of all trades!

Liked the rose motif quilting on this one...

Oooo, ooooo -- and a ribbon!

Part 2 of Show & Share to follow in tomorrow's post!

Batt Snips!

2011-06-16T16:00:00.000-07:00

I am very happy to announce that Batts in the Attic has a new essential quilting tool -- Batt Snips! You may have seen our ad in Quilter's Home Magazine and, if so, you know that we have a video on my website about why these are my very favorite scissors.

To see the video, click here.

Here are a couple of pictures of the Snips -- they are 3-1/2" in length and really, really sharp!

Initially, I wanted a pair of small blunt nosed scissors for trimming away the excess batting when I did trapunto work, but once I got a pair in my hand, I started using them for just about everything.

I now have three pair -- one in my travel kit, one right next to the sewing machine and one in the room where I do "quality control". QC around here is clipping threads, ripping out boo-boo's, and other small cleanup chores when I have finished machine quilting.

You can order the Batt Snips directly from us on the website or ask your favorite quilt shop to contact us so they will be available in your local area. I know you will love them just like I do!

Neil's Quilt!

2011-06-16T08:39:00.001-07:00

This post should probably be titled "My Friend Paula Fleischer's Quilts (Part 2)", but since it is comprised of photos of the quilt that she made for her husband Neil to celebrate their 25th anniversary, I'm going to call it what Paula calls it --"Neil's Quilt!"

Squares within squares of various sizes and exuberant colors frame Paula's hand embroidery....here I am defining "exuberant" as joyous and unrestrained...

When I look at Paula's work, I always wistfully think of times past when I actually had the time (and inclination) to sit and do a little handwork. It seems like once I discovered the sewing machine, life in the slow lane was over! Little known fact: When I was in my 20s, I taught crewel embroidery, needlepoint and counted cross stitch, so I do know how to do this. What distinguishes Paula's embellishment, though, is the imagination and creativity that she brings to her quilts.

What a wonderful tribute to such a happy occasion!

And here's the back, also pieced in the same style of squares within squares....

Neil must have loved it!

My Friend Paula Fleischer's Quilts (Part 1)

2011-06-15T14:54:00.000-07:00

The other day I was sitting at the computer e-mailing pictures of a project to a shop owner, not an unusual activity for me. This time, though, I started going through all of the pictures that were still on my camera's memory card -- pictures that I wanted to share one of these days, so hadn't deleted or "sorted into folders" which, for me, anyway, is the total kiss of death as I will never ever find them again!

Near the beginning were some pictures I had taken at lunch with my friend Paula Fleischer. Paula had brought along some of the quilts that she had either recently finished or were still in progress and she graciously allowed me to take pictures of them and share the photos with you:

Of course, since I have a mind like a Teflon sieve on a good day, I have forgotten why she was making them and who they are for (except for the last one, which will be in Part 2), but I think you will enjoy her work anyway.

Paula is known among her friends for being able to make an entire quilt out of what other people might consider scraps! She can take the smallest little pieces of fabric and make extraordinary things out of them, so to see the above quilt, which was made out of "grown-up" sized pieces of fabric was a big surprise!

She's been having a lot of fun "drawing" words on her quilts with her sewing machine...

...and a hand-embroidered label on the back.

Another quilt pieced from large squares -- love the colors and prints in this one!

More words quilted into the borders....

This is more what I expect to see when I see a quilt that Paula has done: many smaller pieces of fabric lavished with hand embroidery!

Close-ups of some of the handwork....

I've always loved Paula's adventurous sense of color in her quilts as well as her use of handwork and embellishment to make them distinctive. Now that she's adding machine work to her skill set, we can expect to see a lot more quilts from her since she'll be getting them done faster! Right, Paula?

TLC Quilters -- Workshop at The Sew N Sew, Glendora CA

2011-06-14T14:43:00.000-07:00

Saturday's workshop was held at The Sew N Sew in Glendora. This is a fairly new shop; I was out here just a few weeks ago to help Shelly celebrate their one year anniversary!

