Evening Edition–Free Kindle/Nook Book!

By the time this post goes live…..we’ll be sailing out of Baltimore and on our way to the Caribbean!

It’s a funny thing to start a trip in cold weather! I’ve been thinking the past several days about what it will be like on deck as we leave the harbor, all of us huddled in jeans and sweatshirts, coats, jackets, scarves..hats and gloves?

Or will we give up and go INSIDE to watch from the warmth of the ship’s interior as we sail out into the Chesapeake Bay?

It’s also very strange to pack for a trip that includes TWO kinds of weather: Hot & Cold! Above is a picture of our route!

And here is our itinerary so if you start to wondering just WHERE we might be on any given day in the next week….now you know! I’m happy to be visiting St Thomas again. I loved that place! It will be fun to show it to my hubby too. Other than St Thomas, these are all places I’ve never been before or ever imagined I’d ever see!

Our ship! Enchantment of the Seas!

It’s still crazy to go out in November to get a pedicure, but what must be done must be done!

But I digress….

One September Morning, by Rosalind Noonan, is free in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble, where it is a repeat freebie.

Book Description

The moment Abby Fitzgerald sees two soldiers approach her front door, she knows her husband is dead. John Stanton, who gave up his career as a star NFL running back to serve after 9/11, has been killed in Iraq.

Suddenly Abby's kitchen is overflowing with casseroles brought by the army wives' club to which she has never really belonged. And her in-laws arrange a lavish funeral at Arlington National Cemetery in spite of Abby's misgivings. John had grown to hate the war even though he loved his country, and Abby can't reconcile the complex man she knew with the version being portrayed by self-serving politicians, military, and the media.

Shell-shocked, Abby strives to cope with her own heartache while comforting John's loved ones, including his mother Sharice, his staunchly anti-war sister Madison, and his bitter younger brother Noah. But amidst her loss is a growing conviction that the truth about John's death is far from over.

Gripping, thoughtful, and emotionally powerful, One September Morning is a story of loyalty and betrayal, of a shattered family's journey toward healing, and of the courage it takes to confront the truth not just about our enemies, but about those we love best.

Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble. Be careful from the nook, as there is another edition which is full price.

As always…double check before clicking, what was free earlier may not be NOW!

I do believe my kindle is fully loaded and ready for some deck chair time!

Bon Voyage, Ya’ll!!

Zuckerwatte Quilt & Curved Bindings!

This tutorial is being written as an extension of a Quilt pattern that recently appeared in the September 2011 Patchwork Gilde Magazine in Germany! Remember I showed you the back of this quilt?

I was unable to show you the FRONT until it appeared in the magazine! And the Magazine is HERE!

Zuckerwatte is the German name for Cotton Candy, and this quilt, with its pinks and purples just have a Zuckerwatte feel to me! Are you surprised that there are more STRINGS in this quilt? I’ve been on a bender to use as many strings as I can in as many different ways that I can this year!

You can find the pattern in the Patchwork Gilde Magazine! It’s the September 2011 issue, and it just arrived in my hot little hands this week! Yummy!!

Along with the pattern for the quilt, is an article/interview from my workshop at Nadel und Faden in Stuttgart!

I have such fond memories of being in Germany!! I wish I could read the text---but it is all in German! But look close at the right hand page….do you see what the underlay image is?

It’s a very very light wallpaper effect of my traveling hexagon quilt! Yep, that went to Germany with me too! ((If this quilt could talk ---huh?))

If you would like to win a copy of Patchwork Gilde Magazine, leave a comment below and I will be drawing 2 winners!! Let’s leave this open for a while. I’m leaving on a cruise and I won’t be back until the 13th to draw --- but we will draw when I get home!

Now..the whole reason why this post is here --- there wasn’t room in the magazine to do the whole tutorial on the curved binding. And it is directing people to my website to find the tutorial! And I need to get it up here-----

Adding Gently Curved Bindings!!

The first thing you need to do is hop over to the Cutting Bias Bindings Tutorial to get your bias binding ready!

After quilting, stay stitch close to the edge of the outer border and trim the excess batting and backing away.Do not cut your curves yet! We'll mark the border, draw some lines, use the lines to place our binding, and trim later ----

Paper Templates!

I know there are many “tools” out there for getting even scallops, but all I need is a small plate and some extra paper!

Corner Template!

This is the first template we need to make, and because our borders were cut 5.5” before adding them to the quilt, we can do this out of a 6 1/4” square! If your border is wider or narrower than this, adjust the size of the square as necessary.

Start with a 6 1/4” square and fold it in half. Find a plate/saucer that will fit in the corner and give you the size of corner curve you would like…I just hit my china cabinet to come up this one. Lay the plate, pot lid, circle in the corner over the fold and draw a partial circle.

