Elsie M. Campbell and Aunt Mimi's Quiltworks

New One Patch Wonder plus 1.....

2012-01-28T08:22:00.000-08:00

Beginning of my Evening Star quilt top!

Evening Star block plus corners

I wanted another one-patch wonder to add to my list, and found this block: Evening Star (according to Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns). The triangles are all the same size 45° triangles which can be easily cut using any 45° star ruler. I'm sure it could be cut using any ruler with a 45° angle marking, but I didn't try it that way since my own star ruler works so quick and easy. (You can purchase one for yourself from my website, if you'd like. Look for the Wall Flower pattern. You have your choice of buying the ruler only. Add a note to your order, and I will include one of my lone star patterns for free.)

The following instructions will make a 15 1/2" finished block, depending on the accuracy of your 1/4" seam allowance. Because of how many seams are in the block, your block size may vary slightly from my measurement.

Put 5-6 layers of tape at 4 3/4" from tip of ruler

First, prepare your ruler. Cut 5 or 6 pieces of masking tape about 4" long and affix them to the ruler at exactly 4 3/4" from the tip of the ruler, making sure that the tape is straight across the ruler.

Next, cut fabric strips 4 3/4" x 18" (across the width of a fat quarter). Each strip will yield 8 triangles. I like to layer 4 to 6 fat quarters of fabric on my ironing board, add a little starch/water mixture to the layers, and press them dry. The starch serves to stick the layers together, and will hold them well for rotary cutting. I can cut pieces for 2 or more blocks at one time when layered like this.

Use tape on ruler as a guide to cut first triangle.

Align the tape cutting guide on the prepared ruler along one long cut edge of the 4 3/4" x 18" fabric strip. Using a rotary cutter, cut along both angled edges of the ruler. Rotate the ruler 180° and cut the next triangle. Continue rotating and cutting pieces across the strip. You should be able to get 8 sets of triangles across the strip.

Continue cutting triangles by rotating the ruler.

Now, arrange the triangles in 2 groups of larger triangles, as shown, with 4 triangles in each stack of triangles. Set one group aside.

Arrange triangles in 2 sets of 4, with 4 deep. Set one group aside.

Measure and pin at the 1/4" seam allowance.

Fold the far right triangle onto the middle triangle, right sides together. Stick a pin through the first fabric layer exactly where the quarter inch seam allowances cross. Note: A 1/4" piece of blue tape placed on your left thumb can be used to help you determine where the seam allowance line will fall. Then stick the pin point through the second layer of fabric exactly where the seam allowances cross. Bring the two layers together and if you wish, pin the layers together. Note that a triangle of the lower layer sticks out beyond the top later. It is very important that this step be accurate, or your pieces will not go together nicely.

First step.

Add the lower triangle to the set. Make 4.

In a similar manner, stitch the far left triangle to the set, then add the lower triangle to complete the large triangle. Make 4 and set them aside.

PRESS SEAMS OPEN! This is important, because these seams will not nest. Pressing seams to one side will make subsequent matching of seams difficult. (Ask me how I know!)

Second set of triangles

Cut two 6" squares of the corner fabric, then cut them in half diagonally, to yield 4 corner triangles. Add them to the layout of the 2nd group of triangles, as shown.

Cut two 6" squares in half diagonally.

Cut 4 corners triangles

Add corners to the layout.

Stitch this group together in the same order as before, then center and add the corner triangles, as shown.

Stitch group together in same order as before.

Center at stitch the corner triangles to the group.

Stitch with the triangle group on top.
Stitch exactly through seam intersection.
This preserves the star point.

Press seams open. You may choose to press the corner triangle seams toward the corners, but if you will be stitching the blocks together without sashing strips between them, you will want to press the corner seams open, too.

Lay out the triangle groups, alternating the corner units with the first sets, as shown.

Lay out the sets, alternating with corner units.

Stitch the units together into quarter blocks, as shown, carefully matching seams.

Stitch units into quarter blocks.

Next, stitch the quarter blocks into half blocks. Be very careful to match all seams, but especially the center seams. When stitched, the center seams should form a perfect 'Y'.

Stitch quarter blocks into half blocks.

Carefully match the center seams.

Center seams should make a perfect 'Y'.

Stitching halves into wholes.....

Half blocks will look like this.

Stitching the halve into the entire block poses some challenges: Matching all seams, but in particular, matching the center seam. If the center doesn't match perfectly, the center may cup in, or it may pooch out. For the center seams to lay flat, you must take care to match it. Follow this sequence of steps to match the center seams:

Use a single pin to match the center seams, as shown.

Bring the layers together on the single pin.

Then pin layers together on either side of the single pin.
Remove the first center pin.

Stitch up to the first pin. Remove it.
Then stitch to the second pin before removing it.
Stitching line should fall exactly at seam intersections.

Aha! I did it! Perfect!

Underside of a finished block.
Note: seams are pressed open.
You may trim pointy pieces off at this time.

Using a very large square-up ruler,
trim two edges 1/4" beyond the points.
Turn the block 180° and trim the
remaining 2 sides. Your trimmed block should be
approximately 16" square.

And, here is the beginning of my Evening Star quilt top:

Don't you love it?

A reminder for readers: February special is a free Ruthie's Stars pattern with order of any book. I'll extend this offer to any order of the Star Ruler, too, of course!

One Patch Wonders in Process

2012-01-25T17:33:00.000-08:00

Still working, working, working on the old house, and new quilts. So blogs have been few and far between. The newest project on the house: new shower floor, repairs to entry doors, repairs to two holes in the garage ceiling, (Someone apparently wasn't careful where they put their feet when working in the attic above the garage.) and more. The newest project in the sewing room: One patch quilts for a new book proposal. One patch quilts are sometimes known as "Charm Quilts", but not all one-patch quilts are charm quilts. The usually definition of a charm quilt is that it is made up of a single shaped piece throughout the quilt with each piece being cut from a different fabric. Most end up with well over 1,000 different fabrics in them.

My first charm quilt was made up of 4"-long kite shapes. I cut many, many of the pieces, then sorted them by color and value. Then 3 light and 3 dark pieces of the same color family were put in a ziploc baggie and these baggies were packed in my computer bag and the pieces were stitched by hand into hexagons. When I had a bunch of them constructed, I stitched them all together after playing with settings on the design wall. I was so surprised to discover that when arranged on the wall, the hexagons formed 60° triangles. It was attractive, but it would have been so much easier to have stitched the pieces together as triangles first, instead of hexagons.

My next charm quilt is in process. It is made from a patch shape known as 'apple core' or 'hatchet'. After cutting over a thousand 3" patches, I stitched them into four-patches, then the 4-patches were stitched into 9-patch blocks made up of 4-patches.

Apple Core 4-Patch

Curved piecing is requiring lots and lots of time, so I only have 13 of 30 blocks completed after several months of working on t hem. I am stitching them together by machine, and have found that it is only slightly faster than stitching them together by hand, but it is beginning to take shape. Here is one design option for these blocks. The jury is still out on whether I like this arrangement or not. What do you think?

Simultaneously, I am working on another quilt design in which the block is made up of 45° triangles in the center with right triangles for corners. This one has been a lot of fun, and is quite a bit quicker and easier than the apple core charm quilt. I will write the instructions for the new one, and publish it in the next blog sometime later this week.

Detail of Ruthie's Stars quilt

In the meantime, I'd like to offer you a Valentine's Day special from now until the end of February: A free Ruthie's Stars pattern with the purchase of any one of my 4 book titles from my website: Love Knows No Season, Winning Stitches, String Quilts, or Squares and Triangles. Ruthie's Stars features 12 Lone Star blocks with heart appliqué motifs in the corners. You can make it scrappy or you can purchase yardage to make your version of this queen bed-sized quilt. I chose a pink and blue color scheme but used multiple fabrics to make it scrappy.

Winning Stitches Video (Hand Quilting)

2011-12-06T16:01:00.000-08:00

Well, here goes....we'll try uploading the video again with Safari. Looks like it will only take 30 minutes or more! (It took an hour and a half, and I had to upload to YouTube first, then blogger! Whew!)

There is no sound with this video, so don't worry about your computer sound not working. I usually narrate this live when presenting this video.

The video begins by showing you how to make the quilter's knot by wrapping a loop of thread around the point of the needle. Then the quilting process begins by popping the tiny knot into the batting layer. My needle enters the top layer only about 1/2" from where the line of stitching begins, and then the knot is popped through the threads of the fabric into the batting layer.

Please watch carefully how the underneath finger and the thimbled finger work together to control the movement of the needle through the quilt layers. First, the needle is inserted into the quilt layers vertically, than transferred to the thimbled finger and rocked horizontally and back and forth forming the stitches several more times. The thumb of the hand above the quilt layers works with the underneath finger to 'bend' the fabric around the point of the needle for each stitch and before the needle is pushed through the fabric layers. This rocking of the needle allows a stitch to penetrate all 3 layers creating an even stitch on both the top and bottom sides of the quilt. This stitch is intended to hold all three layers together with small, even stitches.

This process takes practice to perfect, the same as any other worthwhile endeavor. (Remember learning to play the piano? Practice, practice, practice makes perfect!) Do you have questions? Either ask them here, or refer to my book Winning Stitches. If you don't own a copy, you can get one for free with your purchase any item, even a $9 pattern, at regular price between now and New Year's Day from my website. It originally retailed for $28.95, so this is a BIG sale!

No video?

2011-12-05T20:31:00.001-08:00

So sorry, I've been trying....Can't get Blogspot to recognize my quiktime video. Any suggestions out there? Thinking I may need to try YouTube, and then bring it back into Blogspot. Anyone out there ever done that?

Winning Stitches!

2011-12-02T07:53:00.000-08:00

It's about time to get back to quilting topics here on my blog, so here we go:

I became well-known in the quilt world when I started winning awards for my hand quilting. After several top awards at international competitions, including the Mary Krickbaum Award for Best Hand Quilting and the National Quilt Association annual show, people began asking me to teach them how. Then came my book Winning Stitches that pretty much outlines everything from

So, anyway, I'm not going to start at the very beginning, but I would like to give you the 'ins and outs' of the actual quilting process. (Yes, pun was intended!)

First, you'll need a few simple tools: 14" quilting hoop, quilting thimble, quilting needles, thread, and a product I helped to develop Needle-Grip-Its. And of course, your marked quilt sandwich.

Under hoops

As far as equipment is concerned, you usually get what you pay for. You may be able to buy a hoop at Walmart for $5, and it will get you through maybe your first quilt. But quality is important if you intend to make more than one quilt. In the photo above, I bet you can spot the quality hoop without a second glance. Yes, of course, the quality one is on the bottom. It is braced, and the wood is smooth. Take a look at more differences in the following pictures:

Quality upper hoop has larger wingnut

Quality hoop is smooth, no gaps

Quality upper hoop is staple-free and true

I've used the quality hoop since 1982! The cheap hoop broke in half shortly after these photos were taken.

Sewing thimble/quilting thimble

Next, you'll need a thimble. You won't need the expensive ones here, but you do need to know the difference between a sewing thimble and a quilting thimble. A quilting thimble will have a deep depression that allows you to control the needle while 'rocking' it. Your needle will simply slip off the tip of a swing thimble, making it impossible to get close, even quilting stitches.

Quilting needle, top. Sewing needle, bottom.

Third, choose a quilting needle. My preferred brand is the John James Gold'n Glide Size 11 Big Eye Quilting Needle. A quilting needles is technically called a 'between' whereas a sewing needle is a 'sharp'. The difference between the two is 1/4" in length with the quilting needle being shorter. This allows better control of the needle during the rocking process.

As for thread, my favorite is actually a sewing thread, Mettler Silk-Finish 100% cotton. It is strong enough for hand quilting, and fine enough that your stitches will look smaller and more even than heavier threads.

My favorite for hand stitching

Another product I love to use for hand quilting is Needle-Grip-Its. I use this product on my thumb and forefinger of my preferred hand to allow for easier gripping of my tiny needles, and on my underneath fingers to protect them from needle pricks.

Now you're ready to start! Begin by hooping the quilt. Remember not to pull the quilt tight in the hoop. It should be smooth, but have some play in it. The hoop is only to free up both hands to work together to create the stitch. Ideally, the quilting stitch will look the same top and bottom. Because the needle is a stiff piece of metal, it will not bend to stitch straight down and then straight up to create the perfect stitch. But fabric is flexible. So the idea is to bend the fabric around the point of the needle. To do this, you will stick the needle down in the quilt sandwich perpendicular to it, transfer the eye end of the needle to the end of your thimble, rocking the needle horizontal and bending the quilt sandwich into the vertical position before driving the needle through it.

I will upload and insert a video of the actual hand quilting process in my next blog. (I'm having some technical difficulties uploading my QuickTime video, and need some more expertise here.) In the meantime, you can get your hand quilting equipment out and get ready to practice your hand quilting stitches!

From now until New Year's Day, I would love to send you a copy of my Winning Stitches book for FREE! Just order any one item from my website at regular price, even if that is only a $9 pattern, and I will include a copy of Winning Stitches in your package.

Here we go again!

2011-11-09T06:30:00.000-08:00

Make a slideshow

My friend Ruth Hirsch and I spent nearly the entire month of October on a 4,400 mile road trip! Last year about this time we road-tripped to Fargo and back, this year it was the east coast. First stop: Paducah, KY and if you're a dyed-in-the-wool quilter, you know what that means! A stop at the National Quilt Museum. A banner of my quilt Star Flower hangs out front, but the quilt itself is now 'resting'. The others on display, especially the new exhibit of award-winning long-arm machine quilted works of art, were amazing as always. And my friend Diane Gaudynski was teaching that day, so I got a hug and a very brief visit with her.

Progressing on through a total of 16 states, we spent a week in Philadelphia just simply having fun. There was a visit to the Eastern Penetientiary's Haunted House with lots of screaming and laughing and clutching at each other in fright.... then there was the CSI murder scene investigations at the Franklin Institute, and of course, all the historical sites: Independence Hall, Liberty Bell, Elfreth's Alley, and more. But probably our favorite thing of all was the day we spent at Longwood Gardens, enjoying the beautiful grounds, the conservatory and noon organ concert, and the flowers...oh my, the flowers were everywhere. What a beautiful fall day it was to see them all.

Display of quilt tops at JCCFS

Then it was on to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where we visited the exhibit of the quilts from my Squares and Triangles book at the People's Place Quilt Museum. And, of course, we bought a few mementos and gifts for friends and family along the way. Next on the agenda: a week at the John C. Campbell Folk School near Brasstown, NC. The fall foliage and the food cooked by the staff at the school were highlights of this week. But the entire week was fun. Ruth took a class about making cloisonne jewelry while I taught a class of 8 wonderful ladies about making string quilts, Elsie's way. The products that were produced that week were all so beautiful. The end-of-week show & tell featured not only the string quilt tops and cloisonne, but wood turned items, food from the soup & bread class, clay pottery, newly caned chairs, stained glass pieces, blacksmithing products, great fiddle music, and a photography presentation. And the fall weather gave us warm sunny days, two cool rainy days, and a dusting of snow and frosty windows on our day of departure.

Next, it was on to Wilmington, NC and a day at the beach. Growing up as a land-lubber in landlocked Oklahoma, I love the ocean. It is such a rare treat to spend a day walking barefoot in the sand, listening to the waves break and make landfall. It was a cool day, but sitting in the sun, you didn't notice it. Another lecture and workshop there, and then an intense drive through North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi in a single day found us arriving and Kerry and Hilary's house for a couple of days of play with....you guessed it.....MORGAN!

Morgan & Ruth

I got a little cuddling in between spurts of playing with blocks, and peek-a-book, and lunch time. Then it was off to Memphis with Kerry and Morgan for some good barbecue, a visit to the Loraine Motel and the Martin Luther King memorial there, Beal Street, and the Peabody Hotel to watch the march of the Peabody ducks as they left the fountain that evening for their penthouse playground via the elevator.

So, by now, you probably know how difficult it was to come back home to face a daily routine again. But it was a joyful homecoming, too, because it's always nice to sleep in your own bed. However, this week has not been a usual week at all. We accepted an offer for the sale of our house in Dodge City, and there is still quite a bit of things we need to finish up out there before closing...mostly moving stuff out of the garage, and finding new places in Ponca City to put them. And then there was the earthquakes! Yes, I said earthquakes! The first happened in the middle of the night, unnoticed at our house. But the 2nd one was big, happened late in the evening, and was very frightening to me because of how unexpected it was. We had no apparent damage here, but the entire house shook for a minute, and made all kinds of creaking noises. Others to our south were not as lucky, and lost chimneys, walls, and suffered structural damage to houses that for the most part did not have earthquake insurance. There was a third perceptable tremor Monday night while at the same time there were tornadoes striking in other parts of our state. This probably was not the best year to move back to Oklahoma....record drought, record heat, record earthquakes, record flooding, record tornadoes and all in the same year and the same state.