The next few pictures were taken in the classroom -- the walls are totally covered with quilts!

This is a dramatic way to showcase one of those large focal prints -- I keep buying these fabrics and taking pictures of different ways to use them.....I've even bought some patterns using this type of print in my travels, but have yet to get out the rotary cutter....

Of all the quilts in the classroom, this is my favorite; I think that the cranberry setting and corner triangles totally make this quilt zing!

Here's a closeup of the scrappy sashings separating the focal print blocks...

On the opposite wall are two quilts that are identical except for the fabrics chosen to make them.

This quilt is hung on one of the walls inside the store, right behind a long arm quilting machine.

Lots of fabrics to choose from....

...including polka dots! LOVE THOSE!!

If you look closely right in the middle of this picture, you'll see one of the Batt Scooters attached to a balloon by a piece of string -- whenever the door was opened, the bat would fly around!

The Sew N Sew is a Brother sewing machine dealer and also sells cabinets from Unique Sewing Furniture. At left is their display of machines and cabinets ready to show to customers.

At right is one of the Brother multi-needle embroidery machines. I like that it's located right next to the thread stands -- you would use a lot of thread if you owned that machine!

The Sew N Sew is located at 160 North Glendora Avenue, Glendora CA (phone: 626-852-2223). To go to their website, click here.

I'll be back at The Sew N Sew next weekend, teaching my two day Fluff & Stuff class on Saturday and Sunday, June 25-26, from 10am to 4pm each day. There are still openings in this workshop, so if you are interested in taking an intensive workshop featuring instruction on how to quilt big quilts on your regular home machine, give the shop a call!

TLC Quilters -- Covina CA

2011-06-14T13:58:00.001-07:00

Last Thursday night, I drove to Covina to do a lecture and trunk show for the TLC Quilters Guild. After I got my stuff set up, I grabbed my camera and took a quick tour around the room before the meeting began.

Bought a couple of tickets for the Ways & Means raffle items....everything was displayed so pretty that I couldn't resist!

Every guild I have visited has had some sort of philanthropic program, but I had never seen the requirements for each member spelled out before. At TLC Quilters, every member is expected to contribute to this effort! More information was given during the meeting and it is very interesting how this all works in practice: The contribution does not necessarily have to be a quilt. If a member crochets or knits, they could make an afghan or other covering instead of a quilt; if a member is unable to make a whole quilt due to time constraints (a lot of the members work), then they can contribute blocks or attend one of the workshops where members get together to make quilts for various causes.

I was very impressed by this guild's approach to philanthropy. Most guilds depend on just a few members to make all of the quilts that are given away each year -- this is a way of spreading the work among more hands -- kudos to TLC Quilters!

There is a large library for quilters to borrow from; at the close end of the table, there are a lot of quilting magazines that can be purchased for 50 cents each.

The following pictures are from the Show & Share portion of the meeting:

I thought this was a great set for the star sampler blocks....

No wonder Show & Share is my favorite part of guild meetings! Thank you, TLC Quilters!

Connecticut Trip -- Freedom Trail, Boston MA (Part 3)

2011-06-08T10:28:00.000-07:00

The last stop that we made on the Freedom Trail was to see the U.S.S. Constitution, known as "Old Ironsides". We were pretty rushed at this point as it had just started to sprinkle and the sky was really cloudy with some very interesting formations that we had never seen before. Several people told us about the impending tornado warning. None of us had ever heard of a tornado in New England, so we weren't too concerned.

The Constitution is located in the Charlestown Navy Yard and has military personnel assigned to it. In fact, we went through a security check that was very similar to the TSA checks at airports.

This is the museum that illustrates the entire career of Old Ironsides. It has some very cool interactive features for kids. Aby, Jayden and Taylor repeatedly sunk submarines and other "bad guys" in one of the games.

It was almost time for the navy yard to close when we got there, so we were allowed ten minutes on the ship, top deck only.