Decide “HOW” shallow your scallops are going to be….the shallower they are the easier they are to bind without cupping.

I wanted my scallops to be less than one inch deep and used that measurement to extend the line from my partially traced plate curve out to the edge of my square. Fold the square back in half, and cut out your corner template…..then snip a little 1 1/4” square out of the bottom corner of the paper square. This is where your template will line up on your inner border…

This is how your paper will lay in the corner! You can adjust it as needed by refolding and trimming as desired.

Side Template!

Cut a 5” X 6.5” rectangle from scrap paper. Fold it in half. Using your plate, draw a gently curved edge at the top of the paper, and extend your shallow curved lines to the edges, wherever you think you would like your depth to be. Fold the paper back in half, and cut on the line. These are my two paper templates. You can see where I corrected that too-deep line on the corner by folding and trimming! Because the corner and the side piece are separate from each other, we can fudge the distance between scallops as needed when we draw the lines on the quilt border!

I know I’ll be using these again, so I went and cut them out of left over template plastic! My first line wasn’t quite round enough and my corner piece was corrected when I trimmed. You can do it!

Using chalk, a blue marker, or a pigma pen ---Yes, I used a pigma pen!!--- Trace your corners on to your quilt, and then using the side template, trace your curves on each border, adjusting the template to fit by sliding it closer together or farther apart as needed. This is very forgiving! If you want, you can start at both ends and work toward the center of each border length to keep things more symmetrical.

Starting at the TOP of a scallop, part way down one quilt side, lay the folded bias binding with raw edges up against your drawn line. Start sewing, leaving about 4” of tail on your binding unsewn behind the presser foot. We’ll fix that later!

I use my regular presser foot to do this…the quilt is already quilted well, and my walking foot obscures my view for sewing a 1/4” binding. Stitch slowly, and try not to stretch the binding around the curves as you go. Think only a few inches ahead of where you are. Deal with each curve as you get there. You might have to lower and raise your presser foot to readjust the binding to fit easily around the curves. Don’t race! Take your time…it’s worth it!

Here is a whole length of binding attached to the quilt, and the edges will be trimmed later!

Continue around the whole quilt until you reach a few inches from where you began. To join the ends of your binding, follow my directions on my straight edge binding tutorial HERE! You’ll have a nice invisible join with no lumps or bumps!

Here is the binding, with the quilt edge trimmed 1/4” from the seam line! I’m ready to begin the handwork of stitching it down!

I bind my quilts using the “ladder stitch” --- making the stitches completely invisble when finished! To do the ladder stitch, take a small side-ways stitch in the fold of the binding. Directly below where the thread exits the binding, take a small side ways stitch just below the machine stitching line. Move the needle back up directly above where the needle exited the quilt backing, and do another side ways stitch hidden in the fold of the binding.

Ladder Stitch:

You’ll notice that the quilt backing is facing me…and my fingers roll the binding down and over the edge of the quilt. I don’t even use those “hair clip” binding clips or pins!, I don’t NEED them….My fingers do the work for me! Pins and hair clips are just one more thing for me to lose ;c)

Zuckerwatte will be making its appearance in ENGLISH as a feature in my next book due out in July 2012. Copies of Patchwork Gilde are available across Germany, perhaps you can find someone who can pick you up a copy!

Or, you can leave a comment below to win one of two free Giveaway copies! I’ll draw for them upon my return from the cruise with Pat Sloan ---but give me a couple days to rest up, I think I’m going to need it!

Evening Edition! Free Kindle Book!

This goes RIGHT ALONG with today being the second day of Dia de los Muertos! How could I not post this?! Recipes and a mystery thriller combined? Double combo! Double fun!

Chili Con Corpses by J.B. Stanley is free today from the Amazon Kindle store, and has received an average user rating of 4 out of 5 stars based on 10 customer reviews.

Category: Mystery

Book Description:

In Stanley’s delicious third supper club mystery to feature the Flab Five (after 2007′s Fit to Die), lovable librarian James, newly svelte deputy-in-training Lucy, trivia maven Bennett, spaced-out herbalist Gillian and self-effacing high school teacher Lindy sign up for a Mexican/Spanish-themed Fix ‘n’ Freeze cooking class in Quincy Gap, Va.

Their classmates include Shenandoah Star-Ledger editor Murphy Alistair and her old college friends, drop-dead gorgeous twins Parker and Kinsley Willis.

When Parker is murdered during a school field trip to Luray Caverns, the amateur sleuths vow to catch the killer. Spicing the proceedings are James’s struggles to lower his salt intake, recover from his stormy breakup with Lucy and figure out what to do with a winning lottery ticket found in the library book drop.

Heavy on fun, light on gore, this savory mystery comes complete with yummy recipes.

Love it! You know the drill, check before clicking, what was free earlier may not be later ---

Enjoy!