Soon-to-be Big Boy Morgan

2011-09-24T07:07:00.000-07:00

I want to share with you one of my latest projects. No, not quilting. Sometimes, other things take precedence. My first grandchild, Morgan, will turn one year old this coming week, and I'm so proud of him. That first year is so amazing, and even though we live hundreds of miles away, I've been able to cuddle, and watch him grow with nearly monthly visits, either at their home, or with visit from his family to mine. In March, I actually got to see him 3 times as I crossed paths on my travels to and from the quilts show in Pigeon Forge, TN, and the AQS Quilt Show and introduction of my new book in Lancaster County, PA. Then, we spent a little time at Kerry and Hilary's house while celebrating Kerry's birthday and their 9th anniversary over the Labor Day holidays.

While at their house, Hilary decided that she wanted to make a birthday outfit for Morgan. She'd found something similar online for well over $100, but she knew we could make it for much less, so off to the fabric store we went. She found a cute turtle-embellished denim for the pants, and a pattern for pants, shirt, and overalls. We added roll up/down contrast striped cuffs on the pants to allow for his rapid growth, and the pants were finished very quickly. But not without Morgan noticing the rotary cutter, which was soon buried under layers of cloth. (Out-of-sight, Out-of-mind, but this game probably won't work much longer with him.)

First birthday suit

I brought the scraps of denim and striped fabric back to Ponca City, and had a great time revamping the shirt pattern to make a matching jacket, and appliquéd "1" on the purchased T-shirt. Hilary then sent me the pic of the finished project on our little model Morgan. So cute, I had to share it with you.

Morgan's little outfit

The week following our visit found Kerry and family in Philadelphia, PA with his brother Kelly. Kelly lives in a beautifully remodeled walk-up near the Art Museum. He owns my quilt Internet, and it hangs proudly on his living room wall. I love this picture of him with Morgan and the quilt as the backdrop for the photo.

At Uncle Kel's house

Snuggle with Grandma

The last morning of our visit to Memphis, Morgan and I woke up before the rest. After the obligatory diaper change, he and I cuddled up under the quilt I made for him before he made his arrival into this world last September. That will be a precious memory for the rest of my life, as he and I sat together quietly in his mother's rocking chair, just listening to the early morning sounds of the world waking up while we warmed each other snuggling under that quilt. Grandma MiMi loves Morgan!

WOW! It's September already!

2011-09-10T19:09:00.000-07:00

North wall

It's about time! Summer was a whirlwind.....a very, very hot whirlwind! Record highs in Kansas and Oklahoma, and an all-time record number of 100°+ days, too. It was mostly survival of the fittest, it seemed. At least there were very few mosquitoes to swat, and Sally and Gianni certainly didn't want to go outside much, so we all got busy working inside to make 2205 Canary Drive our home. It is taking a long time to figure out where all 4000 square feet of stuff that came from the big house in Dodge City is going to go in only 1950 square feet of space in the new home. Right now, there seem to be boxes everywhere yet to be unpacked and stashed away.

East wall (Design wall possibility?)


South wall (Maybe a ribbon wall?)

West wall

Closet interior (No wasted space here!)

Gianni supervising the sewing area.

My sewing room is up and running (kind-of). There are only two feet-wide aisles around the sewing center and the pressing table, shelving units, and guest day-bed. The closet is packed full, even though I've given away, e-bayed and garage-saled over 600 books, masses of fabric, excess equipment, and thread.

And then there is the quilts. Lots and lots of quilts. My husband's grandmother Laura Kassik once reminded me of how important it is to share my quilt bounty with others: Years ago, I asked her about what had happened to the many quilts and quilt tops made by her mother, Ken's great-grandmother, Alice Cayot. She replied, "Oh, don't you remember, honey? All of her quilts were lost when her house burned down. The only quilts that survived her were the ones she gave away." The ONES she GAVE AWAY! Isn't that a lesson in life?

When I look at my closet bulging at the seams with quilts that I cannot possibly use up in my lifetime, I decided it was time to distribute some of them on to people who will appreciate them. My sons and daughter-in-law, my web designer and dear friend Ruth Hirsch, our brother and sisters, nieces and nephews, and charities like the Mennonite Central Committee Oklahoma Relief Sale. I can think of so many who would benefit from a quilt or two. I certainly have enough to go around, and will still have enough left over to use for my trunk shows. What a blessing it is to be able to make something that has love stitched in every inch, and that can offer comfort and warmth to another person, or the opportunity to provide funds for a worthwhile organization.

In the meantime, we are enjoying our new quiet neighborhood, and the cooler weather of this past week has provided a welcome break. We've been able to be outside, and I have one flower bed ready for the fall planting. There are 3 more gardens in various stages of preparation. There will be plenty of time this winter to work in the sewing room.

Still moving......literally!

2011-05-24T09:50:00.000-07:00

A month has past, and lots more events at 2205 Canary Drive, and 1605 Ave. B: New roof, new insulation, four trees removed, new interior paint, new range, old cook top and oven removed, new range installed, new garage door opener, and more and more and more stuff done at the new house plus lots of incoming bids for more work to be done.


Emmanuel, Kelly, Kerry, & Marcos

Packing, packing, and packing and furniture moving at the old house. Next on the agenda there: finish up with the packing, move the cats to Canary Drive, and cleaning, cleaning, cleaning, then listing the house with the local realtors.

I even got in on the renovation act, and painted an entire room all by myself! Who knew? This time last year I could barely get myself in and out of a chair without assistance!

New knee is finally working quite well. Ponca City has a brand new Aquatic Center at the "Y", and I am so enjoying several of the exercise classes there, and especially the 20-person spa. Gotta get one of those hot tub-spas for myself sometime soon!

Gianni and Sally are being rather strange about this moving thing. Sally cowered under the bed while the furniture was being moved until the bed was moved. She had to be kenneled to help her feel safe, while Gianni sat in the garden watching all the activity with much interest. Then, the night after the furniture was gone, Sally was her usually placid self, while Gianni roamed the entire house yowling and prowling and keeping us awake. I will be taking them on the road tomorrow for the 5-hour drive to Ponca City. After consulting with our current veterinarian, I now have a small supply of kitty-prozac to help with this transition. I may need one, too, after the 5-hour car ride with them.

Sewing studio things are finally in their little room, but not in their little places yet. I can hardly wait to arrange my little niche and get things humming again. Still, I have to keep reminding myself one day at a time, and first things first, and that things are really progressing very quickly in spite of my impatience with the process. It's a little like making a very large quilt: First the pieces have to be cut, then arranged, before they can be sewn together. So it is with this move: First the new place has to be prepared, things packed and moved before I can begin to do the things that I love to do.

2205 Canary Drive

2011-04-27T16:01:00.000-07:00

We closed on our new house in Ponca City on April 15th. I stayed over there to get bids from contractors on all the work that needs to be done before we move in, and to start the work that I can do myself. Basically, I camped out with a big ol' air mattress, new frig, and new washer and dryer, and the plumber. No, not really, but Ken the plumber basically spent 3 days on sight getting everything up and running, 2 of those days with Ken the husband in the house, too. We ended up with a lot of new pipes due to the record 25 below temps last winter, a new potty, and a new garbage disposal. The heating and cooling guy had to put in a new computerized, programmable thermostat and thermocoupler before the furnace would work, and believe me, I needed it last week. The temps were down to 35 several times.

Then the new tornado shelter was retrofitted in the garage. PC is in the heart of 'tornado alley' being half-way between Oklahoma City, OK, and Wichita, KS. I didn't intend to stay there very long without having a place to go since April, May and June are prime tornado season, so in it went. Three guys showed up at the house about 6:30 am one morning and drove out of the driveway at 11:30 am with the shelter complete and operable.

1. Hole cut in the garage floor

2. Flat safe shelter before installation

3. Shelter being dropped into the hole.

4. Ready for concrete surround.

5. Concrete going down!

6. Room for 6? Skinny people, maybe!

Flatsafe shelters are designed to hold just a few people, and are pre-manufactured to simply drop in a hole cut in the floor of a garage, and they are surprisingly affordable. The steel top to the shelter is spring loaded and when released by stepping on it, it easily slides open to reveal 5 steps down and two small benches on either side. It is reinforced by concrete on all sides, and meets all kinds of federal safety standards. I was concerned about whether I would be able to easily get in and out of it because the stairs are steep, but it was much, much easier than I expected. I'm hoping we never have to use it, but we are prepared if need be, to be below ground in a safe place.

Next up is the roof, then insulation, followed by installation of steel foundation peers, drywall work, and new heating and cooling units. The enclosing of the patio for a sunroom and kitchen remodel will wait for another time.

So, I'm back in Dodge City right now, and will start packing up my office and sewing room tomorrow. My sewing machine and some of my other equipment went with me the first time. I was actually silly enough to think I might have a few spare minutes to stitch on a project or two! Well, maybe next time!

Squares & Triangles Book is here!

2011-03-28T16:56:00.000-07:00

Squares and Triangles book is here! You watched me making some of the quilts on this blog last spring and summer, and even got to see some of the struggles and design possibilities that I played with before settling on a final design. Now, you can finally hold the book in your hands, and even make all 13 of these quilts, if you want.

I so enjoyed making the quilts that are patterned in the book and sharing them with you in this blog last year. In case you don't remember them all, here they are again:

Create your own digital slideshow

I'm so excited to share this new book with you. There are so many things I've discovered over the years that makes quilt making quick, easy, and precise from the beginning of the process. I've included in this book some of my techniques for accurate cutting of strips and squares, tips for improving stitching and pressing, one method for fusible appliqué, how I use freezer paper for mitering corners and how I apply bindings completely by machine. The how-to pages are accompanied by more than 60 clear photographs and easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions. I included hints for making perfect 4-patch and 9-patch blocks and 3 different ways to make lots of perfect half-square triangle units.

All 13 easy-to-make quilt patterns include color, full-page photographs of each quilt, clear instructions and diagrams. I've also provided a list of resources where you can find the products I suggest in the book.

You can get it now for 20% off retail price from now through May 1.

Regular price for this 80-page soft cover book is $19.95 but you can get it for $15.96 plus shipping costs.

Check it out on my website.

Oklahoma here we come, Right back where we started from!

2011-03-27T18:21:00.000-07:00

Our next home in Oklahoma

Three weeks on the road, and I'm back in Dodge City! March 4 found Ken and me in Ponca City, Oklahoma searching for a third time for our new home. Ken is retiring in a couple of months, and we decided not to wait to relocate. This house search has proved to be more difficult than others we've experience, in part, I think, because we went into this one with a wish list, and knowing that we don't have to relocate if we didn't find a suitable house. We decided we wanted a house on a single level, no stairs to climb, private back yard in a nice neighborhood, with brick or stone exterior. We settled on one that has lots of built-in storage (another +), large country kitchen with dining area, 3 bedrooms, and 2 living areas, and a privacy fenced back yard on a quiet cul de sac. It was priced to sell....BUT as a Fannie Mae foreclosure, it is for sale 'as is'. You probably know what that means...there is a lot of work to do. The lists are long. We will begin by replacing the roof, decking and all, then on to the heating and air conditioning units, insulation, floors, some drywall, and structural piering, all this before we get to the redecorating and yard work. So, you can probably guess what I'll be doing over the next few months. I'll try to post some before and after pics as the work progresses.

Grandma MiMi and Morgan

Then I left for a 3-week stint on the road. First, a weekend at Kerry and Hilary's house (Memphis), and fun with baby Morgan. Morgan is now 6 months old, just cut his first tooth, and is loving his first experience with solid food.

Then on to Pigeon Forge, TN where I taught 7 workshops in 6 straight days. I'd never taught that many days in a row, but it went well, with many thanks to Butch Helton and his staff. In between classes, I got to catch up with many old friends, Jo Morton, Darlene Zimmerman, Charlotte Warr-Anderson, Bonnie Hunter, and others.

Then back to Memphis for the night, and to the airport to catch my flight to Philadelphia and on to Lancaster for the AQS Quilt show there. Good Books, Inc. introduced my new scrap quilt book, Squares and Triangles.

Book signings kept me very busy. On Wednesday night that week, I got to view the exhibit of the book quilts at the People's Place Quilt Museum in Intercourse, PA and conduct a few tours with visitors to the museum.

Watch this blog for my pre-release special for the new book. If you want to review the patterned quilts, check back to my blog archives and go back to July 11, 2010 titled Home, Sweet Home. I'll post more information and pictures with the announcement in the next few days!

Love Knows No Season pattern for Valentine's Day!

2011-02-11T09:46:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day seems the perfect time to introduce my new pattern for the Love Knows No Season quilt, given the subject and title of this quilt, don't you think? So, beginning on Monday February 14, 2011 (Yes, next Monday!) the complete pattern will be available on my website. This pattern includes all 13 block designs printed on oversized sheets of paper, so they are complete, and full-sized. No taping of smaller pages together, or tracing to make a full-sized pattern required. All 13 designs are there, even the July alternate geranium pattern. The 16-page instruction booklet includes borders, and sashing construction measurements and directions, computer-generated diagrams, and close-up, full-color vignettes of the blocks. All this for $19.95. But for 2 weeks, beginning on Valentine's Day, you can get a 15% discount for a total of $16.96. This promotional price will disappear on March 1, 2011, so be sure to get your order in early. Patterns will ship on or about March 1.

This Block-of-the-Month project proved to be one of the most exciting things I've ever put together. Hits on my website came from nearly every country on this earth, and the compliments that arrived in my e-mail inbox were amazing. Thanks to each and every one of you out there who faithfully visited my website to download the patterns.

But some of you may have missed out. I'm still getting requests from people for these patterns, so here they are!

This free digital slideshow generated with Smilebox

How many different ways can you think of to use these designs? How about making a wall quilt background, and little individual quilts featuring each block, then adding velcro so that you can attach the little quilt to the background quilt? You can change the block/quilt for each month of the year, for a kind of calendar quilt. Or how about individual throw pillow covers that can be changed with the seasons? Any other ideas out there?

Thanks again to all my followers for making the project such a big success. Be sure to check my website beginning Monday for the pre-release sale!

I'm quilting....I'm quilting....

2011-02-07T09:33:00.000-08:00

Before and after background quilting

I'm quilting again! It's about time! I decided there was no excuse good enough to keep me from doing what I truly love: the actual quilting process. I picked out two projects that have been sitting in my sewing room for literally years! The first is an all-machine made quilt that I started 3 years ago when teaching a year-long class at Country Dumplings quilt shop in Cimmaron, KS. My quilt "Aunt MiMi's Flower Garden" had received several major awards at national shows, and I was asked to teach the quilt as a project workshop. I knew how ambitious this project was, so I decided to challenge myself to make a second version along with my students. Many of the students finished their quilts years ago, but I'm just now getting back to mine. Right now, I'm finishing up the background quilting. Note the difference between the finished block below, and the block above that still needs the background quilted. Doesn't the heavy background quilting make a huge difference in the appearance of the quilt?

I quilt my quilts in what I call 3 passes. First, I do all the stabilizing stitching: stitch in the ditch around all the block outlines, and appliques. Second, I quilt the motifs: feathers, hearts, and other designs. Third, I fill in the backgrounds. I found that if I quilted everything all at once, that area would draw up, and I'd end up with pleating in other areas as I progressed out from the center, so I started doing it in passes.

Set up for machine quilting

Here is my setup for machine quilting. I pool the quilt all around my favorite Bernina on the sewing table, and I have another smaller table to my left to catch the 'puddle' of quilt. The quilt portion that is under the arm of the machine is simply scrunched (technical term!) under the arm. I find that I need much more light than I used to, even though I had cataract surgery last year, so my goose-neck Ott lite is moved very close in front of me. I actually have the light positioned between me and the quilt, under my chin when I quilt. I can see exactly what is happening under the needle, and in the winter, the warmth of the light feels really good! Works for me!

Hand quilting project

Then, there's my hand quilting project. This one was started probably 4 years ago, I really don't remember! I started this heavily quilted whole cloth project after I saw a spectacular antique quilt at Winterthur estate in Delaware. It was so amazing, I wanted to do a densely trapuntoed and quilted bed-sized quilt, too, so I designed this feathered and stippled project. But it went on the back burner when I started the quilts for String Quilts book. I dug it out of the pile last week, and decided if all I can do is put 1/2 hour's worth of stitches a day, I will eventually finish this quilt.

Set up for hand quilting

I actually recline when I hand quilt. Here is my current setup for hand quilting. I lay on my wonderfully comfortable family room sofa, padded with pillows under my head and feet. Another goose neck Ott lamp illuminate my work over my right shoulder. Husband sits to my right, and the television is in full view to my right. I bend my knees to support the hoop, and quilt in decadent comfort.

When I am not lying on the couch quilting, guess who else gets to enjoy my hand quilting setup? My quilts are always laundered after I finish the quilting and before I block and bind them, so Sally and Gianni get to 'bless' the quilts with their loving caresses, too.

Miss Sally and Gi lovin' the quilt!

Competition? You bet!