We passed the sign and boarded....

Dan and Kyle looking around; below is a closeup of one of the small cannons on the ship.

Some wood carving on the ship....

...and a life preserver in case anyone falls overboard!

After disembarking, we went to the museum to hang out for a bit. It was already starting to rain, so the guys went back to the parking structure to get the vans and the rest of us stayed in the museum until closing at 6:00; then we walked back to the navy yard entrance and waited in a covered shelter nearby.

We drove through some of the worst rain, thunder and lightening that I have ever experienced. At one point, one of the girls said, "Wow! We really need better windshield wipers!" to which Steve, the driver, replied, "No, we don't! We need less rain!"

When we got back to the hotel, we turned on the news and watched coverage of the tornados (I guess there were several in the same general area), which resulted in quite a bit of damage and at least one fatality. It turned out that it was a good thing we were driving at night because we would have been scared out of our wits -- the tornados were approximately 200 yards from the 84 freeway that we were driving on!

That concluded our day in Boston....the next day we packed our stuff up, went to a nearby park to play frisbee golf and let the kids out to play on the swings and run around, then off to the airport and home. We flew into LAX at about midnight and got home at 2am -- my own bed never felt so comfy!

Booked My July/August Trip -- 8 Flights!

2011-06-07T14:59:00.000-07:00

It's always challenging to book these trips, especially one as complicated as my July 11/August 7 trip that involves eight flights (with plane changes, etc., that's 15 actual boardings) on two airlines to five states, going to two major quilt shows, three dealers and a sewing machine convention -- all this within a span of 28 days!

I'm really looking forward to this trip! My first stop is in Knoxville TN to teach at the AQS show there. The last time I taught for AQS was three or four years ago when the show was still being held at the Old Opryland Hotel in Nashville. My roommate was Bethany Reynolds -- LOVE HER -- and we had an absolutely super time teaching, eating and exploring that huge hotel. Bethany had arrived before me and scoped everything out; I really appreciated that since I can get lost in a round room and she knew where everything was and was able to direct me.

I remember one particularly good dinner at the Old Hickory Steak House with Bethany, Pepper Cory and Janet Jones Worley -- great steak and good sides, including a lobster mac and cheese. Yeah, I blew through my teaching per diem and paid the overage out of pocket, but it was SO worth it!

This year, I'm flying into Knoxville on Monday, July 11, and am one of the quilt show judges on Tuesday. Then I'm teaching four classes, as follows:

Wednesday, 8/13 Introduction to Machine Quilting

Thursday, 8/14 Borders & Bindings

Friday, 8/15 Trapunto by Machine

Saturday, 8/16 Free Motion Quilting

There are still openings in all of these classes, as well as many taught by other people, so if you are planning to attend the show -- or even if you are just thinking about it -- sign up! Come see a great show and take some fun classes!

Connecticut Trip -- Freedom Trail, Boston MA (Part 2)

2011-06-07T14:01:00.001-07:00

Continuing on the Freedom Trail, this is the Old City Hall, a beautiful stately building. The statue at the left of the picture is Benjamin Franklin.

Here's a closeup of Ben, as well as of some flowers that were on the other side of the main entrance. They were gorgeous!

I got all excited when I saw this store, only to realize when we got there that it was a British MEN'S shop!

This is the Old South Meeting House, a gathering place for Bostonians that looked like a church, but isn't.

Faneuil Hall is a great collection of shops and restaurants; that's Samuel Adams below...

On the pedestal of his statue was engraved:

SAMUEL ADAMS

1722-1803

A PATRIOT

HE ORGANIZED THE REVOLUTION

AND SIGNED THE

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

And to think that now a lot of people think his name is only synonymous with good beer!

Faneuil Hall is divided into three huge buildings: North Market, Quincy Market and South Market. Here is the very busy shopping area at South Market.

Loved the name of this shopping cart where all things Northeast + college + sports could be purchased....

