Free Pattern at Clothworks

Free Pattern at Clothworks 

 Oh, it's just so cute! Clothworks made up a quilt from the pattern I designed for them. I LOVE IT! It is so happy and cheerful, and perfect for some little kid's bed! Just saw this on their blog and had to share it with you. You can get free instructions (here) for this quilt on the Clothworks website. Keep checking back with me, I will have a small giveaway soon!

Going to the Show!

Going to the Show! 

I am super proud to announce that my quilt, Doors Across Austin, has been juried into A World of Beauty, IQA in Houston. Click on the name of the quilt if you would like to read more about it. This is the same quilt that won Best of Show at ARTQUILTStransitions. It traveled to a number of venues, but I think this will be it's biggest one! It just adds so much meaning to my work when it gets to be seen and connect with others! Also juried in was our group quilt, Rainbow Pixel Project, made by the Austin Art Bee (Kathy York, Connie Hudson, Sherri McCauley, Barb Forrister, Frances Holliday Alford, and Leslie Jenison). Whoo-hoo!!!!!!

Dyeing to Learn Batik

Dyeing to Learn Batik 

a class from Malka Dubrawsky My all time favorite teacher who forever has altered my life for the better is offering her wonderful class Dyeing to Learn Batik, on Sunday, July 25. I highly recommend it! You can read more about her class here at her Etsy shop. But be careful, chances are if you go to her Etsy shop, you will want to buy some of her fabulous fabric bundles and pillows and such. They are too yummy for words! Here's a pile of them, looking really wonderful together! Or check out her blog, here.

Summer

Summer

It's been a fast summer. I am working on a new piece for my entry to Quilt National. So, I am busy, but can't show any pictures yet. Meanwhile, my fabric line is on the shelves, and I've been to see it! What's next? Well, International Quilt Festival in Long Beach, CA is coming up soon, July 23 to 25. I have a new piece debuting there called, Fifty and Female and Fearless (it's the same one on the post below!) And I wanted to share with you that all the quilts in this exhibit are available in a book called, Beneath the Surface, from Blurb. This is so awesome! And, so reasonably priced that I was surprised, only $15.95. If you go to the quilt show in Long Beach, you will also be able to see my quilts, Duck and Cover (at the SAQA exhibit, Sense of Humor), and Red Legged Bird with a Tale to Tell (at Tactile Architecture). Also showing are my two winning quilts from IQA's World of Beauty, Building UP (1st place, small abstract), and Falling through the Cracks (3rd place, embellished). Meanwhile, I will show you a few photos of the fabric I have dyed for my new quilt, but sadly, it doesn't portray at all what I am doing with them. Sorry.

Beneath the Surface

Beneath the Surface

My postcards have arrived and I would love to share them with you. If you want one, drop me a comment, and email me your address, I will send one to you! Offer expires when I run out of postcards! Details: International Quilt Festival in Long Beach July 22-25, 2010 Also showing at International Quilt Festival in Houston Nov 4-7, 2010 Isn't it cool how they used the image of my quilt, Fifty and Female and Fearless, on the front!!

The Quilt Store

The Quilt Store 

 Many years ago I took my first quilting class at The Quilt Store. I had finished my first quilt by then and had just completed a baby quilt. I was having trouble with the backs, they just weren't large enough. So I took a beginning class to learn more about construction. I just wanted an answer for that question about the backs, but I learned so much more. Things like....you are supposed to bury your knots inside the quilt sandwich. Really? I didn't know that. My first quilt was all hand quilted, double bed size, with all the knots on the back. A technique called Stab and Jab, which is pitifully slow. That might explain why that first quilt took 20 years to make! Anyway, after the first class, I took another on machine quilting, and then a third on applique techniques. I usually take classes when I am stumped with a question. I had started a Christmas banner project and it was all applique. The instructions were vague and I got caught up with way too many layers to be able to sew through. Susan Tennison set me straight on that. She taught me 10 different ways to applique, and now I know that which technique depends on the type of project you have. I could go on and on with stories about classes and what I've learned, but let's flash forward a bit. On my most recent visit to The Quilt Store, (yes, even more years later), my love for quilting and fabric design has resulted in my own fabric line. I couldn't wait to see it actually on the shelves! My expectation was to have to look for each bolt of fabric in it's own color section. I think that is one thing that I have LOVED about The Quilt Store so much; it is the way Laurie Evans organizes the fabrics into bays of color. Walk into the green bay, it involks a stronge emotion, the same as the blue bay, and the yellow and orange bay, etc. The colors speak most loudly when they are grouped together and when they surround you, you can hear them clearly. This is how I pick color palettes. Oops, sorry, I digress. What I found was my fabric line on it's own shelf, right by the front door. I was so happy and I feel so honored to have my own shelf. And it was truly pleasing to see how well my fabrics fit in with the whimsical theme of that section. PERFECTION!!