2011-01-26T09:47:00.000-08:00

I'm home from Road to California quilt show. I was privileged to judge the show along with Charlotte Warr-Andersen and Joen Wolfrom. It was a great show, with many fabulous, perfect, beautiful quilts. Last Saturday, while teaching hand quilting to a full class, I called for questions, and one student asked me about the judging process and what judges look for. WOW! What a question! She caught me by surprise. The answer to that is another entire class. I couldn't even begin to answer that question in a half-day class, so I've been corresponding with her via e-mail. It became evident that she is considering entering competition, and I so wanted to encourage her to go for it!

Very few workshop participants will ever enter competition, but I love to encourage those that do. Entering competitions was my ticket into the quilt world. I started entering contests in 1992, not having any idea about the quality of the quilts that were being entered. But I did start winning immediately. I've entered many, many contests since then, and am happy to report that there are only a handful of contests in which my quilts did not come home with ribbons. That's what got my name out there. In 1999, I went to work for a small publishing company that published 3 different magazines bi-monthly, and 6 to 8 book titles per year. I was the how-to editor. That's where I really got a lot of experience, and contacts in the professional world or quilting. I met so many famous quilters, authors and winners, and they in turn helped me to be invited to lots of quilting events.

My experience in judging has shown me that each show has an individual personality. And each grouping of judges will see things differently. We really had a good, cooperative, and respectful judging team at R2CA, and I learned a lot from my fellow judges. But that isn't always the case. The combination of personalities and pattern of compromise sometimes results in very surprising winners. People don't always understand why the Best of Show got that award and it is not unusual for viewers to disagree with the results, but the BOS and other big winners are usually decided by compromise and negotiation among the various judges.

Some shows use judging forms with point systems, some just give the judge(s) free reign, others want you to emphasize workmanship over design, but most will emphasize design when workmanship is adequate. Of course, any quilt that displays poor workmanship probably won't make it through the initial jury process. By the time it gets to the actual judging, workmanship isn't much of an issue in most circumstances, because all the quilts at that point in the process are very well-made. Not to downplay workmanship, but because nearly anyone entering a contest is an accomplished quilter, the winning quilt is nearly always decided on visual impact and artistry.

If you have a personal strength in your own quiltmaking and you know it, figure out a way to capitalize on it. If it is hand applique, there is very little competition out there these days for handmade quilts, especially if it is also hand quilted. There are so few hand-anything now in contests, that the competition is very light. If you have the applique skills but not the quilting skills, practice, take classes (not just mine!) and hone your hand quilting skills, while doing your very best applique on everything you make. If hand quilting is your strength, capitalize on it by using solid fabrics in your quilts so that your quilting stitches will show to good advantage.

Probably the best way for you to learn about competition is to start entering. There are lots of magazine articles, books, and publications and online information about what judges look for. Just start Googling and continue asking questions like what you did on Saturday. Another great way, (maybe the best!) is to start volunteering to assist with judging at local shows. If you really want an inside look at how the judging process works, and what judges are looking for, that is the best way I can think of. And you might be very, very surprised at what you see and hear! Most show organizers beg for volunteers, so this is a great way to get involved and to learn about how the winners are determined.

The R2CA show competition was very, very stiff. Some of the very best quilts in the world were there. The quilts hanging in that exhibit will probably win awards this spring in Paducah, and next fall in Houston. Even if you don't feel ready to enter competition, try entering smaller local venues. However, R2CA, Paducah and Houston are juried shows. You can certainly enter, and let the jurists decide if you are ready for their competitions or not! You might be pleasantly surprised! Even to make it through the jury process shows that you are already a competent quilter, and getting into such a prestigious show is a big step toward winning!

Here are some links you may want to look at, if you really want information about entering and the judging process:

http://nqaquilts.org/judges/judges-faq.php

http://www.bukisa.com/articles/348120_criteria-used-in-judging-quilt-contests

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art1480.asp

And if you're interested in seeing some of the winners from Road to California, take a look at Heidi Kaisand's blog at the APQS site from Jan. 21-25, 2011.

Life happens.......

2011-01-10T08:32:00.000-08:00

My apologies to my 'quilty' followers. My life has certainly not been centered around quilting this past year. I'm happy to report that I'm fully back on my feet now. New knee is functioning well, and my travel schedule is full. Over the past weekend, I renewed decades-old friendships in Winfield, Kansas where I taught a string quilts workshop. Lectures scheduled for today have been cancelled because of blowing and drifting snow. Thank you, Sally Ray, for making the executive decision to cancel in time for me to drive home safely before the storm hit.

So now, I'm getting ready to fly to Ontario, California next week for Road to California quilt show where I will be judging and teaching 6 workshops! My quilt Aunt MiMi's Flower Garden won the Judge's Special Merit award there several years ago. I am so thrilled that 4 of my workshops are filled, one with a few extra participants and the remaining two workshops only have a couple of openings left. I am very excited to meet west coast quilters. This is my first time teaching on the west coast.

On the home front, many changes are still taking place. Ken has decided to retire from his job as a public school teacher at the end of this term, and we are planning to relocate to Ponca City, Oklahoma, just a few miles from both of my sisters and families, and much, much closer to Ken's family members and about 4 hours closer by car to grandbaby Morgan and his mom and dad. We toured homes in that area over the Christmas holidays and we picked out a house and made an offer. Since this house is in a short-sell situation, it will take additional time for the two current lienholders of the house to make the decision to accept or decline our bid. But we are in no hurry since we have no tight schedule for making the move, so we can afford to wait.

Thinking about moving brings so many mixed emotions, always. Leaving behind good friends, packing up the household, downsizing, listing our current home with a realtor and finding a buyer for it, and then there is the physical act of moving boxes and unpacking them. All of these create stress, but of a good kind mostly. We're hoping to be settled in by mid-August this coming summer, but time will tell.

I'm sure you can see that quilt designing, and creating will be taking the back seat in my life's journey for a little while longer. But on that subject, please don't forget to download the instructions for completing your Love Knows No Season quilt project on January 15, 2011, if you've been following this on my website. This will be the final installment of this block-of-the-month project. I'm working hard to get the entire pattern published and ready for purchase by March 1, 2011. There will be a notice on my website, and in this blog when it is available.

I've had lots of questions about a new BOM. I haven't had time to think about another one, so my apologies to those of you who were looking forward to another one soon. It will most likely be next year before I'll have time to complete a new design and make the quilt for a new block of the month, but I promise that there will be another project by this time next year. Thanks for your patience.

Love Knows No Season has a new home!

2010-12-19T16:56:00.000-08:00

Love Knows No Season quilt has a new home. Sherry of Emporia, Kansas and her family stopped by my house yesterday afternoon for the presentation and for a short photo op session. It was delightful to meet her, and know the quilt is going to a quilt-loving family. Yup, it's kind of like adoption, and I was the surrogate mother. I knew this quilt would be someone else's from the beginning, making it a but easier to part with it. Plus, lots of other wonderful people helped in the production of this quilt.

For those of you who have been following this block-of-the-month project, the December block is available right now on my website, and the instructions for setting the blocks together and adding the borders will be up on January 15th. Lots of you have asked if there will be another BOM project for 2011. I simply do not have time to develop and make a new design right now. I will be publishing this project in booklet form with a tentative release date of Feb. 15, 2011.

In the meantime, there is the editing of the new Squares and Triangles book. The release date for it is now May 1, 2011. And I've got a very full travel schedule, beginning January 8-10 in Winfield, Kansas, and then on the Road to California the 3rd week in January. I usually do not travel in the winter months, but since I had to take several months off this past year for 2 knee surgeries and subsequent physical therapy, I decided to take wintertime gigs this year. Here's hoping the notorious blizzards in western Kansas will choose days in between to plague Dodge City. It appears that this will be a busy year for other reasons, too, which I will have to save for a later blog.

Another month, and 5,000 miles later..

2010-12-09T09:21:00.000-08:00

Here it is almost mid-December. My little Chevy Impala has a bunch more miles on it since I last blogged. Over the past 3 months, it had driven to Fargo, ND stopping in Kansas City to play around for awhile. Then Sedalia, MO, Paducah, KY, Memphis, TN, Siloam Spring, AR and back home again. Then off to Oklahoma City, OK for a family baby shower, Madison, WI and Janesville for a gig, then onward to River Fall, WI, then home through Minneapolis, MN, Ames, IA, and points south. Another trip to Memphis, TN and Olive Branch, MS for Thanksgiving and to hold baby Morgan once again, and finally to Philadelphia, PA, and Lancaster County last week. Okay, how many states have you counted by now?

Let's see: Trip to Fargo: KS, MO, NE, SD, ND. Trip to Paducah: KS, MO, KY, TN, MS, AR, OK. Trip to Madison: KS, OK, MO, IA, WI, MN, SD, NE. Trip to Memphis: KS, OK, AR, TN, MS. Trip to Philadelphia: KS, IL, PA, TX. (via Chicago O'Hare, and Dallas/Ft.Worth airline hubs. Hmmmm. Total number of states traveled through: 16. That's about 1/3 of the lower 48, isn't it?

So, you can easily see why blogs have been few and far between, especially ones about actually making quilts. I haven't seen the inside of my sewing studio for 3 months or more. And now, Christmas is nearly here. I've got a few presents to make, not all of them quilt-related, but I will make it upstairs later today to see if the mess I left 3 months ago is still there.

Baby Morgan now weighs in at 13 pound 11 ounces. Yes, he is only 2 months old. Mom is feeding him very well, and he apparently has a voracious appetite. He's happy and healthy, has learned to smile and laugh, and is working on sitting up and rolling over. His little smile just makes me grin from ear to ear, too.

I finally got to see the String Quilts year-long exhibit at the People's Place Quilt Museum in Intercourse, PA last week. (That's me between Dad's Plaids and Plaid Poppies quilts at the top of the blog.) It is always amazing to see my quilts displayed so beautifully with excellent lighting, but this time I had the pleasure of telling each quilt's story to the Good Books, Inc. staff along with all the retail store and museum staff members, too. In all, about 30 people were in attendance, including Merle and Phyllis Good, owners and publishers. They also own 4 retail establishments there, including The Old Country Store, Main Street Books and Gallery, and Village Pottery store, and the newest addition: The Good Cooking Store that just opened its doors about a week ago. I had the privilege of touring it with other staff members, and was especially impressed with the new kitchen/demonstration area where Phyllis (Fix It and Forget It Cookbook series author) and others will be teaching cooking classes.

My travels will continue in January, but for now I'm home, warm and happy. Here's hoping that I will be able to get around to creating some more new quilts for you to see in the near future.

No News Is Good News?

2010-11-04T10:28:00.000-07:00

Time keeps on slipping, slipping into the future.....Those lyrics sure seem to apply to my days and nights. For those of you who have e-mailed encouragement with my progress after total knee replacement, I'm back to walking 2 miles daily. And it feels so good to be able to get out on these crisp fall mornings, and greet the sunshine.

After my knee began to recover, I started researching the causes of joint inflammation on the internet in August for conservative measures to take to prevent further damage to my body. I found that some of my favorite foods are known contributors to the inflammatory process: nightshade vegetable family (tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplant), red meat, dairy, sugar and caffeine. Well, guess what I was eating morning, noon and night! Tomatoes from my garden on eggs for breakfast, tomato/mozzarella/basil salad for lunch, and of course, sliced tomatoes for supper. And then there were the daily trips to Sonic for Happy Hour Cherry Cokes, and a hamburger.
So, I've changed my diet, added supplements of ginger and turmeric, green tea extract, fish and flax seed oil, and added black cherry juice and walnuts to my breakfast routine. I've stopped all intake of tomatoes and potatoes, and drastically reduced my consumption of red meat and dairy products, although I've not entirely cut them out. We've also added at least 2 dinners per week of wild-caught Pacific salmon or other oily fish, and regular cooked oatmeal for breakfast, and are eating a lot more vegetables and fruit.

I'm happy to report that my pain is greatly reduced after a couple of months of maintaining these changes, and I've managed to shed about 8 pounds so far. These dietary changes are amazingly difficult to keep while traveling, though. I didn't realize how few opportunities there are out there for appropriate exercise (i.e., swimming) and dietary choices at commercial chain restaurants are so limited. Tomatoes and potatoes are really hard to avoid, especially when you love to eat them as much as I do. I broke my rule once last month, and went out for Mexican with friends. I really indulged in tomato salsa and cheese. I paid the price in the form of pain over the course of the next few days. I learned my lesson. Tomatoes seem to be one of my main irritants. (Solanine, a substance in potatoes and tomatoes, is a big contributor to the inflammatory process, and seem to trigger my flare-ups big time!)

One of my facebook quilting friends gave me a link to the website of Dr. Andrew Weil, and his common sense approach to a plant-based diet (Mediterranean diet) has really helped. I got one of his cook books, and we've enjoyed trying new recipes from it, but some of the important ingredients are difficult to find in our area. After all, Dodge City's entire economy is based on Beef.

Do any of you out there suffer from similar ailments? Maybe you have other things that work for you that you would be willing to share with me. I'm all ears!

Value of Value????

2010-10-07T07:32:00.000-07:00

Internet

No comments about my new idea for a Value/Color workshop? Maybe I buried it too deep under my personal life stuff for quilterly people to dig for it, so let me try again.

Do you struggle with finding the values in making your fabric choices for a quilt? When working with people in my classes, some of them do. Most have lots of questions when it comes to value. In my previous blog, I listed several ways that may help you discover the values of your fabrics. Take a look at them. Do you have other ideas that work for you? Please add them to mine with your comments. This is a fascinating subject to me.

Twisted Ribbons

Picket Fence

Would you enroll in and pay to take a half-day workshop about how to organize and use color and value to make a successful scrap quilt or to create the illusion of depth in your quilts? For example, I've done this with several of my quilts: Twisted Ribbons (pattern available on my website); Internet (Pattern also available) and Picket Fence (patterned in my String Quilts book).

It is so much fun to play with illusions that can be created by clever use of value. Most people seem to think it is the colors of a quilt that draw you in, but the first thing your eye perceives is not color but value (how light or dark something is) and your attention will always be drawn to the areas of highest contrast. That is what first grabs you, and brings you back over and over to that one show-stopper quilt.

Triple Trio of Stars

Love My Stash

Here are a couple of more examples in Triple Trio of Stars, and one of my new book quilts, Love My Stash. Can you see what an important role VALUE plays in developing the pattern? I could easily interchange colors, as long as I kept within the same value range, and you'd still get the idea. In Love My Stash, I used a bit of every color I could find in my fabrics, but by careful value placement, I developed a pattern that is unmistakable.

Do you enjoy working with color and value in your quilts, or do you struggle with these principles? They are both so important to the visual success of your quilt. What do you think?

Quilting....NOT! (But there's little discussion of Value here, check it out! )

2010-10-04T08:32:00.000-07:00

I wish I would be quilting or doing a bunch of quilty things.... but we've had a lot of things happening at the Campbell household. First, Ken met a young man, Ryan Helmer, at the library on Friday evening. Ryan is bicycling from Arkansas to Denver, via Kansas. Ken invited him to camp at our house that night. Of course, we put him up in our guest room for the night, and fed him supper and breakfast. I always forget how much food it takes to fill up a young man, especially one who is burning 3500 calories or more cycling across the country. We thoroughly enjoyed his visit.

Then, when I was planning to work in my sewing room, we lost all electrical power. There was a loud 'Pop' in the alley right before it went down. I pretty much knew from other experiences that the transformer in the alley blew out. Ken then found the evidence below the power pole: a rather dead red squirrel. Ken decided that with all the chatter in our back yard, there must be a whole enclave of squirrel terrorists out there just waiting to bring down the entire power grid of this part of the country. Sally and Gianni patrol the neighborhood keeping them under control, but one got away to carry through on his suicide mission.

Even with all these happenings, I'm always thinking quilting, even when I'm not in my sewing studio. Thinking, thinking, thinking about some new class titles right now, even though some of my current titles remain very popular.

My Strings class is still in great demand. If interested, you can check out my latest workshop on my website where Ruth Hirsch, my partner in crime during my Fargo trip last week, posted a slide show of the Strings class I taught there. (Check out her blog of our trip, too.) And I'm scheduled to teach it again twice this month at the Kansas Quilter's Organization semi-annual meeting in Colby, and again at Sager Creek Quilts in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. Then the floral applique version will be the workshop I'll be teaching in November for the Rock Valley Quilter's Guild in Janesville, Wisconsin.

But guilds and large shows want more half-day offerings, especially ones that do not require sewing machines. We all know how difficult it is to haul a sewing machine around large show venues. Some shows offer rental machines, but it is never the same as having your own familiar friend along. So I'm trying to come up with some titles for workshops that present new and useful information for quilters. In February, Miss Kitty's Quilters became my experimental subjects when I presented a program about "The Value of Value", a tentative title for a new workshop. People tell me that I have a great sense of Color. Actually, what I have is a great sense of VALUE! Color is always secondary.

The truth is that you can use any color or combination of colors in your quilt, if you begin by planning value placement first. Value is especially important in making a scrap quilt where you will use a multitude of fabrics. I'm working on ideas for helping quilters discover the values within their fabrics. Most seem to face a challenge when interpreting values in busy prints. Here are some of my ideas:

IDEA #1: Make black and white copies of portions of the prints you want to use in the quilt. This removes the confusion of color, and makes it much easier to compare values (Lightness and darkness of the print.) Then cut your pattern shapes from the copies, and place them in a practice paper block. After you are satisfied with your black-and-white block, substitute in color copy versions to see if you like the color arrangement.