We took a tour of the Paul Revere House where the patriot lived with his wife and children.

It looked larger from the outside; inside, the rooms were small by today's standards, but since Paul Revere was a wealthy man, they were probably very luxurious at the time.

The house was built c.1680 and was owned by Paul Revere from 1770-1800. After Revere sold the building, it became a tenement; throughout the 19th century, hundreds of immigrant families lived there. It was purchased by his great-grandson in 1902 to ensure that the building would not be demolished and the home was restored in 1907-08 under the auspices of the Paul Revere Memorial Association. Architect John Chandler directed the restoration and in 1908 the Paul Revere House opened its doors to the public.

A shot down the street from the Paul Revere House; it looks like a busy commercial area with apartments on the floors above the shops. When Revere's descendent purchased the property, there were also shops on the ground floor of it with families living above.

We continued our walk, passing the welcome sign to Boston's historic North End.

Boston's memorial to Bunker Hill....

After this, we went to the Charlestown Navy Yard to see the U.S.S. Constitution, or "Old Ironsides"!

Connecticut Trip -- Freedom Trail, Boston MA

2011-06-05T16:01:00.001-07:00

Continuing our New England sightseeing trip, on Wednesday we went to Boston with the idea that we would walk the Freedom Trail and find Cheers bar. Dan had not been to Boston before; I had, but not for years and years and I don't think I walked the Freedom Trail. That's a pretty long walk, especially with our group of 17 people ranging in age from 6 to 81.

We were also a little nervous in that there was a tornado warning for the Boston area. None of us had ever heard of tornados in New England, but it turns out that although rare they do occur. In fact, one occurred about 200 yards from where we happened to be -- YIKES!!! --but that is a later story....

We parked in a huge underground parking structure and picked up a pamphlet about the Freedom Trail from the Visitor Center. I thought I had grabbed one of those pamphlets, but evidently not -- so those of you who are better informed can correct my misinformation, please!

I believe the above to be the Massachusetts State Building, one of the governmental buildings in downtown Boston. The story in the guidebook was about how it was built and how the dome was made of copper and then covered with gold leaf. It was a beautiful clear day in Boston and the dome just gleamed in the sunlight!

I don't remember the name of the church in the background, but the plaque in the park facing the church gives the history about the 1634 purchase of the tract of land on which Boston was founded. Boston Commons, a training ground for regiments in the late 1600s, is a very pretty park today.

This is a large map of the Freedom Trail, outlining all of the historical sights located along the way. The costumed man standing next to it was available to answer questions, give directions and explain some of the history of the area.

We went to several graveyards and cemeterys on the Trail. The kids had gone to a ghost event when we were in Salem and they explained to us the difference between the two: a graveyard is associated with and usually located next to a church, while a cemetary had no religious affiliation. If I have that backwards, Liz & Aby, let me know!

The largest tomb in this graveyard, the large white one in the center of the photo, marks the burial place of Benjamin Franklin's parents.

Also buried here, in the very back, is Paul Revere.

The headstones had interesting designs; we noticed several people taking rubbings of the pictures, dates and/or names engraved on them. The above stones were those of the members of another prominent goldsmithing family that lived, worked and died around the same time as Revere.

Freemont Temple Baptist Church describes itself as the first integrated church in the United States. That's one thing that you just don't see in California, so many "first in the United States" and "first in the Americas" markers...

King's Chapel Burying Ground holds the burial places of many of the early founders of Boston.

The burying ground is located adjacent to the stately building above, King's Chapel, but was not affiliated with it; therefore, according to the definition given to the kids, it is a cemetery and not a graveyard.

I have a couple of more Boston posts to do -- one covering Old City Hall, Faneuil Hall and the Paul Revere House and another on the U.S.S. Constitution, known to us as "Old Ironsides".....so check back!

Connecticut Vacation -- Salem, MA

2011-06-01T08:27:00.000-07:00

The drive to Salem was about 2-1/2 hours from Hartford. To get the 20 of us to Salem, we had a caravan of three minivans and a car tooling down the highway.....

