Road 2 CA Recap

I have finally surfaced from my  trip to California.  I arrived there with a cold, that persisted even until today.  I had quite a hoarse throat throughout my classes, but my students were wonderful and so co-operative.

I'm starting to get used to teaching on the road.  A suitcase full of  class supplies were shipped to CA two weeks ahead of time.  We carefully watched the tracking status and breathed a sigh of relief when it showed "ARRIVED".  The remainder of supplies and my quilts were loaded into my checked bag, weighing in at 49#, my carry on bag containing all my Mini Mosaic quilts and my personal bag.  I have learned to embrace curb side check-in at the airport and gladly tip the sky cap.

This brought a smile to my face as I changed gates in Phoenix.

There was a faculty meeting complete  with hors d'oeuvres the evening before classes started.  Sitting next to Jenny Doan and other quilting  luminaries made me pinch  myself. This was going to be an amazing show.

I share with my students at the beginning of each class, my teaching method - after an overview, I break the project down step by step.  I don't want  to hold anybody back or leave anyone behind.  It's a balancing act.  This is about their success, not mine.  First up was my Silk Skinny Curvalicious quilt class using dupioni silk. 

Friday's class was "Beachalicious", another Curvalicious class.  Some prep ahead of time resulted in some great progress:

On the third day, "Funkytown" was the class.  This was the first time that I taught this Curvalicious pattern as a class.  It was so exciting to see every one's fabric choices.

And the final day, the class was the Mini Mosaic Quilt class.

I love this class because there's lots of time to chat and learn about each other.  So interesting! So fascinating I completely forgot to take any photos.

I had an hour or so during lunch one day to visit the vendors and see the quilts.  The floor was buzzing, the quilts were amazing and again no photos!

My travel agent (aka my hubby) worked his magic and was able to book me First Class seats on my way home.  It was a great time to catch up on my sleep and healthy eating.

Thank you everyone.

It's Monday, Again

It was a busy week, between lecturing and teaching  a workshop at Byrne Sewing Connection in Doylestown and the Penn Oaks Quilt Show.  The people who work at Byrne's, including the owner,  Debbie Byrne and the customers, could not have been warmer and more eager to learn.  I presented my newest talk, Turning Travel Into Treasures.  Since most of my quilts are inspired by my travels, it's a talk rich in many styles of my quilts spanning many years.

I was so cauht up with setting up my talk and having a full workshop plus a couple that I didn't take any photos. I need to remind myself to TAKE SOME PHOTOS!!!! Since I didn't take any photos, I thought I would share some photos of the quilts that I shared and the inspiration.

Called Casa Talavera, this was inspired by multiple trips to Mexico and their beautiful ceramic tiles.

Called Concentricity -  was a result of a morning walk in St. Augustine, FL.  It was inspired by a detail in the sidewalk.  Lots of different fabrics were used including organza, silk and lame.

Filigree Fantasy was inspired by the wrought iron doors and balconies in Barcelona.  The center is a motif from the children's area at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA. The applique is fused and stitched down by hand with hand dyed cotton floss.

 This is a quilt top that  I just can't decide how to quilt.  On a morning walk while visiting my brother in Phoenix, there were these huge cactus plants that had these huge red bulbous protrusions, that I guess are the flowers.  While most of the circles are cotton, some are velvet, some are wool and some  are silk.

Primmitive Seasons is a fictional depiction of a flowering weeping willow throughout the 4 seasons.  I loved doing all of the handstitching.  The circles in the 3 borders are wool pennies.

 Keyfetti Fish uses my mosaic technique and was created while spending a couple of months in Key West.

Beachalicious makes me think about childhood summers at the Long Island beaches.  It's one of my patterns using Curvalicious and can be purchased from my Etsy shop.

And I just have to share that I was thrilled that Funkytown won a 2nd place ribbon at the Penn Oaks Quilt Show.  I'm a new member and am so impressed how this small guild puts on this wonderful quilt show.

It's actually my newest pattern made with Curvalicious.  It;s also available in my Etsy shop.

Don't forget to come back on Friday for the latest Stitchography interview.  This Friday, Patty Young shares how she manages to run a business and be a Mom.  You'll like to read about her experience  as a fabric designer for Riley Blake Designs and her company MODKID - where she sells high quality sewing patterns for girls, tweens and women's clothing as well as accessories.

Summer Wrap Up

Everyone that I talk to agrees on one thing.  This summer has flown by.  I know it has for me.  It has been such a busy summer and I thought I needed to justify why I have not gotten on my bicycle - not even once.  (OK - I just remembered that I did go for a ride with my son, where he left me in the dust.)  My bike stares at me every time I pull into the garage.  It's silently saying "ride me, ride me".  I want to, but my studio is calling at the same time.  When I see cyclists out on the road enjoying the beautiful weather, flying along the hills, I want to be out there too.  There are just not enough hours in the day and by this point I am so out of shape that I think instead of flying up the hills, I would be walking my bike up those hills, huffing and puffing the whole way.

So here's my justification list:

• Mosaic Pet Retreat - A great long weekend with a great bunch of students.  Loren and I finished the Cooper top. Now it's om my to do list to quilt it.