IDEA #2: Use a reducing glass. The easiest and least expensive one is a peephole glass that you can purchase at most lumber yards or home improvement stores. These are intended to go in exterior doors, but you can buy them separately and keep it among your goodies in the sewing room. Use it to reduce the scale of a print or make a practice block and view it through the glass to see what it will looks like from a distance.

IDEA #3: Take a digital photo of your practice block. Download it, then either crop and manipulate it by making a single image with multiples in the computer, or print out multiple images, cut them out, and make a paste-up model of what your entire quilt will look like on paper.

IDEA #4: Take a digital photo of your fabrics. Then use your computer photo editing program to turn the color image into a black and white one.

IDEA #5: Make value viewers from pieces of red and green clear plastic folders. Or purchase red and green 'gels' that are used to change the color of stage lighting. Sometimes you can find red value finders in quilt shops. These will work well for all colors EXCEPT red. You will need green or some other color to compare the value of red prints. These work by removing or neutralizing color so that your eye will perceive value.

IDEA #6: View your fabrics in a darkened room. I found that the best way to decide value is to look at my fabrics in moonlight. Your eyes are much more sensitive to light and dark, and perceive value first. Color enters into the picture only when there is adequate light for your eye to discern it.

Are there other ideas out there? I'm still fine tuning my ideas, and would love your input. Give me your comments. This could be a great discussion.

Morgan Edward Campbell has arrived!

2010-09-30T13:45:00.000-07:00

Ruthie and I had a marvelous time with all the quilters in Fargo, ND. You can see some of the Strings workshop activities in progress on my website. Ruth's flight back to Phoenix was on Tuesday, so we left immediately following my half-day class on Sunday, spending the night in Sioux City, IA. Monday morning Kerry called to tell me that Hilary was in the hospital in the very early stages of labor. We progressed on to Wichita for Monday night, and I got the call at 4:25 am on Tuesday morning. Morgan Edward was born at 4:10 am. I could almost hear the big grin on his Daddy's face over the telephone. He weighed in at 7 lbs 4 oz, and measured 20 inches in length, and both mother and baby were doing fine. What welcome news!

The family had just relocated to Olive Branch, Mississippi just 1 week before his arrival, and his room was finished one day AFTER his due date on Sunday. Mom went into labor on Monday. Couldn't believe his timing. Kerry wrote on Facebook just a bit ago that everyone got home this morning. I imagine all of them are napping the afternoon away, don't you?

Here are some photos to share with you of the new addition to the Campbell Clan. We're so proud of all of them. I won't get to hold him until October 20 when I make a stop over at their house on my way from Paducah, KY to Siloam Springs, AR. It will be so hard to wait until then, but I only have so many hours in a day, and the new family needs time to get acquainted before all the relatives descend on them. How exciting it is to see the photos, and Kerry agreed to 'skype' us later this week.

Welcome to our family, Morgan. You are much loved!

Powell Garden, Lee's Summit, Missouri

2010-09-18T15:36:00.000-07:00

I'm on a road trip! My dear friend and web designer Ruth Hirsch of ??? years flew in to Wichita from Phoenix yesterday and we are piddling around for a 12 day road trip to the Indian Summer quilt show in Fargo, ND. Today and tomorrow we are playing in the Kansas City, MO area, and we sweated off about 15 pounds each this morning walking, talking, and photographing things at Powell Gardens outside of Lee's Summit, MO. What a beautiful place to spend a day, if only the weather wasn't 90+ degrees with very high humidity. But what fun we had.

I'd like to share some of my photos with you. Isn't it fun once in awhile to feed your spirit with beautiful places and shared adventures that aren't necessarily quilt related?

Baby, baby....

2010-09-12T17:38:00.000-07:00

No, Baby C. hasn't quite arrived, but we're all beginning to get excited and anxious for his entry into the world in the next couple of weeks. Kerry and Hilary found a house in Olive Branch, Mississippi a couple of weeks ago, and are hoping to close before next weekend so that they can get things all moved in before his arrival. Kerry started his new job last Tuesday, so in the meantime Hilary is a 'pampered, pregnant princess' (her words) living in a hotel room.

And I am busy trying to finish up a few things for his nursery. What a fun time I've had this past week finishing these coordinating items: 2 large receiving blankets, 2 changing pad covers, 2 burp pads, and 1 simple little flannel quilt. Items still on the agenda to make: Stars and moon wall hangings, and 2 armchair caddies for Mom and Dad's use.

The book manuscript was shipped to Good Books, Inc. the week before last. I was released from Physical Therapy on Wednesday. I'm beginning too feel freer and better than I have in a long time.

I visited a rheumatologist for the first time three week's ago. His diagnosis: inflammatory degenerative arthritis. He took me off of my long term usage of Celebrex due to continuing kidney damage, and prescribed a new rub-on nonsteroidal gel. The thinking is that it will have a similar effect on the affected joints with much less systemic side effects, and so far it seems to be working. It doesn't work quite as quickly or as effectively, but I can tell a difference when I use it. I've also started investigating diet, exercise, and herbal supplements. Conclusion: Don't eat red meat, processed meats like cold cuts and sausage, sugar, white flour products, Sonic cherry-cokes, and nightshade family vegetables: Tomatoes, potatoes, egg plant, and fewer servings of dairy products. I simply can't give up my morning milk, and I need the calcium. Well, guess what I've always eaten to excess and dearly love to eat: Sausage, ham, any kind or pork, rare beef steak, Italian pasta dishes, tomatoes in any and all form, garlic mashed potatoes, every kind of cheese known to man, and baked goods. Guess I've been feeding the inflammatory process with every bite.

Things I need to eat more of: fish at least 3 times a week, especially salmon, (I really do love salmon!) walnuts but not too many because they are high in fat and calories, flax seed, lots of vegetables and fruits in the raw state whenever possible, whole grain products, free-range, natural chicken, omega-3 enriched eggs, no caffeine, and no sugar to excess.

Obesity is also a big factor. I've returned to the rec center's swimming pool, and am trying to exercise in the water at least 5 hours a week, and have managed to lose about a pound a week since I seriously started counting calories, eating better and exercising for real. Since I still cannot walk more than a few blocks without pain, the water will be my best choice for now.

POST SCRIPT: Butterflies!

2010-08-21T14:09:00.001-07:00

Post Script on the butterflies: Two emerged yesterday morning. Since the chrysalis turns black and you can see the yellow spots through the thin skin about 24 hours before the butterfly emerges, I knew it would happen soon, but I had Physical Therapy for my knee. I simply packed up the jar with the crysalis's and took them with me. One emerged about 1/2 hour into my session. I noticed it first, and called for others to come look. I had quite a crowd gathered around me to watch this miracle of nature. One of the PT aides held it in her hands and had to go show everyone in the front office. It created quite a stir! I left it there for everyone to enjoy until the time it would need to be released.

The second one emerged immediately before I left for PT, so I put it out in my herb garden. It was still there when I returned. She flexed her wings and I grabbed my camera. I was just in time to catch her right before she took her first flight over the neighbor's rooftop.

I did some research on the internet and found out that this one is female. She has only one row of prominent yellow spots on her forewing and hind wing. If you'll notice, the one in the previous with the damaged wing, has a 2nd row of yellow spots on his forewing, and very large yellow dots on his hindwing above the blue markings. He is male.

Six and a half weeks out....new knee report

2010-08-21T13:55:00.000-07:00

I've had so many followers who have sent messages and are wondering about how my recovery/rehab is going with the new knee. Lots of you apparently are either facing knee replacement or went through this process yourself.

I am doing well. I have gone for several long walks of almost a mile or so. That would have been a short walk pre-meniscal tear in December, but now it takes 30 to 45 minutes for me to get that far. And it is not pain-free. For some reason, after my walk on Thursday, my knee decided to swell and throb for the first time in several weeks, so this weekend I am keeping my knee in the air and on ice, except as necessary. And for the first time on Friday, my flexion and extension numbers took a huge set-back. I am doing the stretching and bending exercises but am laying off the work with weights, and on-my-feet part of the routine, hoping to get the swelling to subside.

Honestly, I did not expect to be able to walk unassisted at 6 weeks, or climb stairs foot over foot, but I have been doing those things for nearly 3 weeks already, and the strengthening exercises have take about 2 inches off my body where I needed to lose 2 inches! So, if for no other reason, I am happy with that effect. I've learned so much about different ways to move and strengthen my lower limbs.

So today, I'm supposed to be upstairs working on photography samples for the new book, but I've got so many excuses......The central air conditioner compressor went out on Tuesday. The new unit didn't go in until yesterday afternoon, so the upstairs will take another day or two to really cool down. It was up to 95 degrees up there before the new AC started doing its thing. And then, the house has been so neglected. There is a nice pot of home made beef stew to make for supper, and quilts to unpack. (Yes, the quilts arrived yesterday. They are returning from their photography session in Pennsylvania. And of course, I needed to write a blog. It is only 4 weeks until Kerry and Hilary's Baby C is due to arrive, and I still have to get the layette items finished for him and his mother. Next time, maybe I'll have some fabulous photos of the nursery items that I have stitched for him.

Butterfly!

2010-08-14T10:55:00.000-07:00

I have always planted dill weed in my herb garden, not because I love dill in everything (which I do!) but because I know that the black swallowtail butterfly will lay its eggs on it. I love to watch the process of the caterpillar eating, growing, and changing into a chrysalis from which will emerge a beautiful, large butterfly. So, while my rehab continues to progress, I decided to bring some of the caterpillars into the house to spare them from the heat, drought and birds and to watch them go through their life cycle.
All three caterpillars turned into 3 bright green chrysali, and this morning I noticed one had turned dark. I thought at first maybe it had died, than I saw the yellow spots, and knew the butterfly was preparing to emerge. I went outside for a very short walk, and I got back just in time to watch the butterfly emerge. I knew from experience that the new butterfly has to find somewhere to hang upside down to let gravity assist it in unfurling its wings. But when I first saw it, I thought perhaps it was crippled, the wings were less than 3/8" in length! I allowed the butterfly to crawl onto my fingers to hang upside down. Within 15 minutes, the wings were unfolded, perfect and beautiful. We went outside so that I could get some photos for you, and I transferred it to my basil plant for better pics.

Within an hour, the butterfly tested it wings, and he was ready for his first flight. Unbeknown to me, Sally the cat was outside with us, and tragedy struck. Sally had the butterfly in her mouth. I managed to get her to release it, but the right wing was damaged in the struggle. I still think it may be able to fly, but at the time of this writing, he was still hanging in the pepper plant where I placed him, too traumatized to try again, I think.

There are two more to come. I will keep you posted!

Post Script on the butterflies: Two emerged yesterday morning. Since the chrysalis turns black and you can see the yellow spots through the thin skin about 24 hours before the butterfly emerges, I knew it would happen soon, but I had Physical Therapy for my knee. I simply packed up the jar with the crysalis's and took them with me. One emerged about 1/2 hour into my session. I noticed it first, and called for others to come look. I had quite a crowd gathered around me to watch this miracle of nature. One of the PT aides held it in her hands and had to go show everyone in the front office. It created quite a stir! I left it there for everyone to enjoy until the time it would need to be released.

The second one emerged immediately before I left for PT, so I put it out in my herb garden. It was still there when I returned. She flexed her wings and I grabbed my camera. I was just in time to catch her right before she took her first flight over the neighbor's rooftop.

I did some research on the internet and found out that this one is female. She has only one row of prominent yellow spots on her forewing and hind wing. If you'll notice, the one above with the damaged wing, has a 2nd row of yellow spots on his forewing, and very large yellow dots on his hindwing. He is male.

Stayin' Alive!

2010-08-01T12:59:00.000-07:00

Still alive, and working on the kicking part! This has not been at all easy. My body has demonstrated some quirks after surgery that only happen in about 10% of people who have major surgery, and I've had to go in for weekly blood tests because of it. Hopefully tomorrow's blood draw will show improvement. I need to get off of a couple more medications, and maybe then I will be able to begin to get back to normal activities.

As for the knee, the people at Physical Therapy are very pleased with my progress. I'm having a hard time being patient enough to realize that my knee is getting better. It is very, very stiff, I don't have anywhere near normal range of motion yet, and walking normally takes a huge amount of concentration and it is certainly NOT pain free. I've been told that by 4 weeks I would be so glad I'd had this surgery, but those thoughts have not entered my mind yet. Nights tend to be long and I cannot get very comfortable. It takes a lot of Tylenol PM and ice packs to get me through.

Any of you have more experience with this than me? I'd like to know how long it took before you started feeling strong again. I'm waiting for that moment. In the meantime, my attitude seems to go downhill rapidly if I don't feel like I am making daily progress. I really have to work on that. I am going to try to start up the bread machine this afternoon. The aroma of fresh baked bread has to perk me up a bit, don't you think?

The weather here has been fiercely hot, with 105 degrees (Fahrenheit for my foreign readers) expected tomorrow. I cannot get outside now, even if I felt like it due to the overwhelming heat. So I'm looking forward to September, being finished with the book manuscript, cooler weather, ability to walk unaided and comfortably, and to the birth of our first grandson who is due to arrive sometime around the end of September.

July block of the month, alternate version

2010-07-23T08:44:00.000-07:00

Short update on the Love Knows No Season block of the month projects that are available for download on my website: The July block features a red and white ribbon with blue stars surrounding it in honor of the USA Flag. Well over half the people who are making this quilt a block at a time are international friends. Many of them wrote to me requesting an alternate July block since they really didn't think they wanted to use the Red, White, and Blue theme.

At first, I rejected that idea thinking it might be more fun for participants to design their own alternate block, but after re-thinking it, I came up with an idea for a 13th block. I love red geraniums, especially grown in natural red clay pots, so I designed an alternate applique block and included it in this month's downloads.

But with all the other things happening in my life, I didn't have time to make an actual sample block (although I will some day). One of my new French friends e-mailed wanting a color photo of the alternate block. I had to write back to explain that I couldn't make one right now, but if she made one, to send me a photo of her version. Just one day later, I got the photo of her finished block! I was blown away!

Instead of actually making all the geranium flowers and leaves from fabric and embroidery, she found a luscious geranium print, cut it up and appliqued it broderie perse style for her block, thus making it a lot quicker to complete the block. (Why didn't I think of that? I've seen that print before.) What I think is amazing is that the flowers and leaves from her print were exactly the right size for this block. What a great idea! Take a look at Angéle André's block for yourself. Isn't it beautiful?

If you'd like to download both blocks just go to my website.http://elsiemcampbell.com I'm hoping to self-publish all the block patterns and instructions for the entire project plus a couple of other ideas this coming January, if you've missed the previous ones. Thanks for your interest in this project.

Two Weeks down! (Warning: graphic photos of knee!)

2010-07-21T10:08:00.000-07:00

These photos are not for the sqeamish, so scroll past this post, if you'd like to see QUILTS! Ken has documented several of my surgeries for joint issues over the past 5 years, so this is nothing new. 1st photo: BEFORE; 2nd photo: 36 staples and one 12-inch incision. Looked a little like a bad horror movie. 3rd photo: resting after icing the knee, staples out and a few steri-strips still in place. I'm two weeks out from total knee replacement, and I'm told I've made good progress with recovery: Staples came out on Monday, but I still have a few steri-strips to hold a few places together. PT yesterday went well. I can bend to 100°, and straighten the knee sitting without assistance to 15°and 10° lying flat. Not quite straight, but very close. I've transitioned from walker to cane, and this morning when I overslept, I found myself sans cane halfway between the bathroom and bedroom because I simply forgot that I needed it. I made it there and back on my own steam. The pain is different from before: weight bearing does not hurt, but movement does. The pain is still enough to keep me awake at night, but I'm managing without pain meds. I am getting through my days pretty well with lots of little naps between spurts of activity.

Ken is getting lots of life lessons in household management while I am down. This morning, it was litter pan duty. The cats had been waiting, and waiting for someone to get them clean litter. Ken let Sally and Gianni outside while he was taking care of business. Sally slipped in when he went to get a fresh liner, and she immediately went to THE corner, and found the clean newspaper Ken keeps under the pan for near misses. She took this opportunity to make the first deposit before Ken had a chance to get the fresh pan in place. Laundry gets washed and dried, but who knew that folding and putting laundry away is not a matter of life and death? I actually survived Physical Therapy this morning with wad wrinkles all over my fresh, clean tee shirt. The refrigerator? Leftovers from before-new knee were still taking up space as of yesterday, and I finally convinced Ken they were no longer safe to serve. Two large bags of trash finally made it to the alley dumpster, and I actually still have a few flowers clinging to life in the front gardens. I think I will need to begin transitioning back to my real life real soon!