There were stocks displayed at one of the "witch" attractions and Liz and Jayden, at left, and Kyle, below, had to try them on for size....

Don't know about stocks and Ray-Bans, dude!

We started at the Salem Visitor's Center to get an idea of some of the things we might want to see; we decided to take a 60-minute trolley ride first to get an overview and pick out the stops we would want to make later. It's a hop-on, hop-off trolley, meaning that once you have paid your fare, you can get on and off as many times as you want to that day.

In front of the visitor's center, waiting for the trolley; at middle left are Eric's grandparents, Rhea and Ron, sitting next to the bell.

One of the stops on the trolley is the House of Seven Gables, the inspiration for the novel of the same name by Salem native, Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne's great-grandfather was one of the judges at the infamous Salem witch trials; the spelling of his ancestor's name was different because Nathaniel Hawthorne changed his name to distance himself from that particular relative.

Our tour guide was adamant that no witches were ever burned in Salem; she said that during one year, 19 witches were hung and 1 was "pressed" (this last was a man, who was evidently killed by having more and more stones piled on top of him until he eventually died after three days of this torture). It was my understanding that a) this went on for more than one year; and b) there were some people accused of witchcraft who were burned; and c) there were more than 20 people prosecuted for witchcraft -- but whatever the answers were to a, b and/or c, they were not to be found on this tour. What was interesting was that, according to some names that the guide mentioned, at least two of the "witches" were men.....

Do any of you have recollections of the Salem witch trials from when we learned about them in school?

The Purple Scorpion is a tattoo and body piercing studio -- with a birthday in November and purple one of my three favorite colors, I had to take a picture of this sign. We girls, including a couple of preteens and a 13-year-old, played with the idea of getting a tattoo (for about 30 seconds) to commemorate the trip, but couldn't decide on a theme, and didn't have the time anyway, so continued on with the tour....

One of the older seaside buildings in Salem that had a historical plaque posted next to it....

......still standing today, but it's all boarded up, so you can't go in and look around to see how it was used around the time it was built.

Another historical place is The Friendship of Salem, a replica ship on display in the harbor. Again there is a plaque explaining about the ship: that it is a replica of the original Friendship of Salem, built in 1797 for international trade. The original ship made many trading voyages around the world, bringing various goods to Salem for sale and distribution throughout the US. The replica ship sails to nearby harbors, increasing maritime knowledge at festivals and other events in the New England area.

Annette and Bob Procknow attended the wedding and stayed for a few days. Bob is a district manager for Brother International; Nuttall's Fabric Centers, the stores that Rhonda Lopez and her family own, are in Bob's district.

Behind Annette and Bob is the customs house where sailors would pay their taxes on the goods they were bringing into the port. This particular customs house is distinguished in that Nathanial Hawthorne worked there for three years while he was writing The House of the Seven Gables.

There was some shopping to be done, of course...

....much of it having to do with the "witchy" reputation of the area.

Kyle Lopez and his wife Monica waiting for the rest of the group....we were doing a lot of walking, so benches were welcome sights!

Some of the business names were catchy....

One of a stack of T-shirts with comic slogans --- one of Dan's favorites was: Pillage first, then burn! In case aspiring pirates need a written reminder of the order in which one should do these things!

If you get to Salem, you might want to have a meal at The Witch's Brew; we had lunch there and the food was excellent and the service was pretty good, especially considering the size of our group.

The plan is for Tuesday to be a relax day and then a trip to Boston on Wednesday; I've taught in the Boston area, but haven't been to the city in many years, so I'm looking forward to it. I love all the history and hope that we'll get to walk the Freedom Trail!

