Why I Love My Job

Who would have thought that at the age of 56, I would be spending my life creating quilts, writing books and visiting quilt guilds to share what I have learned?  I love to create and I love to share.  I couldn't ask for more.  I have met some of the most wonderful people and have made new friends while visiting and lecturing at quilt guilds.  I have also formed the most wonderful friendships from a group that started for us to share our art quilts.

Every guild has the same issues of raising enough money to fund their speakers.  They make raffle quilts, mount quilt shows and some even do cookbooks.  The charitable work that quilters do show that we not only have enough time to quilt and raise money, but we have hearts that are big enough to help others.  A lot of the charitable causes include women and children.

Recently, I visited the Main Line Quilters.  They meet in Wayne, PA.  Not only did they have their own raffle quilt, but there was a local Japanese woman there is a popular long arm quilter.  Takakao Pike has been giving up her own time to visit guilds to sell raffle tickets to a quilt she created to raise money for Japan Relief. 

The Newtown Quilters Guild  meet in Newtown, PA. They are getting ready for their quilt show in October.  To raise money for breast cancer, they are having a challenge that involves the embellishment of bras. I am sorry that I have forgotten  the show's chairperson who is also responsible for the challenge.  But I do remember her bra.  She called it "Sea Cup". You do not need to be a member to participate.  I am thinking that this might be right up my alley.

Penn Oaks is a quilt guild that is near and dear to my heart.  Several of my good friends are members.  They meet in Frazier, PA.  They have about 40 mighty and energetic members.  Many members participate in their challenges and everyone does their fair share for their quilt show.  Their quilt show is this Friday and Saturday.  I am thrilled that they have invited me to show some of my quilts.  I will be there signing
 my books from from 10-3 on Friday and 10-1 on Sat.  If you're in the area, come say hi.  The info is below:

For the Love of Quilting VI

Friday, April 29 and Saturday, April 30, 2011

Griffith Hall, Ludwig’s Corner Fire House,

1325 Pottstown Pike (Rte. 100—near Rte 100 and 401) in Glenmoore, PA.
West Vincent Township
Show Hours:
Friday, 4/29/11 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Saturday, 4/30/11 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.


Entry is $8



Good Morning Sunshine!

What a wonderful surprise to wake up this morning to see a beautiful blue sky.  I really needed a day like today to lift my spirits.  We have had the longest winter and a very grey and rainy Spring so far.  I find that the older I get, the more I crave sunshine.  Greyness brings me down.

So to celebrate this beautiful morning, I decided to dust off my bike and go for a ride with my trusted companion, Bailey.

The sweet perfume of Spring was in the air.

And the view was gorgeous.

Steaming

Things have been quiet at this blog lately and may be for a bit longer.  I am working on another book.  It is so exciting and it is a very different topic than Quilt Fiesta.  In this book I will be sharing techniques that I have developed  and refined over the last 10 years.  Needless to say, I don't have much free time to do anything other than write and create.  But, I was reading a very interesting blog yesterday.  Lisa Call is a quilt artist  who has exhibited at the most prestigious quilt shows, including Quilt National.   I have admired her for years. Her quilts are very contemporary.  She is a prolific quilter AND works full time.  She brings her professional technical background to the creative part of her life.  The blog I was reading was about how she steams her heavily quilted pieces to flatten them before binding.

Tomorrow I am sending 2 of my quilts out to Colorado for the Denver National Quilt Festival.  One of my quilts, Filigree Fantasy has never been seen out in public before.  But I have been extremely worried, because I machine quilted it like crazy and the edges were wonky.  Take a look!

 I wasn't sure how it would hang at a show.  After reading Lisa's blog about binding a quilt, I decided to give it a try.  I got my squirt bottle and my steam irone and then I pressed and steamed and pressed and steamed.  And then I let it sit overnight.

And I was thrilled to see how flat it was.  Thanks Lisa for the giving me the courage.

Sneak Peek at Lonni Rossi's Newest Fabric Line

I had a huge treat the other day. A friend of mine was in the area to play hockey. We decided to visit Lonni Rossi's shop in Ardmore, PA. ( My friend is a girl and yes she plays ice hockey AND she's the goalie and she's a quilter.) She had a few extra hours so she stopped at my house to see my studio and then off we went to Ardmore.

The first thing we noticed as we walked in the door was this beautiful handpainted taffeta on her design table.  They were just getting ready to roll it and deliver it to a customer

They were just getting ready to roll it and deliver it to a customer, who is an interior designer and makes this beautiful lamps.  Look at all her silkscreens underneath the table.

Can you see the biggest grin on Amy's face?  I don't think she stopped smiling the whole time we were in the shop.  We couldn't believe our eyes when Lonni herself, started showing us her latest fabric line.  It's not available for purchase yet and won't be unveiled until the Spring wholesale buyers market.  She gave me permission to share.  So here goes.  the fabric is beautiful.

The camera just doesn't do it justice.  It's hard to see the bees, dragonflies and butterflies and the little bits of gold in spa colors.

Lonni and me in front of two of her amazing quilts.

You can purchase fabric by the yard or as fat quarter assortments. 

Lonni gave me a color card of her "Little Lonni's" for use in designing some new projects for my work in progress book.

And look at the beautiful fabric I bought.  Purple isn't my color of choice (blue is), but sometimes you just have to work outside of your comfort zone.

Thanks Lonni, for a great morning.

We Had A Blast

Today was the class I donated during my quilt guild's annual auction.  The classs was one of my embellished beauties.  It was filled with some of my favorite quilters . (That's you - Barb, Betty, Debbi, Elaine, Lynne and Sandy!)  My kitchen table was the classsroom and my studio was the workroom.  Having a kit with pre-cut fabric and embellishments made it possible for everyone to finish.  You go girls!

The Yin and Yang of Life

The Park Avenue Armory Adorned in Red & White

I read about it.  I saw photos of it.  I just didn't expect the rush of feelings I would have seeing it in person.  Walking into the main room of the Armory in NYC brought tears to my eyes.

The exhibit, "INFINITE VARIETY, Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts", included 650 red and white quilts hung in spirals from the ceiling of the Park Avenue Armory in New York City. It was breathtaking and amazing and inspirational. It was nothing like I had ever seen before and I don't think I will ever see anything like it again. Just magnificent!

It seemed like there were no 2 alike. 

 The ceiling must have been at least 40 feet high.

 The lighting was just unbelievable.  Every quilt, no matter how high it was, glowed. The dark walls and ceiling made the quilts seem like they were floating.

 It was impossible to pick individual quilts to photograph.  I was told that this one was embroidered four and sugar sacks that were bleached and then stitched.

 This was the back wall.

The program  describes the quilts as ordinary coverings, largely anonymous with unknown provenance.  I would have to strongly disagree with the first part of this statement.  These quilts were far from ordinary.  Maybe that would be a museum curator's point of view, but any quilter could tell you that's not true.  Each of these quilts has a story involving its creator and then an additional story from the collector, Mrs.  Rose, and were stunning in their simplicity of color.  It was so hard to pick a favorite, but if I had to ..... it would be the red and white one. 

 If you would like to see more photos head to:  http://www.flickr.com/groups/1587925@N24/ , you can also download a free app for your iPhone of all 650 quilts from the Apple itunes store  as Infinite Variety and check out Pat Sloan's blog for lots of links. 

We couldn't visit New York without eating and visiting The City Quilter.  Of course we had to see if they carried my book.  Guess what? One left.   My friend Angela bought  the last copy.  Sold out!