Quilts are due at the publisher's for photography at the end of next week, so Ken is busy looking for really sturdy shipping boxes; at least 10 of them. I still need to re-write some of the patterns that I changed in construction, and run them by my tech editor. The month of August will be spent preparing and photographing about 100+ how-to photos for the lesson part of the book. And I want desparately to start thinking about and sewing things for our new grandson's nursery. (Due date: September 25.) Kerry interviewed for and was offered a position with Solae, a really interesting soy product company. He has been offered a position in their Memphis production plant. The young family will be relocating from Ames, IA shortly after the baby arrives. So there are a lot of things to occupy my mind and make a quick and full recovery imperative.

Thanks so much for all your good wishes, prayers and positive thoughts. I so missed not being able to teach at the AQS Knoxville show last week, and I am missing Quilt Nebraska this weekend. I love teaching in Nebraska venues, quilters there are so talented and friendly. Here's hoping I will be invited again when my body is fully functioning. I have never cancelled out on events before, and it was especially hard since I was so looking forward to them, but life sometimes gets in the way.

Home, Sweet Home

2010-07-11T07:33:00.000-07:00

I'm home at last after just 3 days (Very long 3 days) in the hospital. Now, I'm told, is when the real work begins. The pain has proven rather hard to control, and I'm having other symptoms brought on by all the drugs required after surgery for pain and blood clots, and so much blood loss, too. This surgery is not for the the squeamish. You have to know beforehand that you really need it and have faith that it will eventually improve your life in the long run. Now, for pictures of some of the quilts to be patterned in the new book.

None of the blocks use a lot of different sized triangles, even though they may look like it. Most of them are based on 9-patch construction, and speed-piecing techniques for all the triangles needed to make the blocks. Some are 4-patch construction. Take a look at these two sister quilts. They are both 9-patch blocks with alternate squares. What a difference value, color and setting can make.

Then there are the Big and Little Sister Quilts. The similarity is more obvious, but there certainly a difference created by the difference between using 1" squares and 2" squares to create these quilts.

And then there are the final 3 Square Sisters:

OK? Are you ready for the Triangle Sister quilts? Most of these are constructed using simplified 9-patch or 4-patch construction techniques, ands quick, easy piecing methods for creating all the triangles.

In all there are 13 quilts that will be patterned in the book that is tentatively titled "Scrap Quilts: Squares and Triangles". Some are bright in batiks, some are subdued and use reproduction fabrics, some are simply cheerful in nature. I hope you find something that you really like in the collection.

Before and After

2010-07-08T12:16:00.000-07:00

Here I am trying to blog from a hospital bed..... Still quite foggy, and need to be that way for a bit longer, I guess. Tubes out of everywhere right now, but I have internet in my hospital room. Now that's progress! After all, this is probably the most expensive hotel ever imaginable.

According to Denise, my doc's RNP, I did have bone-on-bone with little or no cartilage left in all 3 knee compartments, and really did need this replacement. Well, duh...... I knew that. Why was she so surprised?

I do not like the out-of-control feeling that the pain meds give, so I'm trying to use them as little as possible. I slept really well last night, and can get quite comfortable as long as I don't move. But the PT people keep pushing me to move, so I am doing it, even if it hurts. At least, now there is hope for my knee to heal, whereas before it just kept getting worse. (No Pain, No Gain, right?)

My husband Ken took before photos, and is trying to keep photos taken of the progress, so I'll keep you posted, if you have the stomach for it.....if not, well, just scroll down to the next blog. I will try not to get too graphic.

So, we did get the photos of the new book quilts (tentatively titles simply: Scrap Quilts: Squares and Triangles", but Ken has yet to download them to my computer. I will postg some of them along the way, too. Be patient with me for now.

T-48 hours and counting.....

2010-07-05T06:48:00.000-07:00

Happy Day-after the 4th of July! Our celebration was nice, but fireworks were pre-empted by Mother Nature's own.

For those of you who have been following all my health-related posts, my knee replacement surgery is scheduled to take place in 2 days.....Wednesday July 7. I've been so busy finishing up all 12 quilts for the new book (as yet untitled) that I haven't had much time to stew and fret about it. I have 3 quilts left to bind today and tomorrow, plus getting caught up on all the yard work, and straightening up the house to get ready for my homecoming with a walker. Other orthopedic equipment has yet to be installed. Those of you who are familiar with this, know what I am talking about.

I'm hoping to photograph all the quilts tomorrow with Ken's help, and will try to post some of the photos before my hospital stay. If things go as they should I will be home on Saturday. Our son, Kelly, is coming home to help with my post-op care, and Miss Kitty's Quilters have offered to carry in nutritious and tasty meals for awhile. What would we all do without our wonderful friends? Miss Kitty's has been my biggest and most meaningful social group since moving to Dodge City in 2000. My best friends are participants, and I don't know where I'd be without them.

And as for Love Knows No Season quilt and block of the month......tickets are still on sale. The quilt will be given away at Miss Kitty's December meeting. For my international friends, I am still planning to design an alternate block for July, since some of you have expressed the desire for something other than the red-white-blue USA patriotic block we included in our quilt.

REMEMBER to download the June block by July 15th, when the July block(s) go up, and thank you for your interest in this project.

Busy Day, Busy People (with apologies to Richard Scarry for stealing his title)

2010-06-30T12:11:00.000-07:00

The Campbell household has been buzzing with busy things to do. I'm still frantically trying to get all the quilts finished for the new book, Ken is trying to keep the household running while I work, and the house is being painted as I write this blog. Ken found the most interesting paint crew to take on the 3-story monstrosity of a house. This all-female crew is proof that women can do anything men can do and do it better. Although most of you are already quite aware that women are much better than most men at multi-tasking, these three have to be masters of the art.

Our house painters have day jobs: The head of the crew is my husbands' high school principal Jacque Feist, and her crew members: Dana Essenburg, Jacque's administrative assistant and Suzy Busch, computer teacher at Soule Middle School.

Jacque is the head principal of Dodge City's only high school with 1,750 students. Most of you readers raised a teenager or two. Can you imagine a single building with that many in one place at one time? And trying to keep things orderly and running smoothly? Well, that's what Jacque does daily. Then, after she gets out for the day, she dons her painter's duds, and paints houses for fun! (And a little money, maybe.)

(Yes, that's Jacque at the top of that 30-foot ladder!)

And then take a look at them at work at their 'day jobs'. These are 3 amazing women, and I'm so thankful that Ken found such professional and detail-oriented people to paint our house! Thanks, Jacque, Suzy, and Dana!

More adventures of Sally and Gianni

2010-06-17T07:00:00.000-07:00

I know that quilts and cats usually go hand in hand, and several of you have shared your pet's adventures with me after I've shown you some of what Sally and Gianni are up to from time to time. Ken and I have so enjoyed the companionship of our little kitties.

Both Sally and Gianni were literally alley cats that found their way to the right back yard. Since they started out as outdoor kitties, we've found it nearly impossible to keep them entirely indoors. So they do go out from time to time. We have a 6-foot privacy fence, and that always managed to keep our previous cat Jenny contained, and it works well for Sally as well. Sally has become a little round ball of fur, and does not jump very high or very far. She was just a few months old when we found her, so she is by far more of a domesticated animal.

She does enjoy sitting in the yard, especially watching the birds, squirrels, and the little goldfish in Ken's fish pond. But when she wants to come back inside, she wants back in NOW! She has learned to actually knock on the door. Actually, it is more a 'scritch, scratch, scritch' with her paws, but it results in a knocking sound when the screen door bumps on the door frame. Ken teased her one day by opening the inside door and photographing her perplexed little face when he didn't open the outer storm door. Really funny, don't you think?

Both Gianni and Sally follow me from room to room keeping me company. Where ever I am in the house working, they are not far behind. But when Gianni wants out, he will find a way, so he pretty much comes and goes as he pleases. We really do keep an eye on him as best we can, and he will come immediately when called, especially if his name is followed by "Treats? Time for treats!" Even though Gianni does spend most of his time inside, he grew up as a self-sufficient outdoor critter and he is a determined little thing. There isn't a fence built that will keep him contained.

One morning, Ken called me to the door to look out in the back yard. What did we see? Even though Gianni has no claws on his front paws, he was about 20 feet up in a tree. A little red squirrel was up in that tree teasing him. "Here I am," the squirrel seemed to say, "And you can't catch me!" Note that Sally is on the ancient barbecue doing her best to follow Gianni up the tree. The squirrel is just a few feet above Gianni's head chattering away.

I've seen Gianni climb trees, catch birds, (Catch and release, if Mommy gets ahold of him.) and jump the 6-foot privacy fence. I've even seen him sunning himself on our garage roof. And he has no trouble getting down either. His determination is a lesson in life..... there's very little you can't do, if you set your mind to it, and if you don't pay any attention to your perceived limitations.

Have your pets taught you lessons in life? Please share your experiences with us. Special pets add such richness to our lives.

We've got a doctor in the house!

2010-06-11T15:40:00.000-07:00

Better late than never. The event happened on Mother's day over a month ago, but I'm just now blogging about it. Our son Kerry completed requirements for his PhD in Chemical Engineering this year, and we drove the 600 or so miles to Ames, Iowa for the ceremony. Kerry was also honored with the teaching excellence award for his work with younger ChemE students as part of his doctoral studies requirements.

We are so proud of him. And to top it all off, he will become a first-time father this September. The sonogram indicates the he and his wife Hilary are expecting a son. This will be my first grandchild. I wish I had more time to get really, really excited. I know it will come.

For now, I'm finishing up 12 new quilts for the new Squares and Triangles book tentatively scheduled for release next spring (2011). I have 5 of them at the long-arm quilters right now, and still have one top to construct, and two that I will quilt myself. And all of this has to be finished before I go in for my knee replacement on July 7. This one is called "Love My Stash". Let me know what you think of it.

Yes, the knee arthroscopic surgery in February was a miserable failure. Still walking with a limp and a cane a lot of the time. It has been really disappointing and frustrating. But I've had a lot of great help. One of my former students, George P, is now 12 years old, and loves to garden. He helped me work the flower beds and plant my bedding plants and summer bulbs. Now, he comes over periodically to pull weeds. Another young friend has offered to mow the lawn, and his mother and George's teenage sister have volunteered to help clean the house. So things are looking up! It feels better just to have the stairs vacuumed, and the living room swept up, and the bathroom floor and fixtures scrubbed! Next: kitchen, dining room, family room and the guest room that will double as my recovery suite. Forget about the laundry room, quilt studio, office, master bedroom, Ken's office, and the two full baths upstairs! (Did I tell you I have a very BIG house?) Plus the finished basement apartment that is vacant and sorely in need of paint, carpet cleaning and walls and windows cleaned before we can start showing it. Whew! I'm tired just writing about it.

Love Knows No Season update

2010-06-08T08:28:00.000-07:00

So, I wanted to share with you what my friend Janis Unruh did with the May block of the month. She had a beautiful, very large finished quilt top that she wasn't pleased with and she asked me to take a look at it. Mostly, I thought the problem lay with the fact that there wasn't a lot of contrast within the quilt. We talked about options, and the one she liked most was adding a little spice with some applique. I showed her this block design before the Love Knows No Season quilt was even in the dreaming stage. She liked it and went home and played with it.

The result are absolutely stunning! The applique really added that special something that this wonderful quilt top deserved. The May block is still available for download until next week. On June 15th, the next block will go up, so don't miss this opportunity.

Love Knows No Season May block up tomorrow!

2010-05-16T12:37:00.000-07:00

I just got home from a lovely stay in Overland Park, Kansas where I attended the Machine Quilter's Showcase. The quilts were----as always----stunning. It is amazing how long arm-machine quilters have honed their skills to turn out incredible works of art such as the quilts I saw there. Photos are not posted on their website yet, but maybe you'll want to check it out later.

Because I was so busy with the manuscript for the new Squares and Triangles book and quilts for it, I simply forgot that I needed to have the pattern and instructions pages to my Web Designer Ruth Hirsch before I left for the show. So the May block of the month for the Love Knows No Season quilt is delayed until tomorrow, Monday May 17. (You can still download the April block today until the new May block goes up.) My apologies to those of you who have been checking my website for the new block.

As ye sew, so shall ye rip!

2010-04-28T11:21:00.000-07:00

And so it goes, my morning that is. Last night right before bedtime, I slipped into my sewing room to take a final look at the blocks I had laid out on my design wall. Something just wasn't right. I looked at my preliminary drawing, and back at the wall..... I didn't immediately know what was bothering me, but after close comparison, I discovered what I had done. Maybe I'd just discovered a new variation on the traditional Corn and Beans block, but it just wasn't representing the idea I had for this quilt.

So, let the ripping commence..... I always love to run around with little hairy threads hanging off my clothes, but most of the time I try to keep them corralled on my sewing table until I can brush them off into my trash can.

Here's the problem: I transposed the dark and light squares. Looks nice doesn't it?

But, it wasn't the effect I wanted in this quilt. I decided it would be easier to remove the squares, and replace them into the block, then to start over making all those little triangle squares again, and so here is what I had to do: 1. Rip off the squares.

2. Simply stitch the squares back into the block like this:

3. Resulting in this layout:

Now, that's more like it! Doesn't it just seem to vibrate? I think instead of corn and beans, I'm going to call this quilt Eggplant and Tomatoes. I am still amazed at how one or two little changes in a block layout can so drastically change the appearance of the final project.

And of course, Sally and Gianni were NOT impressed. They decided all the goings-on called for nap time. Ripping and re-sewing didn't disturb them a bit. Sally arrived in the upstairs sewing room first, so she chose the primo seating on top of the ironing board directly in front of the windows lying on another in-process project. Gianni was relegated to seat number 2 on the drafting chair that I use when I have lots of pressing to do. Anyhow, I think they both look pretty happy with this arrangement, don't you? At least until I need to press my blocks.

Quilt Life and Gaudi's Casa Batllo

2010-04-26T06:46:00.000-07:00

So sorry, fans, that I haven't posted any new blogs this month. I've got a verbal agreement on the new book and have been working diligently on designing and making new quilts! I'd love to show them all to you, but the publisher doesn't want me giving everything away in my blogs! We'll get around to it later after things are more finalized, but for now, please be patient!

In the meantime, I have a pattern and article in the most recent issue of Ricky Tims' and Alex Anderson's new magazine The Quilt Life, published by The Amercan Quilter's Society. Here's what the cover looks like:

Aren't they cute together? I really enjoyed reading all about thread. Libby Lehman gave ideas for thread storage, and thread company experts like Bob Purcell of Superior Threads and Jane Garrison of YLI answered reader's questions about thread. I don't think this magazine is available yet on news stands, but you can subscribe online. This magazine is printed on high quality paper that is NOT so shiny that you have to hold everything just right to reduce the glare. I love the quality feel of the entire magazine, just what you'd expect from Alex and Ricky. No corners are cut....literally.

And, still finishing out photos from Spain, here is one of the most fascinating places I visited in Barcelona: Casa Battlo designed by Gaudi. This building looked alive, like it could devour you! It was designed using the Sea as inspiration. You can see so many influences of strange sea creatures throughout, especially in the serpentine woodwork for staircases and even walls. See what you think!

Blitz Tourism: Barcelona, Spain

2010-03-26T06:17:00.000-07:00

Barcelona Spain in three days? You bet! Hilary and I decided we wanted to see as much as we could in three short days, so we hopped on a tour bus and saw some amazing views from the top. It was much colder than I expected, I was glad I had my winter coat and gloves. Temperature didn't stop some from swimming in the Mediterranean Sea, and in a pool next to the seashore.

One of our first day stops was La Rambla. This is a long, wide pedestrian street with vendors and street artists, musicians, mimes, birds and flower vendors. This is one of the most popular spots for tourism, so there were hoards of people exploring this venue. Hilary and I were no exception. What a fun place just to walk through and to do some people watching.

(More tomorrow!)

Barcelona and Beyond....

2010-03-24T10:41:00.000-07:00

I'm home! I got in late Saturday evening after spending the night in Omaha, NE (unplanned) due to blowing snow and nasty driving conditions from Ames, IA Friday. The quilt show in Sitges was amazing. The setting with the deep blue sea was so beautiful, and all those marvelous buildings that are centuries old was a perfect setting for a quilt show. The quilt exhibits were scattered throughout the historic buildings along the seashore. The vendor's mall was in tents very close to the beach and was soooooooo crowded! There were an estimated attendance of 13,000, a 20% increase over last year's attendance. People came from not only all over Spain, but France, England, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, and all over Europe.

The String Quilts class is always my favorite to teach. Each person gets to design their own quilt, and it is always amazing how people manage to come up with more original designs. Each class brings something new to my possibilities list. One thing that I find interesting is how personalities are reflected in what I see on the design walls by the end of the day. Take a look at what these class participant's are wearing, and then look at what they have on their design wall:

My quilt exhibit was hung in a small art gallery in a historic building. It was so exciting to see the quilts in such a beautiful setting. I wish I could have fit the large poster that stood outside the gallery into my suitcase, but it was way too big.

My daughter-in-law Hilary and I spent 5 days in Sitges for the quilt show, then we traveled to Barcelona for 3 very full days of what we called "Blitz Touring". I'll post some of my travel photos of my trip another day. Watch for it!

