Happy International Quilting Day

 

This is a copy of an email that I sent out to my email list. I apologize if it's a copy. If you want to receive emails from me directly, sign up on my blog.

Dear Quilting Friends,

Grab a piece of paper and a pen. It's time to start making your lists - both for quilt shows to watch and quilt classes to take. Read on for more info.

This is the cover of my first book. It was published in 2010. It was such an exciting time for me to actually have my quilts in a book. I just never thought this would happen. To promote it, my publisher, Martingale, arranged for me to do a taping on "The Quilt Show". In my opinion,it is one of the most prestigious on-line quilting shows. I was so excited as I packed my bags and headed to Boulder, Colorado for the taping and to meet the world famous hosts. I dragged my quilts as well as 2 of my friends with me! That day, I became part of their family and now I am thrilled to be able to share all of their shows with you to celebrate International Quilting Day on March 19, 2016.

The Quilt Show (www.thequiltshow.com), the web TV show hosted by Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims, will "open" all of its shows from the first seventeen series--that is, from show 100 through show 1713--for the entire weekend of March 18 –20. That means that—for three special days—everyone will have the chance to view these 221 shows, featuring some of the quilting world’s leading artists, for FREE.

I appeared as the featured artist in show 811. If you didn't have the opportunity to see this show the first time around, now you'll have the chance to see it—and so many other terrific shows—at no cost in this unprecedented three-day offer.

In addition to being able to binge watch the shows featuring so many famous quilters, there is also a contest with over $11,000 in prizes featuring a Grand Prize of a Bernina 570QE - my favorite brand of sewing machine.

I hope that you'll share this information with all of your quilting friends. It's a fantastic opportunity to enjoy three days of learning and fun without leaving your home…all for free. Really, it's free - no strings attached!

3 Day Quilting Getaway

Also, this summer I will be returning as a teacher to the Mid Appalachian Quilters, a 3 day retreat at Mt St Mary's College in Emmittsburg, MD. It's not far from Gettysburg, PA. I'll be teaching 3 classes. This retreat is full immersion quilting, living in the dorms and eating and stitching with many other friendly quilters.

I'll be teaching 3 classes - silk applique, my Convertible Backpack and hands on fabric dyeing. I love spending so much time with my students and so many other talented teachers.

It's a great price for a bunch of great classes. Registration begins this Saturday, March 19, at 9:00AM. Don't hesitate. Some classes fill up fast.

The website is: www.maqonline.org

Do something nice for yourself. Expand your creativity tool box. Watch a show or sign up for a class. You won't regret it.

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Calendar Girl

I'm so excited to be a Calendar Girl!

 

 

 

I'm August - Hacienda from !Quilt Fiesta!

 

 

 

The calendar includes the complete instructions for all of the quilts.

You can buy yours here.  It's never too early!

 

!Quilt Fiesta! at PNQE

I had so much fun hanging all of the quilts from !Quilt Fiesta! at the Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza in Oaks, PA.  Yup, that's right - an exhibit of all of my quilts.  I should really say - supervising the hanging of my quilts.  It was so cool to see the behind the scenes workings of a big quilt show.  Can you tell that it was a surreal experience for me?

My friend Kelly and I headed over to the exhibit hall after our wonderful Alzheimer Quilt Challenge.  The Mancuso organization, who run the show, could not have been nicer.  We pointed, they hung - all 20 quilts.  I can't tell you how exciting it is to have so many people being able to see my designs.  And I am doing a book signing on Friday from 1-2PM at Bitty Kinna's booth and on Sat from 1-2 at Steve's Sew N Vac's booth.  If you go to the show, stop by and say hi.

WOW!

My helper!

Watch Me On The Quilt Show For Free - This Week Only

This is the week you can check out The Quilt Show for free from this blog post.  If you are not familiar with the show, it's on the internet and the hosts are 2 of today's pre-eminent quilters.  You may know Alex Anderson from Sinmply Quilts, which was a fabulous show on HGTV for many years.  Ricky Tims, not only makes beautiful quilts, he also makes beautiful music. They have amazing chemistry and are both so knowledgeable.  The show brings the latest and the greatest about the quilting world into your home.  You can watch it any time of the day or night.