New England Vacation -- Mystic Seaport CN

2011-05-31T11:28:00.001-07:00

The plan* was to fly out Thursday morning, May 26, and arrive in Hartford CT around 5pm that evening. We were flying American Airlines, so were routed through Dallas/Fort Worth. As you may have heard, there was a lot of weather in the Midwest, including TX, so our flights were cancelled. I was moved to Friday and Dan was delayed all the way until Saturday, not arriving until after the wedding. I did some scrambling around, cancelling Dan's Burbank to Hartford flights and rescheduling him on Southwest Airlines. So, basically, we flew across the country on Friday, separately together....

We arrived in Hartford after midnight Friday night (too late to pick up our rental car), took a taxi to the hotel, and slept most of Saturday. That evening we attended the event we had flown to the East Coast for -- the wedding of our friends Denise Gattinella and Eric Lopez. Denise was a beautiful bride, Eric was proud and beaming and all of us were happy to be there to share this occasion with them.

Eric and Denise went off to Cabo San Lucas for their honeymoon; the rest of us are staying in Connecticut for the week and partying!

On Sunday, we took a drive to Mystic Seaport to see how ships are made and to attend (and eat our way through) a lobsterfest!

The event was held at the wharf where there is a visitors center; we went there first to figure out what was going on so we could make a plan for the day.*

There were many galleries and museums to tour here....

...ships in the harbor and beautiful homes across the water.

We toured a shipbuilding facility; one of the first things we saw was a huge log splitter that cut boards of uniform thickness for ship hulls.

To take the picture above, I stood on a balcony overlooking a workshop of very large proportions to accommodate the size of the seafaring ships that were built on site. The flags above pictured and named the various stages of shipbuilding that were done here.

Dan and me, on a platform outside the shipbuilding facility....

The groom's brother, Chad, and mom, Rhonda, inside an area where finishing work was done. There was a lot of sawdust on the floor!

We got to climb all over a ship that was built here in Mystic Seaport; it's been in dry dock and set up just for tourists to learn more about what life was like onboard a ship. Some of the "rooms" were set up to show us how the limited space on a ship was utilized for all of the things that had to be done on it -- working, sleeping, cooking, the barber shop, etc.

At left is one of the stoves -- not for cooking, but to help propel the ship through the water.

Abryann on a platform that we never did figure out a use for....

After we did all the educational stuff, we went over to the Boat Shed for the lobsterfest. Half of us ate lobster with melted butter and the other half had hot dogs; everybody got corn on the cob and cole slaw and lemonade. Those of us who had lobster rented the metal claw crackers for $1.00; when we brought back the crackers, we got a cookie! Good way to ensure that the group sponsoring the lobsterfest got all their utensils back!

We got back to the hotel too tired to eat dinner, so Dan and I got Drumsticks from the freezer part of the hotel pantry -- hooray for Marriott!

Next up -- Salem, Massachusetts, to learn about witches!

*Plan for the day: Our group numbered 20, so we often found that our plan for the day frequently shifted to Plan B, Plan C, or Plan Whatever the Heck It Was as we figured out how to accommodate our large numbers!

Spent a Morning Baking....

2011-05-26T16:15:00.001-07:00

We were having friends to dinner Tuesday evening, so I decided to put the morning to good use and bake some goodies to eat:

The first thing I made was this Sesame White Bread, a recipe I found on a blog on the internet. The way it is made is pretty interesting and easy! Flour, water and yeast are combined in the mixing bowl of your electric mixer; I used my KitchenAid and after the three ingredients were mixed, I just put Press & Seal over the bowl, pressing it over the bowl edges and around the beaters, covering everything and sealing all the air out. Then you can go away for anywhere from 30-90 minutes, depending on how much time you have and how much flavor you want to develop, and let the sponge rise. When I came back about an hour later, I took off the Press & Seal and added salt, butter and more flour and let the mixer knead the dough.

A quick hand knead, shaping and a 30 minute rise and 30 minute bake yielded the above loaf. I've made this several times and it's really yummy with a fine crumb and a slightly yeasty flavor from the "sponge" stage.