Barcelona SPAIN

2010-03-08T16:37:00.000-08:00

Barcelona, here we come! My DDIL Hilary and I are flying out in the morning, and we are scheduled to arrive in Barcelona early Wednesday morning. Then, we'll be taking a taxi to Sitges, a sea resort town, for a Spanish quilt show!

Then, we plan to tour a little after I finish teaching my workshops. I'm planning to take lots of pictures, and will post some of the best when I get back home. The iBook is staying home this time. Just don't need to hassle with trying to keep track of it this trip. See ya when I get back.

Updates: Gianni & Sally; Knee, etc.

2010-02-25T08:24:00.000-08:00

Several e-mail questions from followers about my health concerns prompted this update: Knee is ahead of schedule according to physical therapy people and orthopedic staff. I've got a couple more therapy sessions, and started back with water exercise class yesterday. I came home exhausted, and feeling like I'd gotten a work-out. Knee and the bruised ribs were pretty sore last night, and I'm having a hard time getting moving today, but it's only been 3 weeks! I have to keep reminding myself of that fact. I lost the crutches about a week ago, and am getting ready to return them to the pharmacy this afternoon. Still hurts when I first put weight on it after sitting for awhile, but I'm getting around pretty well. I'm told that the bruised ribs/sprained sacro-iliac joint will take 4 or 5 months to heal, and I'm getting a little impatient with that, but all in all, I am quite lucky.

Gianni and Sally are getting along pretty well. They eat out of the same bowl without fussing now, and will sleep in the same chair, but Sally doesn't like it when Gianni touches her, and will move slightly until they are slightly separated. They love to look out the family room window, watching the birds at the feeders Ken put up on the patio for the cats' entertainment. Better than TV!

They are learning to share toys, but last week Gianni shared something with Sally that I would have rather he's kept to himself. Somewhere, he picked up an eye infection in one eye, and soon, I noticed that both of Sally's eyes were only half opened and sore. I left for a short teaching trip with instructions that both of the cats needed medication several times a day. Ken did his best I'm sure, but the medicine just wasn't strong enough. When I came home, Sally's entire face was swollen, and her eyes were just slits.

After several trips to the veterinarian, and four different rounds of antibiotics, we finally started Sally on an oral medication along with topical ointments. It took several more days to see results, but she is now back to her bright-eyed self. Gianni got the med's, too, even though his infection had subsided quickly. Just don't want them to share things like this again. (Don't they look good now? Notice how attentive they are.... I'm holding the cat treats bag.)

Gianni has turned out to be a real lap-cat, in my face, and especially wanting to sit on my chest while I work on the computer. I finally figured out it wasn't so much me he wanted to be close to, but the warmth of the computer while it was working. Love him, but sometimes I need my lap to myself! And the 5 am wake-up calls are a bit much sometimes. Ken's taken to closing the bedroom door, but then I wake up to knocking at the door. Oh well.....

Love Knows No Season: Fused units

2010-02-23T16:09:00.000-08:00

First, a note about paper-backed fusible applique: Your pieces will fray less is cut on the bias. I like to rough cut the marked pieces individually, then I can place them as I choose on the wrong side of the fabric, like this:

Second, if two appliqué pieces will share edges, it is best for one piece to overlap the other. Determine which piece would naturally fall on top or in front of the other piece. When cutting out the background piece, I like to add small arrows along the line of the edge that will fall underneath another piece. This tells me that I should add 1/8".

Now, on to the main point for this blog:
Sometimes it is easiest to fuse some applique pieces together before placing them on the background. You'll need a teflon pressing sheet and an iron set to the temperature require for your chosen fusible product.

Begin by placing your freezer paper marking guide wrong side up on the ironing surface, and the teflon pressing sheet on top of it. Note that you can see the lines of the appliques through the pressing sheet.

Remove the paper backing from your appliqué pieces, and begin building your appliques from the background up. The roses in this block are the kind of units that you can build. Start with A, then place B, C, D, and so on in order. Use the freezer paper marking guide for placement.

When all the applique pieces are in place, adhere them to each other with the iron, let the piece cool, then carefully remove the entire unit from the teflon pressing sheet. It is now ready to place on your marked background. Make both rose units in the same way.

For the February block, you will applique the bias heart shape first.

Then, place the appliques on the background in this order: Rose stem, rose units, and finally the leaves.

Now your block is ready for the blanket stitched edges, embroidered leaf stems, and lazy daisy filler flowers.

Love Knows No Season February block

2010-02-20T13:55:00.000-08:00

Changing the block of the month on February 15th created quite a flurry of messages in my e-mail inbox. All of a sudden, a bunch of you found my website for the first time, and you had missed the January download. Please put a reminder on a date on your calendar to remind you to download the blocks each month before the 15th, because the old block will be removed on that date, and the new one will take its place on the free download link. In December, I will try to include instructions for setting the entire quilt top together with the block instructions.

I'm happy to say that my web designer and I decided to make any missed blocks available to you. There is now a link on the Block of the Month page that will take you to a page where you can purchase any missed blocks for $5 each. If you want to wait until the end of the year, I'm planning to make all the patterns available along with an instruction booklet for about $20. The booklet will include instructions for how to set the blocks together for the quilt top, and also several smaller projects using the blocks.

The transactions will be handled through PayPal, so that I can now take international orders, too. The pdf block patterns and instructions will be sent to you via e-mail message as soon as the order is processed.

I've been overwhelmed with the amazing response to this project. I've even gotten a bunch of photographs of finished blocks. We're working on setting up a photo gallery that you may view on Picasa. I'll let you know when that is up and running. In the meantime, e-mail me your photos of finished blocks. It has been so much fun to see how different they are. Each of the quilt makers who have sent me photos interpreted the pattern in her own unique way. I love it when this happens. Thank you for so much interest in this quilt.

The February block is now available for free download. Check it out!

Personal note to Followers...... Knee surgery over!

2010-02-03T07:52:00.000-08:00

Knee surgery is over. No surprises there. I had an old meniscal (cartilage) tear that required some smoothing out, a new tear which is what necessitated the surgery, and several places where the cartilage is worn through and allowing bone to rub on bone.

Knee is recovering nicely, but I suffered a nasty fall in the bathroom at home only about 9 hours following the outpatient surgery, and caught the edge of the toilet in the right side of my back. Kind of like a big circle here. The meniscus tear was the result of a particular exercise prescribed by my physical therapist for my back pain. Now the surgery for the meniscus tear precipitated the fall which is really causing more back pain!

I spent 4 hours in the ER yesterday for X-rays, and other tests to assess the new damage. It was determined there are no broken bones, thank God! So now, I just have to get through some days of healing rest, get back to the doctor on Monday to see if I need another back MRI to figure out if there is new soft tissue damage to the bulging discs, and try to get back on my feet yet once again. Stitches come out on Tuesday, and I'm hoping to get back to PT the following day, and water exercise class in two weeks.

Tomorrow night, Miss Kitty's Quilters are going to be my 'guinea pigs' for testing out a new presentation about Color and Value. I'll probably be presenting it from a seated position, Ken will be setting up any and all media equipment, and friends will be holding up the quilts to make my points. One of my facebook friends reminded me yesterday, "If you fall down 11 times, just stand back up 12 times!" Believe me, I needed that quote.

In the meantime, look for my name on the cover of the current issue of Quilter's Home magazine. I have a quilt in the magazine and there is a little page article about me inside. Then look forward to seeing an article I wrote about how I make my skinny bias applique in the upcoming June/July 2010 issue of Quilter's Newsletter, and a pattern for one of my quilts in a future issue of Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson's new magazine published by the American Quilter's Society: "Quilter's Life." There is a lot going on in my quilt world! How about yours?

Love Knows No Season: Bias Heart applique

2010-01-25T10:15:00.000-08:00

I'm already loving my new January block.....a lot! My background this time is a subtle soft blue with polka-dots. I thought it looked like the color of a gray January sky, and snow in the air. This time, I wanted more contrast between the sky and snow. I think it is a perfect background for this winter scene.

In appliqué, you always build your block from the background forward. In the majority of the 12 blocks in the quilt, that means you will start with the bias heart. All of the upcoming blocks' hearts will be stitched in a similar manner. This is probably not the way you have been taught to make bias or to stitch stems, etc. in appliqué, but it is the way that really works for me.

The key to success with my technique is STARCH, and lots of it. Heavy starch gives the fabric stability, and makes stitching easier. The bias doesn't stretch out of shape, and it will form gentle curves without bumps and pesky 'pokies' along the outer edges. I even use heavy starch when I am appliquing by hand, but it is most important when stitching the bias down by machine. Starch the fabric before cutting the bias, and there will be no fraying, and all strips will be exactly the same width with no waivering.

I do not like aerosal spray starch. Liquid starch comes in a half-gallon bottle, is quite inexpensive, and will make a whole gallon of heavy starch. I mix the liquid starch in a 1 to 1 ratio with water (1 cup starch and 1 cup water) in a plant mister bottle, then spritz my fabric and press it dry. Be careful when pressing not to distort or stretch the fabric. Protect your ironing surface with an old terry towel before starching. When this towel is stiff as a board, or soiled, remove it and wash it. The starch comes right out.

For the Heart Appliqué:

1.To cut 1 14" bias strips from the dark blue Fat Quarter, fold one edge on the diagonal until it is even with the adjacent edge, as shown.

2. Using a rotary cutter and ruler, cut along and remove the fold.

3. Bring in a second ruler, and measure 1 1/4" from the cut edge.

4. Remove the second ruler, and using the first ruler as your cutting edge, cut two 1 1/4" bias strips from the dark blue Fat Quarter.

Prepare the Bias:

1. At the ironing board, fold the bias in half and press. Use a little more spray starch, if necessary, to get a very sharp crease.

Stitch the Bias Heart:
1. Set your sewing machine for a hem stitch. The width of the stitch should be very small: .5 mm on most machines. The stitch length should be very short: .5 to .7 mm on most machines. This will take a 'bite' in the appliqué about every 1/8" or so.
2. Thread your machine with nylon invisible thread on top. ( I prefer YLI brand.) Wind a fine thread on the bobbin that will match your bias.
3. Insert your machine's open-toed applique foot, if you have one. (Foot #20 for a Bernina.)
4. Align the fold of the prepared bias along the outer marked line of the heart. Stitch along the outer edge of the bias. Most of the hem-stitch will fall in the background. Only the 'bite' should catch the bias. (Note: I used black thread so that you could see what the stitching should look like. Invisible thread is just that: invisible.)
5. As you stitch around the outer corner, do not make a pleat. The pleat will fall on the inside of that corner as you stitch the second side down.
6. As you stitch the inner corner, you will need to form a pleat or fold. It should be deep enough to accommodate the turn.
7. Now, open the bias and trim away the underneath portion of the bias to less than 1/4".
8. Fold the top layer of the bias under and finger crease, as shown above.

9. Stitch the remaining side of the bias in a similar manner.

Note: Start stitching the bias at a point where one of the branches of the tree, or icicle appliqués will cover the raw edges. This way, you will not have to seam the two bias pieces together.

This technique really works. Folding the bias exactly in half, and trimming later is so much easier than trying to fold, and later control, edges with 1/4" folded under on both sides. So what is a little fabric is wasted? How much is your time worth? And how much is it worth that the bias is a consistent width throughout the piece? I dare you to try it my way, and see what you think. I think you'll like it!

Love Knows No Season: Freezer Paper Marking Guide & Fusible Applique

2010-01-23T14:43:00.000-08:00

Here we go! This is the first of several short how-to articles to show you how we (Miss Kitty's Quilters) made the blocks in Love Knows No Season. (You can download the pattern and instructions for free from my website. Click on the quilt title to link to the webpage. Scroll down for the pdf downloads.) Because this was a group quilt, we chose to use fusible appliques. Fusing the appliqués in place is quicker, and usually easier than needle-turning edges or other techniques where the edges are turned under. However, I never trust any fusible product to be completely secure, so members of our group took the time to stitch all the raw edges down by hand after fusing. (Note: If you prefer, you may certainly turn your edges under. I plan to make my blocks by using the freezer paper applique method I showed in my August 2009 blogs and machine appliqué techniques.)

My favorite paper-backed fusible webbing is Steam a Seam Lite , not to be confused with Lite Steam a Seam 2.

Choose THIS ONE:

NOT THIS ONE:

The number at the end of the second product (Lite 2) indicates that the product has 2 paper sides, and when that paper is removed, the product is a bit sticky, allowing it to be positioned temporarily in place on the background fabric. I do not like this product for 2 reasons: #1...The paper releases too soon, usually while I am trying to cut it out exactly on the lines I drew on the paper. This results in misshapen pieces, and a real struggle trying to reposition the paper when it releases. #2...I don't like the extra stickiness. It really doesn't help with positioning, since I've already marked position lines on my background. If I were designing as I go, this might be an advantage, but for this technique, it gets in the way.

Steam a Seam Lite has only 1 paper side that stays put until you remove it. If you struggle to remove it after cutting out your pieces, you may wish to scratch the paper surface with a pin or Ball Point Awl. Then fold along the scored line, and the paper will begin to release along the scoring. I also like this product because it will handle the cotton setting on your iron. No need to worry about it melting into your fabric, leaving marks or disappearing. It is also a softer product than others, and you can stitch through it by hand or machine easily, without the adhesive gumming up or resisting your needle.

If you can't find this product on your quilt shop's shelves, let me know, and I'll see if we can get it up for sale on my website.

Freezer Paper Marking Guide

Note that the pattern as provided on my website are already reversed for use with my freezer paper marking guide method, and for fusible appliqué. Here are the steps for preparing the marking guide:

1. Download, print out, and join the 4 design pages with tape, overlapping the paper and aligning the lines. (Don't forget to download and print out the instruction pages, too!)

2. Trace the entire design onto an 18" freezer paper square. Fold the square in quarters to help with aligning the pattern with the square and on the background square later. Use an ultra-fine line Sharpie Marker to trace the design. It will bleed through the paper side of the freezer paper and stop at the plastic vapor barrier side. This will be important later.

3. Center and adhere the prepared marking guide to wrong side of the background fabric, using a hot, dry iron. Make sure the plastic shiny side is toward the fabric, paper side is to the iron. You'll know if you get it wrong.....the paper will stick to your iron, not the fabric, and you'll make a bit of a mess of your iron!

4. Turn the fabric with right side up, and mark the design with a fabric marking pen or pencil. You may need to use a bright window or a light box for this step, if your background fabric is dark or opaque.

Please test any marking tool to make sure the marks that it makes do NOT heat set, because you will be using an iron to fuse the appliqué pieces in place later.

5. Remove the freezer paper marking guide, and lay the marked background piece aside.

Prepare the appliqué pieces:

6. Using the freezer paper marking guide as a pattern, trace appliques onto the paper side of the fusible webbing.

7. Cut the fusible webbing pieces out, leaving at least a 1/8" margin outside the marked lines.

8. Fuse the paper-back fusible pieces to the wrong side of the appropriate fabrics, following manufacturer's instructions for your preferred fusible product.

9. Cut the appliques out exactly on the marked lines.

10. Remove the paper backing, position the appliqués on the background in the order (alphabetical and/or numerical) suggested on the pattern, and fuse the appliqués in place.

ORDER FOR APPLIQUES FOR THE JANUARY BLOCK:

1. Bias heart outline (How-to will be presented in a separate BLOG.)

2. Tree

3. Bunny and inner ear

4. Icicles

5. Snow in tree; Leaves; and Snow in lower portion of the block

It's almost here! Block of the Month

2010-01-15T17:33:00.000-08:00

Working, working, working........ We're almost there! The diagram of the January block for "Love Knows No Season" quilt is posted on my website. Materials list, Directions, etc. are coming! My friend Ruth and I are working very hard to get it all available by tomorrow morning. Please be patient!

The adventures of Sally the Cat and Gianni S. Kitty

2010-01-02T12:01:00.000-08:00

Most quilters out there own one or more cats. Somehow, cats and quilts just go together, so I must share with you some of our adventures with becoming a 2-cat household. Gianni is settling in, and right now, the two cats are sleeping less than 6 inches from each other on the floor of my office. This is the first time I've observed them this close together without hissing and growling, so I'm very impressed and encouraged. Integrating Gianni into Sally's territory has been exciting at times, tense at others, and lots of fun, too. I just have to share some photos with you here. Last night after I went to bed, I heard lots of racing throughout the ground floor of the house. I snuck downstairs to make sure everyone was safe, and observed first Sally chasing Gianni at break-neck speed, then Gianni chasing Sally. Hardwood floors, and clawless front paws make for hazardous travel, kind of like trying to run on ice, but both survived and without either one getting cornered or screaming at each other. This morning, we had a great game of hide-and-seek in the living room. The biggest losers were my violets. I now have lots of leaves to propagate them, thanks to two lively hiders and seekers. It seems as long as there is the appearance of a barrier between them (Sheer curtain, bath tub wall, legs of a chair, etc.) Sally is OK being in close proximity to Gianni. Gianni has never actually been aggressive with her, except if he is cornered, then he will let her know who is REALLY the boss of this place. But for the most part he's been quite a gentleman. Gianni S. Kitty and Sally T. Cat (Look at how very similar they are in appearance......if the room lighting is low, I sometimes can't tell which is which.) Of course, there's the early morning routine we're still working on. 5 am: Sally jumps in bed to check to see if I am still alive. She does this by touching her nose to my nose, and me batting her away from my face. (I really don't like them in my face, and don't allow either of them much above my shoulders, ever!) Then Gianni hears the ruckus, and comes running. Now, he is a 'talker', and he mews loudly as he bounds on to the bed. Then there's a hiss and a swat, and both go running across the bed to Ken's side. A few wild flails from Ken, and both cats are somewhere in the air above the bed, ready to land, clawed feet down. Hopefully, they land on the floor, not in my face. Once I am up and the cats are fed, I can return to bed for a couple more hours of much needed sleep. Sometimes, I just get out of bed for good, turn the heat up, and go to work. It's just much easier that way. Surely a satisfactory truce will be drawn and a routine will be learned, but for now, it escapes us.