That's Alex on the left and Ricky on the right. I'm in the middle.

If you click on this link, you can see an episode all about my quilts inspired by my trip to Mexico, my Judaica, including silk torah covers that I have made and a bit about my love of bicycling.There's also a slide show with a bunch of my quilts.  Did you know that both Alex and Ricky have made chuppot (Jewish wedding canopies)?




Here we are holding up my quilt, "Merry Menorah".  It's available as a pattern.



 Anyone joining during the week will have an opportunity to see my show and other fun things. Alex and Ricky offer a very friendly, interactive online community. They are offering my blog readers a 20% discount to join.  Enter this code: 165791354796.

It was an experience of a life time.  Watch it and let me know what you think. 

The Quilt Show and ME!!!!

I thought it would never come.  It felt like a dream when it was happening.  Last August I flew out to Colorado for the taping.    That was 9 months ago.  Today on The Daily Blog, there's a slide show preview of my visit with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims on the set of The Quilt Show.  It is so amazingly professional. You can see it here:  The Quilt Show and Me!  Pinch me, I must be dreaming.  Is that really me?
And if you haven't seen enough, check this out on Facebook. Click on Play.
Stay tuned for the entire episode.

My First Book Signing

I had my first book signing today and it was so much fun.  It was at Bitty Kinna's and it coincided with the AQS Lancaster quilt show.  Meeting quilters from NJ, PA, MA, NY, VA, CT and Canada was so enjoyable.  No matter where we are from, we all love fabric.  It was a beautiful, sunny day.  Perfect for shopping.

 I was sitting near the front window and had a perfect view of the Amish horse and  buggies trotting along.  Although I cannot go back tomorrow, I signed the remaining copies and left a few quilts from the book behind.  So if you are hitting the quilt shops on Sat or Sunday, go check it out.  Tell Gina, I sent you.

Buttons Aren't Just For Mending

Today is the final day of choosing a winner for the Quilt Fiesta blog tour. The last stop is me and I have 2 books to give away.  The winners are:  Carla and Lisa Garrett. Congratulations ladies.

Hooray!  And isn't this adorable.  My friend Barb Sipes brought it to the Open House.  Thank you Barb and it's a fitting end to celebrate.  I'm heading for the cork screw.

I would like to leave Mexico behind for now and return to my love of handwork and embellishing.  Now some people may mistake handwork for hand quilting.  I do not mean handquilting when I say I love sitting down and doing work by hand.  I really mean embellishing and embroidery and everyone once in a while, big stitch quilting.  My pieces are small but intricate.

I discovered these techniques in 2004.  My youngest son left for college and I became an empty nester.  As for many of us, it was a huge adjustment and I really missed being a hands on  Mom.  (Little did I know that the job was not done, nor was the nest empty for long.)  I decided to go in a new direction and I created my quilt -" Motherhood", subtitled  "If I Did Such a Good Job of Giving My Kids Roots and Wings, Then Why Am I So Sad?"




This opened a whole new area of creativity for me.  I loved the handwork and it was a welcome way for me to spend time while my husband and I  spent the next chapter of our lives traveling. ( It also makes you feel less guilty while sitting and watching TV.)

I like to add buttons to my quilts.  It can be quite a time consuming process if there are a lot of buttons to add.  So now I am going to contradict myself and share how I use my sewing machine for sewing on buttons. 

 The discovery of using my Bernina to sew on buttons came many years ago, when my husband told me that his pants were missing a button. Could I sew one on? Couldn't that fancy sewing machine of mine sew on a button? Did it have to take a month? It was just not something that I wanted to put on my "to do"  list.

So with a little ingenuity I figured out how to do it. I dropped the feed dogs, switched to a zig zag stitch and used an open toed foot. Done! 2 minutes! Yay! But then he couldn't button his pants because the button was too tight. Shucks! That's when I learned to place a needle under the button, out of the way of the sewing machine needle so that the button wasn't too tight.