I taught at Downtown Sewing Machine Co. in Henderson NV last weekend and stopped by the Williams-Sonoma outlet in Primm NV on my way home. One of the things I bought was this Milk Chocolate Pound Cake mix. Tuesday morning I mixed it up with the additional ingredients and spread it in a pottery 8.5" x 4.5" loaf pan from Longaberger.

This is what I took out of the oven about 70 minutes later....

The recipe called for cooling it in the pan for 15 minutes and then turning it out onto a rack to cool further. I decided to make the optional cocoa glaze that was supposed to be spread on the cake when it was still warm.

Following the directions on the box, first I melted butter -- with this much butter, it's gotta be good, right? Then cocoa and confectioners sugar were added and beaten until smooth....

The idea was to get it smooth, but obviously mine isn't -- tasted fabulous, though. I sliced it in 1/2" slices and topped each serving with the Trader Joe's equivalent of cookies and cream ice cream, whipped cream and Midnight Moo, the chocolate syrup that was pictured in the first photo -- YUM!

Have You Ever Been Too Busy to Get Anything Done?

2011-05-26T15:48:00.001-07:00

I was recently reading a blog of a lady who writes some pretty cool sci-fi/fantasy novels and she was asked when she was coming out with her next book. Her reply was that it wasn't written yet and that she had just been too busy to get anything done! It made me think about how easy it is to get all tied up with all sorts of things and let others slide by the wayside. Not an excuse for not keeping up with the blog, but a decision to get back to it.....

Monday afternoon was our May JAM meeting at Tiffany's; the only people there were Tiffany, Dawna and me. I didn't have anything done, but the other two have been busy:

Dawna loves triangles and this is a block from one of the quilts she is working on.....the half-square triangle in the upper right hand corner forms a pinwheel when combined with three other blocks.

She's also doing a couple of machine embroidered quilts; the closeup below shows how some of the stitches are cut after the embroidery is done to give a three dimensional effect.

This is a crazy quilt that Dawna is making; the crazy quilting, as well as the quilting done in the outside triangles, are all done in the embroidery hoop.

This is Tiffany's latest; all pieced and ready for her to take off the wall and quilt. When Tiffany is not at the machine or designing new quilts for her company, Needle in a Hayes Stack, she likes to do hand applique. She mostly does this in the evening, hanging out with her family.

I had found a pattern I liked in the April 2011 issue of Better Homes & Gardens American Patchwork & Quilting called "Posey Patch". If you have the magazine, the pattern starts on page 23. I liked the piecing, but asked Tiffany if she could design (and stitch!) an applique pattern on the blocks that I liked better.

This is what she came up with -- I LOVE IT!

She had three out of the four blocks finished on Monday and will give me the fourth when Dan and I get home from Connecticut next week -- then I can finish piecing the rest of the quilt.

We were supposed to leave today for a trip to Hartford CN for the wedding of some dear friends, but weather in the midwest caused many plane cancellations, including ours. So we are leaving tomorrow instead -- looking for the silver lining, it gave me an extra day to pack and get a lot of other things done, including write this blog post!

A Leisurely Wine Tasting Vacation

2011-04-07T09:03:00.000-07:00

We have been on some wine tasting trips where we have visited as many as five wineries a day, usually only tasting the red wines. Our rationalization for not tasting the whites is that we won't get as overloaded with sensory experiences when we are trying to pack that many tastings into a day.

On this trip, we tried to plan for quality rather than quantity. For instance, we started Monday and Tuesday with quilt stores (we don't want to scare quilters by showing up with purple teeth!, so first thing in the morning is best), then visited one winery, had lunch, and then went to one or two more wineries. Wednesday, we pretty much did the same thing, only without a quilt store to start.

We also had very good meals. Asking local people for recommendations and using Open Table to secure reservations, our experiences were memorable: Sunday night, dinner at Bouchon in Yountville; Monday lunch, Brix in Yountille; Monday dinner at Bistro Jeanty in Yountville; Tuesday lunch, Cafe Citti in Sonoma; Tuesday dinner, Cafe La Haye in Sonoma, just off the Sonoma square; Wednesday lunch, Farmstead in St. Helena; Wednesday dinner, Barndiva in Healdsburg. Every single meal was a major hit! If I didn't gain ten pounds, it will be a major miracle!