Quilt Tops Galore!

2009-12-19T14:30:00.001-08:00

Miss Kitty's Quilter's top is finished and on its way to Shelley Carmicheal for her to add a little magic with long-arm machine quilting. This quilt is going to be the basis for a new block-of-the-month freebie pattern that will be available for download from my website beginning January 15, 2010. See my blog before this last one for a Smile box of all the blocks, if you're interested, or haven't viewed it before. I'm so pleased with the finished quilt top, and can't wait to see what Shelley has in mind to add for quilting. Next are the Big Sister/ Little Sister quilt tops. One is a postage stamp quilt I feature in an earlier blog, with blocks made up of 1" squares. The entire block is only 7" square. The other is her 'Big Sister' with blocks made up of 2" squares, and 14" square blocks. It is amazing how different they look, but each quilt top measures exactly the same: 76" x 87" or queen-size. Here are two more: A no-name-at-this-time quilt top that I'm really anxious to get around to quilting because the solid color fabrics, and the large white borders would allow me to feature lots of fancy quilting patterns, like feathers or flowers. I just haven't had time to figure it all out yet. What do you think? The last one is a quilt top I'd made several years ago using a Jinny Beyer stripe. It is a simple strippy style quilt, but I really like the clean and pastel colors I used for the 9-patch blocks. These latter 4 quilt tops are intended for a new book about scrap quilts made from entirely from squares and triangles. I just haven't gotten around to the triangles, yet! On another note, I'm happy to report that little Gianni is home and doing well. He and Sally are at the 'truce' stage of their relationship. They tolerate each other in the same room in close proximity (2 or 3 feet) but Sally is not happy when he hogs breakfast, and is especially unhappy when she has to wait in line for the potty pan. I have given them their own personal privies so as to eliminate as much conflict as possible. Gianni is clean and pretty much odor free, but he was a mature tom cat. The vet says the tom cat smell will fade as his hormones dissipate following neutering, but in the meantime, we're sleeping with windows open, and airing out the house after cleaning his litter pan each morning. It's been 25 years or more since I had a tom, and then they were mostly outdoor cats, so I'd completely forgotten about this aspect of owning a male cat. I know quilters tend to be Cat People, so any suggestions you have for this aspect of cat ownership would be appreciated.

Sally has a sibling!

2009-12-14T11:39:00.000-08:00

Saturday afternoon, and I was headed out to get groceries, and try out my legs after several weeks of Physical Therapy for my back, and there he was.....just sitting on my fence looking at me. I stared in disbelief. I thought I was looking at Sally the Cat, only in a different colorway. (Describing him this way for my fabric fans.) This cat was a softer shade of gray, with the same familiar beautiful face, and markings, only he has a white underside while Sally's is red, like the color of a squirrel. Sally the Cat and Gianni S. Kitty He came when called, allowed me to pick him up, and was he ever hungry! I took some food out to him, and hollered at Ken to come and see what I'd found! He couldn't believe what he was seeing, too. This cat was way too similar in appearance, size, demeanor, not to be very closely related to our Sally. (Sally showed up in our back yard just about a year ago.) We've decided that this cat was probably her brother, most likely a litter mate. Ken immediately dubbed him "Gianni Schichi" after the main character in the opera he was listening to at the time. I've since changed it a bit to Gianni S. Kitty. We brought him in, and he played for awhile. He especially liked Sally's catnip sock that I'd made her. I went on to the store. While I was gone, I guess Gianni got a little too rambunctious and decided he wanted back outdoors, so Ken let him out. I was a bit disappointed when I got home, but like Sally, I figured if he was there the next day it was meant to be. He showed up at our door about 8 pm yesterday evening, so that was it. We have a second kitty, same as the first. Do you remember the Smothers brothers? "Second verse, same as the first. A little bit louder and a little bit worse?" Apparently, that's about what we have here with the second kitty. Gianni spent the night in a kennel. I just couldn't trust him to have the run of the house yet, especially since he has nasty claws, and knows how to use them. He still wanted out this morning, but I had other plans for him. He went to the veterinarian this morning, where he will spend tonight. Surgery is scheduled for tomorrow. I consider neutering an essential part of responsible pet ownership, and this little kitty would be a prime candidate for being ripped apart next month at the beginning of the mating season for cats without it. My vet also reminded me that before we do anything else, he should be tested for feline leukemia and FIV. There is no cure for either disease, and if he tests positive, there is will be no reason to go ahead with anything further. I really hate the thought of that possibility, but I know my veterinarian is right. Sally was very interested in him last night, approaching Gianni cautiously. She followed him as he moved about the house, but wasn't sure she wanted to get too close. Integrating another full-grown cat, especially a full-grown tom cat, one that has been living as a ferrel cat in our alley for probably a year or more, may prove to be challenging. I think they will get along well, once we know he will be here to stay. Have any of you ever taken in a fully mature cat? Any suggestions for us? I think Miss Sally would love to have someone to play with, and I would enjoy a break from having to keep wiggling things for her entertainment. Wish us luck in welcoming Gianni into our household.

Miss Kitty's Quilters new quilt

2009-11-25T15:22:00.000-08:00

I belong to a quilt group called 'Miss Kitty's Quilters. Any of you who grew up in the late '50's early '60's will recognize the name of Amanda Blake's character from the television show Gunsmoke. Yes, the character Miss Kitty is still alive and well and the Long Branch is still open on Boot Hill in Dodge City, Kansas. Back to quilting...... we make a quilt every couple of years or so for our 'opportunity' quilt. (Raffles are illegal in Kansas.) This year, I was part of the opportunity quilt committee. We've made 12 blocks of the month featuring hearts and flowers or things that depict each month of the year. Several years ago, I designed 3 or 4 blocks to teach needle-turned applique, and was just looking for the time and energy to draw more. I was so excited by each new design. It was such a privilege to share it with our little club, and better yet, I had lots and lots of help bringing each new design to life. About a month ago, I got the final block back from Carol Harder, who hand embroidered the details on the block. Now I am in process of assembling the blocks with sashing and borders before sending it to our former member Shelley Carmichael who is a expert long-arm quilter. (In addition to Carol, others who added the embroidery details to these blocks include Joan Becker, Barbara Halbgewachs, Nancy Sherer, Jan Overbeck and Me. Thanks to each of you, and other who contributed. If I forgot anyone, I apologize. Let me know and I will add you to this list of talented people.) I plan to feature these blocks one at a time beginning mid-January on my website. You'll be able to download the pattern and instructions for you to print out and make your own version. At the end of the year, the instructions for assembling the full quilt, and several smaller projects will be ready for you to finish your version of these blocks. We still need a name for this quilt, and I need a name for the block-of-the-month series. Any suggestions will be welcomed. Every time I got another block back from one of the members who had volunteered to finish it, I decided I liked it even better than the one before. I've had a hard time deciding which one I like best, and I'm so thrilled with how pretty they all are. Let me know what you think of the designs. See what you think:

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Mystery of the TIA solved

2009-11-22T07:24:00.000-08:00

Note to followers: I went in to have my 2nd cataract surgery last Wednesday and I had a 40 point rise in blood pressure within 10 minutes after instillation of meds to dilate my eye, very similar to the rise in BP that precipitated the Transient Ischemic Attack during the previous attempt at cataract surgery on September 30. However, this time because my BP was only 113/67 when I arrived, this rise did not cause any adverse events, like last time. My nurse and I began suspecting that something in the meds was causing this to happen to me. As she read me off the list of drops she had put in my eye, I recognized one: NeoSynephrine! Who'd have thought they used NeoSynephrine to dilate eyes for surgery? I surely didn't! I discovered that this medication is routinely used to dilate eyes for examinations, but the one used for surgery is 4 times more concentrated. It has been used to dilate my eyes before, but not in this highly concentrated state. Believe me, no one will EVER use it on my eyes again, EVER! I once used OTC NeoSynephrine nasal spray probably 30 years ago when I had a head cold and allergies. After a few days of useage, I realized that it was causing my heart beat to increase drastically and made me feel sick, so I decided never to purchase that product again, and I haven't. I never added it to my long list of drug allergies, because it was OTC, considered safe, and I never even mentioned it to my family doctor. After all, my face didn't swell up, and I didn't have hives, like I did when I ingested sulfa drugs or penicillin. After I got back home, I got online and researched Phenylephrine Hydochloride, the active ingredient in NeoSynephrine. The very first paragraph under side effects reads like this: A significant elevation in blood pressure is rare but has been reported following conjunctival instillation of recommended doses of NEO-SYNEPHRINE 10 percent ophthalmic solutions. Beware! This ingredient is also found in all Sudafed products, and is used extensively in surgeries where it is important to shrink blood vessels to prevent blood loss. It is a very common medicinal chemical. Moral of this story: Know what is in every OTC product you use, note ANY and ALL adverse reactions, not just anaphylactic symptoms, and make sure all medical facilities and persons are aware of them. It doesn't matter how small or insignificant you think it is. It doesn't matter how long ago it was. It doesn't matter whether you think they are likely to use it for your procedure. And ask lots of questions. Don't be embarrassed, and be persistent, even if the medical professional looks at you like you are crazy for not simply trusting them, or tells you no one has ever asked that before. Know exactly what anyone puts in your body, BEFORE it is put there. LESSON LEARNED!

East Coast Quilter's Gathering Nashua, NH 2009

2009-11-16T12:58:00.000-08:00

Home at last! Airlines were running on time, even early in most cases, and weather was great! Classes were even better than that. I loved this venue and hope to go back some day to the Quilter's Gathering. Most of the days I taught there, I forgot my little digital camera when I was teaching my workshops. Just too busy thinking about other things. But for the Internet class, I went back over my lunch hour and got it from my hotel room. This was the first time I actually taught the Internet pattern as a formal class, and I think that I was the one who learned the most from this experience. I learned that photos of workshop projects should be easier to find on my website and include a clickable link to view a larger photo of the project. Secondly, all workshop descriptions on my website should include a link to a pdf of the supply list. This particular project has an extensive fabric list that included 72 different hand-dyed fabrics. Any of you who work with hand-dyes know this represents a sizable investment in fabric. One group of sisters who took this class even hand-dyed their own fabrics for this project. Their results were beautiful! (But I bet they didn't spend much less money on dyeing supplies than buying hand-dyes outright!) What an experience, though. I really admired their adventuresome spirit for taking this on. Another challenge for this workshop group was tackling curved piecing by machine. I learned about a gadget called "The CurveMaster" by Martelli. Several of the participants owned this item, two confessed to preferring it to my way of stitching the curves outright without using it, and one of them demonstrated it for the class. I tried it, too, and was impressed. I will have to experiment further with it after mine arrives in the mail. Quilters always seem to be smiling! Color abounded at every workstation. Cutting strips and more strips.... The fruits of our labor.... The afternoon session was spent stitching strips together and getting all the part organized to create the 3-D effect that makes this quilt so interesting. Because there isn't enough time in a workshop to make all the blocks for the entire quilt, we combined the class's efforts on the design wall, and look at the result! I think scattering the colors across the quilt rather than placing them into color groupings imparts even more visual impact to the quilt's design than my original way of putting them together. After I saw what was happening on the design wall, I've decided I must make one of these quilts using commercial prints, paying special attention to value rather than color, just to see what will come of it. We were all intrigued by how nicely everybody's fabrics and colors played together with each other on the design wall! There were no bad choices or ugly fabrics in the lot of them.

To Philadelphia and Beyond

2009-11-01T05:14:00.000-08:00

View from Kel's kitchen window The Philadelphia Art Museum is in the background. I'm in Philadelphia this morning, being tempted by leftover Halloween candy, and trying to figure out Kel's television remote. There's something happening over at the Art Museum steps this morning. The very loud music and other noise started promptly at 7 am EST, and even though I sat up until 12:30 am watching the Phillies and NY Yankies on TV playing in the rain last night, there is no sleeping through the busy city Sunday morning sounds. I'm looking out the window at row houses, Gothic style cathedral spires and lots of rain. Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore. Another view from Kel's windows Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Flights were uneventful and I even arrived a half an hour early on Friday. Yesterday was spent picking up my Internet quilt from the People's Place Museum in Lancaster County, PA and doing a little shopping in the 'burbs. My quilt was on exhibit at the Museum until December, but I need it for a class I'll be teaching at the East Coast Quilter's Alliance's A Quilter's Gathering in Nashua, NH next week. It will be shipped back to take it's proper place in the exhibit on November 9. We got a little damp sitting on the front stoop passing out candy to little Philadelphians out Trick or Treating. My favorite little costumed character was the really creative foamcore board Fried Egg. I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of that one. This little girl had used paper mache on the foamcore board egg white shape to create the yellow yoke, and sported a chef's hat to top it all off. And then there was a memorable cardboard Peanut, and a Brick wall with a white faced Humpty Dumpty. Lots of fun except for the huge slugs that had found good eating inside the carved jack-o-lantern. They provided a bit of entertainment when they all crawled out after Kelly lit the pumpkin. They joined us sitting on the steps, but needless to say, I didn't particularly enjoy their company. Here's Kelly enjoying the excess candy while watching the goblins and ghouls: Liz, one of Kel's condo friends, helped with the candy give-away, and her cat Pete, added to the spooky atmosphere. Pete is the quitessential Halloween black cat, and enjoyed the comings and goings from his vantage point in the front window. One of my big purchases yesterday was a big Philadelphia Phillies RED sweatshirt: Everyone in this vacinity was dressed in red yesterday, most with big P's on their chests. This city is really excited about their home team playing in the World Series for the second year in a row. And it is even more thrilling that they are playing the Yankies from just a few miles up the road. Of course, we'll be watching on the Big Screen TV here at Kelly's. It was really good to be sitting high and dry last night. The fans got very wet last night waiting in the rain while the game was delayed nearly an hour and a half. On today's agenda: A gentle walk around the Art Museum and past Boat House Row and maybe brunch with Kel's friends.

Upward and Onward....

2009-10-27T11:23:00.000-07:00

It's about time! Finally, I'm getting around to another post. Last week was spent traveling and teaching in Keller, Texas. I managed the drive in good shape, but it rained and rained and rained on me in Texas. It soon became evident that there was a leak around my new windshield when I began to smell something really funky in my car. And then I noticed that the floor on the driver's side was quite wet. After sopping up what moisture I could, I took the floor mat into my hotel room and hung it out to dry over the room heater, and bought some carpet deoderizer for the car's floor. Believe me, the glass installer got the car back as soon as I could get it there when I arrived home. The leak was found, and I'm hoping it is actually fixed. In the meantime, do you have any suggestions for permanently removing the odor from my car? Before I left on this most recent trip, I finished 3 quilt tops in one week! I think that has to be some kind of record for me, but of course, they were all in process before I added the borders, etc. The first one was the postage stamp quilt top I'd blogged about earlier. It is really, really cheery, and I loved it when I laid it out on my bed to admire it, and the sunshine coming in the window made it seem to glow. (The photo here doesn't do it justice.) I know you're going to ask so here it is: There are a total of 5,880 individual 1" squares in this quilt top. It is designed to fit a queen-sized bed exactly with the black borders just hanging over the edge of the bed. I already have plans to make coordinating pillow shams for the quilt. There will be a second postage stamp quilt soon. Remember this design? It will be the first quilt top's sister: The second quilt is the Star and Leaf quilt (AKA Star Crystal), that I also blogged about earlier this year. Setting this one together proved to be a huge challenge. Lots and lots of Y seams, and places where 10 or more seams met gave me hours and hours of thinking through the process, and experimenting until I found a way to put it together in a satisfactory manner. This photo doesn't show the narrow inner border and wider white outer borders, but you can get the idea. Now, I'm struggling with quilting ideas. This one deserves trapunto, and lots and lots of nice quilting, don't you think? The third one was a brand new quilt top. Made from two different sizes of squares, stitching it together was really simple. The thing I most like about this one is the really bright, solid colors. This photo was taken during the design process, and was taken before the top was even sewn together. It does not show the all-white borders. Once again, with all the solid colors, and the large outer border, this one will also need elaborate quilting to make it really special. Can you tell how much fun I'm having with solids in really brilliant colors? The rest of this week, I've got to finish getting teaching samples and quilts plus my wardrobe ready for the East Coast Quilter's Alliance's A Quilter's Gathering. First, I'll fly to Philadelphia for a few days with my son Kelly. We'll be going to Lancaster County to the People's Place Quilt Museum on Saturday, passing out candy Saturday evening, the Art Museum on Sunday, and a bit of relaxing on Monday and Tuesday before flying to New Hampshire. This is my last teaching trip for the year, and I'm so looking forward to relaxing at home for the holidays and for the next couple of months.