So could I use this technique to embellish my quilts?  You betcha!  Here's my button tutorial .

The supplies needed are: 

1.  An open toed foot for the sewing machine to ensure desired placement
2.  Spray adhesive - acid free is best
3.  toothpick
4.  small sharp scissors
5.  The ability to do a zig zag stitch and drop the feed dogs of your sewing machine
6.  Fray Chek

If I am doing a lot of buttons and their placement is important, I will spray their backs with the spray adhesive.  Since spray adhesive can be a messy and nasty product, I set up a spray station using a box to confine the overspray.  I do not bother with this step if it is only one or two buttons.

Using the open toed foot, drop the feed dogs of your sewing machine (some models have a plate to cover them) and set the stitch to zig zag.

 Place the button in the desired place.  A toothpick is a handy tool for placement.  If the button has been sprayed with adhesive, position it properly before placing the quilt under the sewing machine.

 Adjust the width of the zig zag so that it fits both holes.  Do this slowly by hand turning the needle.  When the proper stitch width has been found, you can use your foot pedal, but again do it slowly and carefully.  I usually zig and zag 5-8 times.

For multiple buttons, it is not necessary to cut the thread and start all over each time.    After I am completely done, I clip the threads on both the top and the back.

And then add the tiniest drop of Fray Chek to the thread on both the top and the back to make sure it does not come undone.

Last Stop of the Quilt Fiesta Book Blog Tour

I have a few things to get off my chest before I start writing about how much fun the Book Blog Tour (BBT) has been.  Jump over this first paragraph if you don't care to read about my rants.  But sometimes a girl just needs to vent.

1.  Hooray to Christian Dior! They did not miss a heartbeat in firing one of their esteemed designers who made horrible, hateful anti-semitic statements.  They didn't hem and haw and look at the bottom line.  They just fired him.   I wish they had something affordable that I could buy to show my support.
2.  Who the heck cares about Charlie Sheen and why does the media think we do?
3. Kudos to the Wall Street Journal Magazine.  I don't know how often they publish this little gem.  On the last page of this current issue, David Netto writes about the wonderful Philadelphia Museum of Art.  In this article he focuses on the Brancusi sculptures - the largest collection in our country.  It truly is a wonderful museum.
4.  Boo to the Supreme Court for allowing  protesters at military funerals.  These men and women that die for our country are heroes.  They should be allowed to be buried in peace.

So now that I got that off my chest, today is the last stop of the BBT.  This has been such a wonderful experience.  The quilt blogging community is generous and caring.  There were some bloggers on this tour who have a HUGE following.  There were other bloggers that could use some exposure. I have made many virtual friends and I hope you learned a lot about Quilt Fiesta. It has been an all around WIN-WIN for everyone. And 12 people will end up with a free copy by the end of the tour.
To become eligible to win a signed copy of Quilt Fiesta, become a Follower (if you are not already) and leave a comment and your e-mail address.  Make sure you let me know if you left a comment at any other blogs and if so, how many. 

You do still have a chance to put your name in for a book at:
http://cyarnell.blogspot.com/, http://therootconnection.blogspot.com/ ,  and http://sewcalgal.blogspot.com/  .

One More Blog

Day #9 of the Quilt Fiesta Book Blog Tour brings us to the blog of SewCalGal.  This blog ties up the ends of the tour with a final stop at Yours Truly.  Sew Cal Gal has been instrumental in bringing this quilting blog community together.  She often has contests with many, many prizes to win.  This blog is also the home of many blog tours.  This is definitely the place to go to become attuned with what's going on out there in quilting blogland.  Go visit.  Take a look around and leave a comment.  Check out the Golden Quilter Awards of 2011.

There is also still some time to leave a comment on some of the other blogs:
http://quiltville.blogspot.com/ , just home from Germany, will be picking a winner today
http://fingerlakesart.blogspot.com/
http://cyarnell.blogspot.com/
http://amyscreativeside.com/
http://therootconnection.blogspot.com/
 
This has been such an exciting experience.  Stop by http://www.cheryllynchquilts.blogspot.com/ tomorrow to see a list of the winners and to gain an insider's look into a book blog tour.