Here are a couple of the wineries we went to on Tuesday:

We thought the grounds at Chateau St. Jean were really pretty -- the wine was excellent, too!

...but Duckhorn scored major points with us for a lot of reasons.

I definitely wouldn't recommend this everywhere, but we arrived five minutes before tasting hours were over and were welcomed warmly and led out to the patio where there were glasses all set up for the library tasting that we had asked for. Library tastings usually include reserve wines and older wines that are not in the standard tasting menu. These are the kinds of wines that Dan seeks out and collects; fortunately, when the wine ages to its "time" I eventually get to plan and cook meals around these special bottles, so it's a lot of fun for both of us!

Ten glasses were lined up in rows so that five different wines could be poured for both of us. Between the rows of glasses were winery labels for each wine with descriptions and other information to help us understand and appreciate the wines.

Here's a closer look at the label/glassware setup....

On Wednesday morning, we called Pride Mountain Vineyards, a winery that can be visited by appointment only. One of the cool facts about this winery is that some of the grape growing acreage is in Sonoma County and some is in Napa County. They have two separate wine making facilities because each county has its own regulations and such governing wine making, so the grapes grown on Sonoma soil are processed in the Sonoma facility and the grapes grown in Napa soil....you get it!

This is the line defining one county from the other. Dan chose to put a foot in each county, where I decided to stay in both at once. Boy, was it windy -- look at my hair!

Pride Mountain has a beautiful tasting room! There's Dan, waiting for the wine we bought....

A closeup of some of the award winning bottles...

All in all, we had a great trip -- we found some memorable wines that are going home with us, we had some amazing food, and I did a bit of shopping. Bought three cookbooks and prowled through some "foodie" shops, such as Dean & Deluca and brought home goodies from those. I don't think Dan will want to go into another food prep shop for months!

Broadway Quilts -- Sonoma CA

2011-04-06T08:21:00.000-07:00

Our plan for yesterday was to spend the whole day in the Sonoma area, first visiting the quilt shop and then tasting in Sonoma county wineries. Didn't quite work out that way, but.....we did go to Broadway Quilts first!

The scale of this store redefines "BIG"! The building that houses the shop was once a mechanics garage used for car repairs, so the ceilings are high and the rooms are very large. The area above, just to the right of the entrance, is what I am calling the "baby room". Lots of baby quilts and fabrics are displayed in this space.

Broadway Quilts appeals to garment makers as well with notions and buttons.....

....trims and zippers for clothing construction needs.

I thought the tea cups panel and coordinates were adorable -- I've seem similar ones pieced into quilts, but these would also be cute appliqued on tea towels, place mats and/or maybe an apron?

This shot toward the back left corner of the store gives you an idea of how big it is and how much fabric and goodies are here....

Owner Geri Rosemurgy, ready to cut fabric....

I really liked this star quilt and meant to ask Gery about the pattern for it; I'll have to call her...or maybe that's just an excuse to go back and visit this great store again?

This little art quilt showed off the whole idea of Sonoma at its best!

Here's the classroom, waiting for students to arrive....

...and a work in progress -- love the applique over the pieced background.

Chatted with Kathy Martin for a bit; she has her own room here and was busy working her longarm magic on a customer's quilt.

What I bought: I fell in love with a pink, brown and white baby quilt in the window. There wasn't a kit, but Gery's cutting the fabric and mailing it to me along with the pattern. I also bought a couple of yards of a fuschia batik with small gold spirals. Just what I needed -- more PINK fabric!

If you are up here wine tasting or just enjoying the beautiful countryside and great weather, this shop is definitely worth a visit. Broadway Quilts is located at 20525 Broadway, Sonoma CA 95476 (phone: 707-938-7312). To go to the website, click here.