Cathedral Basilica of St Francis of Assissi!

One of the landmarks I was able to visit in Santa Fe, New Mexico was the Cathedral of St Francis!

You can’t hardly miss it, it’s there….larger than life…at the end of the street---and it’s a busy place, bustling with tourists! With good reason!

My fascination with historic buildings holds no bounds, and I was eager to walk the grounds and find my way inside.

I always feel a reverence when entering any place of worship, I don’t want to intrude on those who might be there for “real” reasons, not just sight-seeing as myself, but we were welcomed in by a docent who handed us some pamphlets on the history of the Cathedral, and we were encouraged to take ourselves on a little walking tour.

I could have spent MUCH more time in here than I did. There was so much to see and appreciate --- from the way the light came through the stained glass windows to filter down onto the pews and the floor, from the altar piece behind the pulpit, to the rose window at the back of the chapel! Where to start?

This was my first glimpse – the time was early afternoon, about 1pm or so. I would swear I was in Europe! We were encouraged to follow the aisle to the left of the center row of pews, the “oldest” chapel portion was there toward the front on the left ---

Do you see those numbers?! This statue around the corner was brought to Santa Fe in 1625. 1625!! The statue is the oldest representation of the Virgin Mary in the United States. Historically--- That’s pretty danged significant in my book!

The chapel itself was rebuilt in 1714, and there were elements in the chapel taking us right back to that time….it’s about to have its 300 year anniversary! ((Those of you who thought all the “good old stuff” was only on the East Coast with the pilgrims, think again!))

I know the pictures are not great. The one thing they asked of us was “NO FLASH” And I stuck to that—Think of the artisans who made this beautiful altar piece in 1625 – HOW did they do it? What tools did they use? What components made up their paint, their plaster, the gold leaf---simple tools, lots of hard work, NO OTT LIGHTS!

This, my friends, is the CEILING --- circa 1714. Of course, lights have been added…but it is as rough-hewn as the day it was built.

As we left the chapel of La Conquistadora, I snapped this view of the Rose Window above the entrance doors –Too bad there is so much light from the glorious sunny October day outside that you can’t see the beautiful colors of the stained glass.

Close up detail ((As close as I could get with a phone camera with no flash allowed)) of the beautiful artwork above the columns.

On my Tuesday Evening walkabout after my workshop was over with the Santa Fe guild – this was my view of the Cathedral --- It takes on a whole different quality of peace in the evening when the grounds are deserted. I walked around again, taking my time – since the hustle and bustle of sight-seers had abated, and I wasn’t likely to find myself standing in the way of someone’s photo-opportunity. The evening light in Santa Fe is just magnificent!

In the front courtyard is a statue honoring the first woman of Native American heritage to be named a Saint. This artist’s work is SO wonderful, the attention to detail makes you think you could reach out and touch the hem of her skirt or her robe, and feel it as fabric in your hands, not bronze.

I love the last line --- “Embracing Kindness, Forgiveness, Love, Compassion & Joyful Peace.” Don’t we all aspire to that in our lives?

You can find out more about Kateri Tekakwitha HERE!

I love it when life forces me to slow down and take another look. My Tuesday evening stroll through the empty streets of Santa Fe was that and more to me! How often does life tell you to LOOK UP! What a life lesson! LOOK UP!

Some moments are just best experienced in solitude ---How else can you hear the quiet whisperings of your heart?

Why I blog ---

I’ve been traveling around the internet from time to time, visiting blogs, following links, seeing who is in other people’s reading lists, trying new venues, seeing what is out there.

There are times when I even end up questioning myself, why I do what I do at all--- at the end of the day, what drives me to post and post and post?

There have been comments --- not necessarily about me, but about those of us who have ad sponsors, and it is something I’ve thought long and hard about – even before agreeing to have ad sponsors on my blog.

I’ve even found derogatory comments on friend’s blogs that have made me feel pretty awful. “Ad free zone” “no ads blog” “Oh, those ADS!” And I try to suck it up and move on and just tell myself that they really don’t understand the situation here.

I don’t blog for glory.

I don’t blog for cash.

I do blog to promote a business, but it is more than that. This is my livelihood, but it is also my life line.

I blog because this blog is a scrapbook of *MY* life. And it’s going so fast. I’m at the age where I want to capture it all. A picture may be worth 1,000 words, but if I don’t write the 1,000 words to go with it, 6 months or a year from now I’m not going to remember what that picture was for or where I was or where I took it.

I don’t feel the need to scrap book with die cut paper shapes and bits of ribbon and bows in acid free pages, but I do feel the need to scrap book my life here with pictures and words.

Yes, there are buttons and images for awards on my blog. This is my life scrap book. There are links to lots of things, this is my space, my memory box. This does not make me a glory-seeker.