BBT Day #8

Book Blog Tour day #8 brings us to The Root Connection. This is a wonderful and enlightening blog.  I have to say that I feel smarter after reading Sujata's blog.  It's a little more cerebral than a lot of blogs.  Quilting and life. She has an uplifting and positive attitude.   And it looks like she is having so much fun.  I think I may need a play date. 

After you visit The Root Connection and leave a comment to hopefully win a copy of my book,  make sure you visit the other blogs along the tour that are still accepting comments.    Then one more blog to go. (And it's really a great one).
http://quiltville.blogspot.com/
http://fingerlakesart.blogspot.com/
http://cyarnell.blogspot.com/
http://amyscreativeside.com/

Day #6 of The Book Blog Tour

Colleen has become a friend of mine through the blog world.  Her blog, Lucky Duck Dreams, says she is a cancer survivor and lucky to be following her dreams.  You go girl!  Fun and colorful projects can be found along with these wonderful lime green t-shirts with pink lettering that you can order, by clicking HERE , with part of the proceeds going to Relay for Life.  Visit her blog for a chance to win a copy of Quilt Fiesta.  Make sure you leave your e-mail address if you want to be notified if you win.  And don't forget to visit the previous stops along the way.

http://pinkadotquilts.blogspot.com/

http://www.quiltsoupblog.com/
http://grandmacocosdesigns.blogspot.com/
http://www.quiltville.blogspot.com/
http://fingerlakesart.blogspot.com/

 Kelly of Pinkadotquilts will be picking the first winner today.

And look what I found in The Old Country Store in Lancaster County, PA. 

What do you think of my Vanna White impersonation?



Book Blog Tour Day #5

Stop #5 of the Quilt Fiesta book Blog Tour is the blog of Holly Knott, http://fingerlakesart.blogspot.com/.  I "met" Holly when I chose her to design my website.  She did an amzing job.  If you're in the market for a webmaster, you couldn't find a more professionl person.  She is aways timely in doing updates and even though sometimes I can be  pain in the A--, she was always patient and kind. Holly is also a quilter who makes beautiful art quilts and she has an etsy shop.  Visit her blog, leave a comment and don't forget to leave an e-mail address.  You can still leave a comment at Kelly's, Quilt Soup,  Grandma Coco's, Bonnie's blog.

Today my computer died.  I had talked about getting a new one, but again I have been procrastinating. Panic set in.  There are a few things on that computer that would be impossible to replace.  All those photos and my Power Point lecture presentations.  I stopped at this little white house on the highway that I had driven by many, many times with a sign that said  they did computer repair. I found my new best friend, Chris.  He would be able to transfer all thhe data from my old computer to a new one in a matter of minutes!  Not days!  Time to buy a new computer.

Have you been to Quiltville?

Stop #4 of the Quilt Fiesta Book Blog Tour:  www.Quiltville.blogspot.com
Bonnie Hunter is one amazing quilter.  I have never seen a more hard working and generous professional.  After you check out her blog, you must check out her website:  www.Quiltville.com

Bonnie teaches, travels and is a designer.  Her focus is scrap quilts and you can find close to 50 free patterns on her website. (I did say she was generous.) She also supports many charitable causes as well as encourages fledgling authors!  Actually she is teaching in Germany as her blog was posted for this book tour.

And don't forget you can still go to the first 3 stops of the book blog tour to comment for a chance to win a book.  Remember to include your e-mail address.......just in case.

 http://pinkadotquilts.blogspot.com/                  2/22/11      Day#1
http://www.quiltsoupblog.com/                         2/23/11        Day #2
http://grandmacocosdesigns.blogspot.com/     2/24/11       Day #3
http://quiltville.blogspot.com                             2/25/11        Day #4
http://fingerlakesart.blogspot.com                    2/26/11        Day #5
 http://cyarnell.blogspot.com                             2/27/11         Day #6
http://amyscreativeside.com/                           2/28/11         Day #7
http://therootconnection.blogspot.com             3/1/11           Day #8              http://sewcalgal.blogspot.com                            3/2/11           Day #9
http://CherylLynchQuilts.blogspot.com           3/3/11           Day #10

Here's a fun contest - How would you like to design a fun sock and get paid to do it?  Go to:http://www.sockittome.com/blog/   It's their annual contest and you should see some of the designs.    Quilty socks anyone?