• MAQ- I taught 3 wonderful classes at Mt St Mary's University  reconnecting with students and friends from years past and making some new friends.  It does take a lot of work to get ready to teach 3 separate workshops.

Dupioni Silk Lone Star

Beachalicious

Curvalicious Pillows - The Perfect Finish

• AQS quilt show in Syracuse - This was a wonderful experience with Don as my co-pilot.  I demoed my heart out for 4 days, sold a bunch of tools and made lots of new Curvalicious fans. Plus, Curvalicious found a place in 3 new quilt shops! 
  
   I was so motivated by this show that I am in the process of signing up for the AQS show in Daytona Beach next February.
  

• Torah Covers Commission - I designed, created and delivered 2 High Holiday Torah covers to Temple Sholom in Broomall

                           

• Shhhhhhhh - I worked on one other project for close to a month, that I can't wait to share, but not yet.  I am bursting at the seams with excitement.  More info to come in October.

The Fall is coming and I have lots of speaking engagements coming up.  Check the tabs above for the dates.  It is also a wonderful time to be outside riding.  Hmmmmm.

The Party Is Over

The quilting party is over. I'm exhausted and so inspired at the same time. 275 students eager to learn and 23 instructors eager to share made for 3 days filled with creativity and friendship. 

Show and Tell on Saturday night shares what the students created during the first two days. I was surprised to see that my Lone Star students sewed into the night after class on Friday. 

Saturday was my Perfect Pillow Curvalucious class. As a designer, it was so exciting to see all the different fabric color combinations that were chosen. 

Kathy pranked her friends. She is a brand new quilter and flew up from Mississippi to be with her friends. She sent this photo of "her finished pillow" to her friends. Although they were surprised that she had completely different fabric, they came running ....... To see my class demo!

My last class was to teach Beachalicious.  One of my students brought this great fabric. She cut out a bunch of the motifs to place in the sand. Clever. 

Just 3 of the 15 beach scenes in progress. 

Juggling

I just can't believe that I have been home less than a week  and I am back in the rat race, but as my friend Terry says, "It's all good!".  And it is, except that we had 8" of snow.  If I hadn't spent a day with my grandson Henry, I would be so annoyed, but it was so worth it to be home and see him and the huge smile he had for me. 

Last night at my synagogue, we had Art Shabbat.  There was an exhibit of art by temple members who wanted to participate. The exhibit only lasted 3 hours.  We were allowed to show three pieces and I chose these small framed ones.

This is from a series of small quilts I made titled "Leaving Home".  It was inspired by loving and letting my kids head out into the world on their own.

"Chic Shin" was a workshop I taught at a conference for the Pomegranate Guild of Jewish Needlearts.  

I backed it with a beautiful gold and white fabric.  The shadowbox frame was purchased from a second shop.  I spray painted it gold and added the black dots.  It made this piece look so elegant.  

The exciting news is that it was purchased!

I'm sure you will be able to tell what inspired my third piece.

Key West!

It was a postcard size piece that I mounted inside a frame.  

It was a white frame that I painted turquoise and embellished with buttons.

The next item on my agenda is the Lancaster Quilt Show.  I have a booth at The Continental Inn on Rte 30 across the street from The Host Farms.  I decided to take the plunge and share Curvalicious with a wider audience. I am scared $$tless, but I know I need to do this.  In addition to the tool I will have lots of dupioni silk and kits.  It starts on Wednesday and lasts until Saturday.  It's their 25th year, so they are having a huge raffle basket with lots of vendors.  There's a shuttle bus that goes to the AQS show downtown.   I have some great friends that will be helping me out.  

So if you're in the area, come by and say hello.  I will need your support.

Today was the opening of registration for the summer quilt symposium where I teach in Maryland. It's a great 3 days of hanging out with quilters, learning and laughing and eating, although quite frankly the food leaves a lot to be desired!  I thought I would share the three classes I am teaching:

Easy pieced dupioni silk lone star on Friday

My Curvalicious Pillows

Sunday is Beachalicious day.  I found out today that this class is almost full and registration just started! Excuse me while I jump up and down. I'm not used to being the popular girl.

MAQ is really the best value around.  Check out their website:

www.MAQonline.org

Beachalicious Debut at Calico Cutters

 It's here! I am so excited.  My first published pattern using Curvalicious(c)! 

 It made it's debut this past week  during a workshop with Calico Cutters Quilt Guild.  I am a little biased because it's my home guild, but the ladies did a great job. I can say that even thought they called me  tough task master.

You know how I can tell they were working very hard?  The room was quiet!

And thinking hard!

It couldn't have been too bad, because Dorcas was still smiling.

There is always someone who has a great gadget.  This time it was Beth.

We had a great Show & Tell the next day at guild, 

even though about half of them were too shy to share.

The pattern is now available in my etsy shop.  I decided to print it as an oversized pattern, so that I could include a full sized pattern of the quilt for ease of placement.  

So the package measures 8 1/2" x 11".

We are having nasty weather her in PA, so it would be a nice time to think about the beachor start planning your summer sewing projects.