My Hiatus is Coming to a Close

It's time to get into the swing of things.  The natural rhythm of my year leaves me with a 3 - 1/2 month hiatus from lecturing.  During December, most guilds have a holiday themed meeting.  January and February are my months to be in Key West and then the first half of March is for travelling home, unpacking and maybe a couple of  quilt shows.

I am now getting ready for my first lecture of this year at Helping Hands Quilt guild in Dover, DE.  "Turning Travel Into Treasure" is my newest lecture.  I share many fiber pieces that I have created based on my travels over the years.  As I prepare for the presentation, it's like a walk down memory lane, packing each quilt and reminiscing.  Sometimes the memories overcome me. 

In 2011, there was an outdoor art installation in Central Park, in NYC, called The Gates.  I was drooling over photos and wishing that I could walk under those tangerine flags. I grew up in a suburb of the city and have such fond memories of visits from my childhood. One day, my husband said, "let's go!".  Really??  He took a day off from work and we drove the 2 hours North.  It was a glorious, crisp, clear day and I walked and walked and walked under all those flowing pieces of fabric. Then  a volunteer handed me a small piece of the tangerine gate fabric.  I knew I had to use it. 

 I won't share all my stories now.   I could write forever, because many of my quilts are inspired by  my travels.  I'll just share a few photos.

"Filigree Fantasy"  inspired by all the wrought iron balconies and doors in Barcelona.

"Houses of Key West"

"Casa Talavera" inspired by tiles in Mexico

"Concentricity" inspired by sidewalk tiles in St Augustine

Are you inspired by your travels?

Come to one of my lectures if you want to see more eye candy  and hear more of my stories. 

 Click HERE for my schedule.

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.