Book Blog Tour Giveaway Day #2

I would like to introduce Barbara Jones of Quilt Soup.  Barbara is an amazing fabric and pattern designer.  I "met" Barbara when I was making quilts  for Quilt Fiesta.  I came across one of her fabric lines,  Bubblegum Basics , manufactured by Henry Glass & Co.  I had designed and created I don't know how many quilts by then and had spent sooooo much money on fabric. I took a chance and e-mailed Henry Glass and asked if they would be interested in giving me fabric to use in my upcoming book.  Without a beat, they asked me how much I needed and put me in touch with Barbara. If I was making a quilt for the book now, I don't know which of her fabrics I would use.

This is the quilt I made from Barbara's fabrics for the book. :

Make sure you visit her blog, www.quiltsoupblog.com,  for a chance to win a copy of Quilt Fiesta.  Don't forget to leave an e-mail address so she can contact you if you are the lucky one.
Also, don't forget you can still comment at www.pinkadotquilts.blogspot.com  for a chance to win.

Book Blog Tour Giveaway Day #1

I would like to introduce you to Kelly of  www.pinkadotquilts.blogspot.com .  Kelly is a prolific  quilter who loves clear, bright colors and does beautiful applique.  Kelly's blog is the first stop on the Quilt Fiesta Book Blog Tour. (She also has an amazing quilt in the book.).  Leave a comment and maybe you will be the lucky winner of a book.  Visit here each day to see the next stop on the tour.

After asking all my friends for pix, I now have 2 photos of the most important food (desserts only) from the Open House:

Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes

And these very, very special cookies, made by my DIL.  

Here's a shameless plug for this fledgling entrepreneur.

 www.MyCustomCookies.blogspot.com

 

Quilt Fiesta-: Win A Free Copy and Meet Other Bloggers

The Open House was a huge success.  My feet still have not touched the ground.  Thank you to everyone who came.  I am embarrassed to say that with all the excitement, I forgot completely about taking photos.   I just don't know where my brain has gone. 

Now on to the next excitement.  Fortunately this next promotion can be done with my butt planted in a chair.  Have you heard of a Book Blog Tour? 

Would you like to win a free copy of Quilt Fiesta? 

How about meeting some fascinating new bloggers?  

My big announcement is that we're doing a 10 day book blog tour.  Instead of traveling from book store to book store,  you can travel from blog to blog.  No need to worry about the weather or the price of gas.  Starting tomorrow visit each blog in the tour, leave a comment and maybe you'll win a free copy of Quilt Fiesta. A book will be given away from each blog. 

 I am so proud of this book.  Quilt Fiesta is a  beautifully produced book that has 10 quilts and projects based on the designs of Mexican tiles.  The artwork is gorgeous.  In addition it has tidbits about Mexican culture and a travelogue about the trips that inspired the book.

Here's the schedule. It is a wonderful sampling of what types of blogs that are out there covering the different aspects of quilting.  Each blogger will accept comments for 5 days from their start date. Enjoy reading these great blogs and don't forget to leave a comment.  Good luck to all.

http://pinkadotquilts.blogspot.com/                  2/22/11
http://www.quiltsoupblog.com/                         2/23/11
http://grandmacocosdesigns.blogspot.com/     2/24/11
http://quiltville.blogspot.com                             2/25/11
http://fingerlakesart.blogspot.com                    2/26/11
 http://cyarnell.blogspot.com                             2/27/11
http://amyscreativeside.com/                           2/28/11
http://therootconnection.blogspot.com             3/1/11                         http://sewcalgal.blogspot.com                            3/2/11
http://CherylLynchQuilts.blogspot.com           3/3/11

Sneak Peak

The furniture is in the garage.  The quilts are hung.  My studio has been organized (for the most part).  The floors are washed.  The food is prepped.  I am exhausted, but don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight.  Tomorrow is the Open House to celebrate the publication of my book, Quilt Fiesta.  If you're coming, here's a sneak peak.  If you won't be coming, here's what you are missing.