Feeling better and better and Apple Crisp recipe

2009-10-12T06:04:00.000-07:00

I'm so happy to report that the newest round of meds are working, at least from my point of view. I've been happily playing in my studio for a couple of days, and even managed to cook a meal or two. It was very cold, and even snowed a bit yesterday morning, so it is now officially baking weather. I made the very best apple crisp yesterday I've ever made, and have had a request of two for my recipe. Well, I don't really use recipes. I kind of make things up as I go. It's a little like how I make quilts. Whatever looks good at the time usually is what I do. Anyway, I thought I'd try to write down what I did so that I can repeat it, it was that good. Here's my somewhat of a recipe: Elsie's Pretty Good Apple Crisp (It ain't pretty, but it sure is good!) 3 apples, cored and sliced as for pie (I used Gala, it's what I had in the bottom of the frig, and I did NOT peel them. We need the fiber, and I need the extra time I saved, but you may peel them if you'd like.) Put the apples in a 9" x 9" baking pan in a single layer. Add about a half cup of granulated sugar (more or less, depending on your taste) and sprinkle with a teaspoon or so of cinnamon. Toss the apple mixture around a bit to distribute the sugar and cinnamon. For the topping: 1 cup, more or less, quick cooking oats 1/2 cup brown sugar 2 T. flour 1/4 cup or so, chopped pecans 1/3 cup butter or butter substitute (I used Smart Balance Omega 3 margarine. Need those healthy fats and oils) Thoroughly mix together these ingredients until crumbly. (I usually end up using my hands.) Evenly distribute this topping over the apple mixture. Bake at 350° for about 45 minutes or until topping is browned, and apples are bubbly. Serve warm. (With ice cream, if you'd like. Mine didn't make it that far. We ate it straight out of the oven. There's only a single serving left in the pan this morning after I had a piece for breakfast, it was that good.) Makes about 9 small servings or 6 generous ones. Enjoy!

Another new experience...

2009-10-02T05:55:00.000-07:00

I've got some new acronyms to add to my vocabulary, but they are not quilt related, and they are not nice! My second cataract surgery was scheduled to take place Wednesday this past week, but while waiting in line for the anesthetist, something strange happened. At first, it felt like the anesthetic drops placed in my left eye were migrating to my right eye. The nurse said that was impossible. Then the entire right side of my face went numb, I got light headed, and nauseous. I told them I was having some kind of allergic reaction. The anesthetist took one look at me and hollered at someone to call the EMT's. When he asked me to smile repeatedly, it finally dawned on me what he was looking for. He thought I was having a stroke! I remember saying, "Is this what a stroke feels like?" By that time, I realized my right hand was feeling a little like jello. I had no pain, and no other sensation other than numbness. Since I was next in line for surgery, the eye surgeon came out of the OR, told the nurse to tell the EMT's it was a possible CVA (I made mental note of it. New acronym. I had no idea and had to look it up on the internet later...Cerebral Vascular Accident!) My blood pressure was 200/107. Major stroke territory. I was so very glad I was in a medical facility when this happened. Oxygen, and IV were immediately administered by the anesthetist who first recognized my symptoms. To make a long story short, by the time I arrived at the hospital, things began to stabilize, BP still too high, but symptoms were subsiding. After a CT scan, carotid artery ultrasound, EKG, and blood work, I was diagnosed as having had a TIA (The second new acronym: Transient Ischemic Attack) Soon, Ken arrived, and the ER doc sent me home with lots of new prescriptions, and instructions to see my family physician. My next task (after seeing my GP) was to research all this stuff. TIA is very serious, and can be a precursor of major stroke. It is ALWAYS to be treated as a medical emergency because only a CT scan can tell the difference for sure. I'm now monitoring my blood pressure, and going in for a bunch more tests over the course of the next week to try to determine the underlying cause. Thank you, God, for looking after me. I'm so thankful that I was in the Eye Surgery Center when this happened. Even though my anxiety about the surgery may have exacerbated or accelerated the TIA, it has also called attention to something that was pre-existing, and now I can start intervention before anything BIG happens. (And had I been home when this happened, I may not have recognized the fleeting symptoms. I may only have thought of it as a fainting spell and probably wouldn't have called 911.) This was a blessing in disguise, but now I have to bring a doctor's note giving his permission for me to have the second cataract removed. Kind of like going back to school.

Back in the Saddle

2009-09-19T15:18:00.000-07:00

Right eye surgery is done and results as of this date are mixed. I opted to keep my near and mid-range vision as opposed to having 20/20 vision for distance, so I am still myopic, but not as much as before. My close and mid-range are a bit better than before, but the really big difference is that I can face the sun and still see where I am going! And white is much whiter than I ever remembered it to be. I cannot wear my prescription glasses because the right eye's prescription lens is much stronger now than I need it to be. But I cannot see more than 3 feet from my face without my glasses since my left eye still needs them. (And so does the right eye, but not as much as before.) Really frustrating already and it will be worse after the second surgery, because then neither prescription lens will be correct, and I still won't have 20/20 vision. I won't be able to drive or watch TV until my eyes heal enough for me to get my new glasses. On the plus side, I will be able to sew without glasses, and to work on the computer until then. This afternoon, I worked up the nerve to watch the video of the surgery. It was really strange, and I probably shouldn't have watched it before the second surgery. Can't believe they did all that nasty stuff to my eyeball while I was awake and looking out of it the entire time! I had a little scratchy sensation later that day, kind of like a contact lens when my eyes got tired, but nothing more, and nothing at all out of the ordinary since then. It really is a miracle how vision can be saved and even restored with such a quick (but NOT simple!) procedure. I'm so glad I didn't wait any longer to have this done, and now I can't wait to get the 2nd surgery over, and get my new glasses fitted. In the meantime, I am still working on the postage stamp quilt tops, and I should get back to piecing the Star Crystal since I have all the appliqued leaves finished. I still need to do the math to figure out what sizes of squares and rectangles I need to cut to fill in the areas around it. Then, I'll have to spend more time thinking about an appropriate and attractive border for it. I seem to get bogged down when planning how to finish a really pretty quilt like the Star Crystal. Tuesday evening before my scheduled surgery, I got a telephone call from the Jacksonville Quiltfest in Jacksonville, Florida that my quilt Aunt MiMi's Flower Garden was named Best of Show. This pleased me a lot.... it is the 3rd Best of Show for that quilt this year. AMFG will be retired after this show. Two years is about as long as you can exhibit a quilt at major shows, and it's been slightly more than that now, so it's time. (Wouldn't it be nice to retire after only 2 years of work?) If any of you out there are going to this show, tell me what you think when you see it. I wish I could be there. I love seeing my quilts hung at shows, especially with nice ribbons on them.

Squares, squares and more squares!

2009-09-07T08:32:00.001-07:00

Labor Day holiday found us lounging around at home, but I have been working and have finally finished the hand appliqued leaves for Star Crystal aka Fall Colors. I need to set the parts together later this week, but I'm going to be preparing solutions, dye concentrates, and my back yard for hand dyeing/sun printing/ marbling workshops here Friday and Saturday mornings. I purposely kept the class enrollees to only a few people because my yard is so small, and it will allow me to relax and enjoy my friends. Plus, this coming Thursday morning I have to drive to Garden City about an hour's drive from DC for a consult with the opthamologist/surgeon, and for lunch with my friend Cricket who recently moved to Garden City. In the meantime, I'm also working on some ideas for another book, Squares and Triangles. I always tell my audiences when I talk about scrap quilts, that value is more important than color. That point has been driven home with me when I began experimenting with a new block idea. I'd made a couple of drawings to begin with, and then found a whole box of 1 1/2" strips I'd cut some years ago, and decided to use them to create a postage stamp quilt. I started with one light strip, one dark strip, and two medium strips together in a sequence of 4, shown below, sliced them into sets, sewed and unsewed and sewed them back together again bargello-style to create a kind of checkerboard block. I didn't particularly care for this block. It seemed static. It just didn't hold my interest for very long. Next, I juxtaposed the two medium strips. Now, that was more like it! Look carefully at the strip sets. Only the two medium strips were interchanged. That is the only thing I changed! The light and dark strips remained in the same position, and I used the exact same pattern and stitching sequence. What a difference it made in the finished block! I made mistakes along the way, too. One that is easy to show you in photos is that I used a large floral print for the dark print in one block. The pattern got lost because the print, when cut up, became both dark squares, and light squares where the flower pattern was sliced up. Check out the green block below. Then take a look at how the rhythm of the pattern is lost when that block is placed next to others in the quilt design. When I put a bunch of the checkerboard blocks together, I discovered that they formed a secondary design at the corners and along the sides of the blocks where a kind of ladder formed. This pattern is growing on me! I really think I like it almost as much as my first choice. I made a bunch more of both kinds of blocks and now, I have the beginning of two quilt tops that I really like, another set of sister quilts. What do you think? Which pattern do you like best? Isn't it amazing how changing one simple thing, like the position of one strip in a sequence can utterly change the entire appearance of the quilt? Have you found surprises like this in your quilt making?

September already?

2009-09-04T08:41:00.000-07:00

Can't believe that we are having such nice fall-like weather. I'm not fooling myself, I know that Kansas weather is fickle, and we could still have 100-degree days. I'm just counting my blessings and enjoying each cool morning. Yesterday, I went for my usual walk, feeling good, and ran into a couple of friends I haven't seen in awhile and we walked and talked, and caught up on a lot of things. Nothing like good friends for getting the day off to a great start. Enjoyed it, Janie and Susan! I'm down to one leaf to applique, then I'll be ready to assemble Star Crystal AKA Fall Colors (Yes, I'm toying with a new name for this quilt. What do you think?) Now, I'm beginning to explore borders. I'm thinking I might want to make some sort of dog-tooth edging, or maybe repeat the leaf applique motifs. Suggestions are welcome. Slowing the applique process have been a multitude of other activities. One was a fun, fun trip to Fort Smith, Arkansas and the Belle Point Quilters Guild, then I drove up the road apiece through the beautiful Arkansas Hills to Siloam Springs where I spent a couple of wonderful days with my dear friends Cliff and Pam Goggans. Cliff and Pam own Sager Creek Quilts, and have a delightful daughter Carlie, who was kind enough to let me stay in her bedroom for the night. I taught Strings at Fort Smith, and Seeing Stars for Pam and Cliff, and Carlie and her parents and I spent a wild evening playing Apples to Apples. (One of those games that all ages can really enjoy.) Then home for 2 days, and off to Norman, Oklahoma for my nephew Seth's wedding to his delightful new bride Kiefer. Kelly, Kerry and Hilary came to Oklahoma for the wedding. Kelly flew in from the west coast where he was attending meetings for his job with Google, and Kerry and Hilary drove in from Ames, Iowa. We all arrived a day early and had a nice visit over dinner, a little shopping the next morning, and lunch before the early afternoon wedding. An appointment with my optometrist on Wednesday to adjust my new glasses, ended up with him concluding that my cataract has progressed very rapidly since July, and I must have lens replacement surgery NOW! The kind of cataract (Posterior subcapsular) I'm suffering from is not age related. (Link provided, only if you are interested in that sort of thing.) It is related to chronic inflammation (allergies) and use of steroidal eye drops for allergy symptoms, and tends to progress more rapidly than other cataracts. I'm scheduled for the first surgery on Sept. 16. Because I am so extremely myopic, the second eye must be done soon afterward, even though it is not affected. (Uncommon, I'm told.) I'm also told that the 2 or so weeks in between surgeries may be quite difficult because I won't be prescribed new glasses until both surgeries are done. One plus to all of this is that I may have 20/20 vision with the new lenses, even though I've NEVER had perfect vision, ever! But I may lose mid-range, and close-range vision as a result, which I depend on when sewing and working on the computer. Win some, lose some........ I'm simply anxious to get it overwith. So, I'm trying to cram as much sewing time as possible into the next 12 days, because I will be taking a forced month-long break from everything I love to do.

Books, books, and more books!

2009-08-19T07:40:00.000-07:00

Crystal Star's leaf blocks will have to wait! String Quilts: 10 Fun Patterns for Innovating and Renovating is HERE!!!! The books look really good, too! I love the fact that Sally made the cover. She wanted so much to be in the middle of things when we were shooting the photographs, so we finally gave up trying to keep her out of the room, and just let her have her way. It made for a really charming cover. I sent the publisher several possible photos, and I really didn't get to see the cover until about 2 weeks ago, so I didn't know which photo they had chosen. I was really surprised and pleased, too. It is so exciting to have a new book out after a 5-year break. Writing a book is really hard work: First, there is the making the quilts which is pure joy for me. Writing the patterns and how-to's really stretch my brain. I had a lot of help with the photography and graphics part, but the editing step is my least favorite part. Editing is all about compromise, and I'm not always good at that. My editors were fabulous to work with, however, and their point of view and skills are necessary to make the book the best that it can be.

So, today started out with printing invoices, unpacking boxes of books, signing books and packaging and labeling them for shipping. Now, I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to get about 75 pounds of books into the post office for mailing. I thought about borrowing Ken's dolly, but it's really awkward to maneuver. Plus, I'd still have to lift the boxes of books onto and off the dolly, and I'd have to load the dolly into and out of my car's trunk. Just too much trouble. I'll just make 5 or 6 trips to and from the car and hand carry them in. Then, I'll have to stand in line 5 or 6 different times. I'd better allow an hour just for the post office. And then there's groceries to get, a Walmart run for more packing supplies, Sherwin-Williams for house paint and supplies, and UPS to ship a quilt to a show. Such is the life of a traveling quilt teacher/author.

"Slow Cloth Movement"

2009-08-15T08:30:00.000-07:00

Have you ever heard of this? Slow Cloth Movement? I think it is something that describes the fact that more and more people are becoming interested in and discovering the joys of working with one's hands. Knitting, crocheting, woodworking, crafting, and quilting are being discovered anew, and more and more people are interesting in learning how to do things by hand. Someone e-mailed me a link to Elaine Lipson's blog about this topic. I think it is appropriate to discuss this concept while I finish the leaf appliques for Star Crystal by hand. You may want to read Elaine's original post and see what ideas it provokes for you. Basically, Elaine discusses the benefits of crafting something by hand. It is not about the amount of time it takes to produce something. The pride, joy, and pleasure of making something with one's hands is in the process, not necessarily the product. To summarize, her 10 main points are these:

Slow Cloth movement: It is not about the 15 minutes it takes, or hand vs machine, but the lack of thought and content in making something quickly, that this movement is rebelling against.

Elaine's 10 Qualities of Slow Cloth

Joy

Slow Cloth has the possibility of joy in the process. In other words, the journey matters as much as the destination.

Contemplation

Slow Cloth offers the quality of meditation or contemplation in the process.

Skill

Slow Cloth involves skill and has the possibility of mastery.

Diversity

Slow Cloth acknowledges the rich diversity and multicultural history of textile art.

Teaching

Slow Cloth honors its teachers and lineage even in its most contemporary expressions.

Materials

Slow Cloth is thoughtful in its use of materials and respects their source.

Quality

Slow Cloth artists, designers, crafters and artisans want to make things that last and are well-made.

Beauty

It's in the eye of the beholder, yes, but it's in our nature to reach for beauty and create it where we can.

Community

Slow Cloth supports community by sharing knowledge and respecting relationships.

Expression

Slow Cloth is expressive of individuals and/or cultures. The human creative force is reflected and evident in the work.

When I was in 4-H, I remember spending summer evenings working on a hand-hemstitched table cloth. It was tedious, but I stuck with it, and finished it in time for the county fair. I found that the meditative nature of repetitive stitching freed my mind to dream of what my life would be like as I grew older. I loved watching the table cloth become more and more beautiful with each stitch. Hand quilting is a process like that for me. When people view my bed-sized hand-quilted quilts, one of the most common questions asked is, "How long did it take you to do that?" I don't know. (And frankly, I don't care, either!) I don't want to waste my time counting the hours it takes to make a quilt. If I enjoyed those hours, what does it matter? I generally find that when I finish a hand-made quilt, I am lost for awhile, almost like I am missing my long-time friendship with this quilt. If is finished, it is not there to keep me company in the evenings. It is almost like grieving for the loss of a relationship. It always takes me a little while to get going on something new. But I seem to find new things that challenge me, and I move on. What do you think about this discussion? Is faster better? It seems that Fast, Fun, Easy and Quick are words in every book title, and magazine article. Do these kinds of things really appeal to the large majority of consumers? Why? Or why not? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this topic while I am taking time to finish the hand applique part of my next quilt.