The Family Room sans furniture

Organizing the quilts

The Family Room turned Gallery

The welcoming committee with the Guest Book

The making of Mexican tissue paper flowers

The sun room with a bouquet of Mexican Flowers

Mini cupcakes waiting to be frosted

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 If I have time tomorrow morning, I'll try to snap a few photos of the food.  Look for the unique and amazing cookies with all the other Mexican snacks.  And on Monday, I'll be making a big announcement. 

Where In The World Is Quilt Fiesta? Give-Away

I know I am repeating myself, but I still can't believe it, so pinch me. My book is here and it is so exciting to see people's reactions.  It's real!  I'm a book author! Woohoo! 

What's even more exciting is that there have been Quilt Fiesta sightings in some of the local quilt shops!  This has inspired me to have some fun with this.  Instead of Where's Waldo, let's play:

Where's Quilt Fiesta?

Here's the deal.  Look for my book in your local quilt shop or bookstore.  Take a photo and e-mail it to me.  Comment here as to where you found it.  Let's see if we can go around the world.    In 1 week (next Weds), I will draw 2 winners.  You can live any where in the world.  The winner will get  either 1 yard of hand dyed fabric or Fig Tree Quilt's book.  If you can't do the photo thing, leave a comment.  For each comment you leave, you will be entered once.  Each photo and comment will count as 2 entries.  You can do this for as many different shops where you see the book.  

Here are the prizes:

Fig Tree Quilts' "Houses", a great book published by Martingale.   OR  One yard of hand dyed fabric, dyed by yours truly.

 

OR

 If you have a preference, add it to your comment and I will try to accommodate you.

Did someone say road trip?  Let's go!

Save the Date

I am excited beyond my wildest dreams.  January 11th, which is 5 days from now, is the release date for my book.  The books are sitting in Martingale's warehouse right now.  I want to go there and see them. A crazy thought since they are located all the way on the other side of the country in Washington state.  I have ordered 3 cases, but they cannot ship them until the release date.

To celebrate my first book, I thought I would like to have a coming out party.  I wanted to share my quilts with food and drink.  Researching different locales was a lot of fun, but not very productive.  Either I couldn't serve alcohol or I couldn't sell my book or it was waaaaaaay too expensive. 

One of my sons suggested having it at home, like an open house.  That way I could do whatever I wanted.  Hmmmmmm.  It took a few days to wrap my brain around that one.  If we removed all of the furniture from the first floor, I could hang all of my quilts like a gallery.  I could serve any food that I wanted, have my books available and a bonus would be that I could open up my studio for visitors.  As Jim Carey would say, "Alrighty then".  Let's get to work.

The date has been chosen - Sunday, February 20th, 11AM-6PM.  We're working on the menu, I'm working on my studio (note the last post) and I had a bunch of postcard invitations printed.  So if you're in the Philadelphia area, stop in to join the celebration, see the quilts,
have a bite to eat and maybe buy a book.  And if you would like a bunch of postcards to pass out, drop me an e-mail.


Check out my first purchases for my coming out party.  I love the lady with the sombrero.

And The Winner Is:

I am so happy to share these calendars.  The winners are:

Nancy H and Woolen Sails

Congratulations!

I have so much to be thankful for this year.  Other than having a wonderful family, I have met so many wonderful people all over the world thanks to Quilt Fiesta and my blog, and have made lots of  new friends while traveling to speak to many quilt guilds.  Tomorrow I'll tell you about my visit to Mark Lipinski's house for my stint as a co-host on Creative Mojo.  If you haven't heard it, click on the logo on my sidebar.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American readers and to anyone else that would like to take a couple of minutes and give thanks!