I’ve always been a communicator…my internet life started by joining several different email lists all revolving around quilting in one way or another and I was active in it daily. Words just seem to flow from my fingers…..I love being able to express myself! And when blogging started, and the ability to add pictures, and to share…wow!

When I moved to North Carolina 3 1/2 years ago, I left a full time massage practice that I had built from the ground up-- behind. I basically walked away from my job. I had no idea WHAT I was going to do, but working in an office 9-5, 5 days a week had ZERO appeal to me.

Writing for magazines pays little to nothing, but the benefits were so great, I accepted the job of writing a regular column for Quiltmaker. I love it! Can I live on it? No.

I received a book contract from Kansas City Star and I am now busy writing my 4th book with them. I love it too! But let me tell you, book royalties are NOT all that they may be cracked up to be. Selling books on my website and via this blog and at my lectures are what KEEP me going as a self-employed woman. Can I live off my book sales? No.

Traveling and teaching is HARD work --- no matter how fun it looks. It’s taxing beyond anyone’s knowledge, except maybe those who have traveled to teach before --- and if you divide the pay by the number of hours on the job, and realize that that pay also has to cover what days you are NOT working, because you certainly can’t take a “regular” job and ask for these kinds of days off so you could DO your traveling quilting job! Who would hire you? No one! Missing family is also hard! Can I live by my teaching earnings? No.

Yes, there are ads on this blog. I am aware of a whole group of bloggers who have pledged to avoid blogs with ads on “principle”. What PRINCIPLE?!

These ads also allow me to take all the time I do --- hours and hours---- to design and publish quilts for you, here on the blog, free of charge. They cost you nothing --- thanks to the wonder of these little ad sponsors in my side bar.

They pay me so you don’t have to.

These ads support a self-employed woman. And any self-employed woman should applaud whatever effort it takes to BE and remain self employed in this economy.

Does this make me greedy?

No. It makes me realistic. Something has to give! I want to keep writing….but something has to pay the bills. I want to keep sharing my life ---and this is how I choose to do it.

You may disagree with me….but I’m hoping this will help you understand just a bit more.

And in the mean time, I’ll keep writing ---

PS -- and just for the record, it astounds me that people who read me in google reader will even THINK of emailing me asking me to change MY format so that they can get the whole post in google reader, rather than just a few beginning lines to let you know the new post is up.
I've been told by people that they will unsubscribe unless I "CHANGE" it --- for them.
Think about it! I want my readers here ON the blog! If the post is fully shown in google reader, You don't have access to ANY of the links in my side bar, nor to the tabs at the top of the page where all the free patterns and tutorials are. And yes -- *gasp* I don't get credit from my sponsors unless readers are actually ON my page instead of just reading along in google reader.
I'm sorry that some people feel it is so difficult to click a link to open a second tab to read this blog. REALLY!?

Evening Edition --- Free Kindle Cookbook!

Those folks at Gooseberry Patch are at it again!

This time it’s Savory Pies!!

Book Description:

From Flaky Chicken Pot Pie and Spaghetti Pie to Upside-Down Mexican Pot Pie and Slow-Cooker Sausage Pie, this new collection features 25 savory pies that are sure to get mouths watering and tastebuds tingling!

Yummy Yummy, get it while you can! There is nothing like a warm and comforting main-dish pie to satisfy! I’ve got my eye on the Upside-Down Mexican Pot Pie! Doesn’t that sound good?

It was free when I downloaded it, check before clicking, you know the drill – what was free earlier may not be now!

Yes I should be packing! I’m leaving on Wednesday evening when DH gets off work for our cruise that sails out of Baltimore on Thursday . THIS is when I get really bummed at this time of year --- It’s going to be dark in the car, how can I do handwork?!?

I’ve already downloaded a book from the digital portion of my library for us to listen to on the way to/from. We listened while driving through Alaska in August, and enjoyed it. We're ready to do it again.

Am I all set for this trip?! I sure hope so! Boxes and bags and suitcases have been stacked in the living room for days!

We return on the 13th, I’ve got pet sitter ready, and folks from DH’s office coming by to check in between times too—I think I've covered ALL the bases!

The blog queue is stacked too! There will be things to keep you busy the whole time I’m gone, including my turn at the 100 blocks by 100 designers vol 4 blog tour ---

Keep checking back, you never know what the next post will be!

Halloween Interview with Pat Sloan!

This is an early afternoon announcement to remind you ((I even had to remind MYSELF!!)) that my interview with Pat Sloan on American Patchwork & Quilting Radio airs this afternoon!

It’s really a fun Quilting-Conversation more than anything. Pat is so easy to be around and when we start talking, I have a hard time shutting up, or staying on topic—LOL!

Remember, when this was recorded, I had just gotten back from Maine and was deep in the throes of Froggy-Bronchitis! I’m much better now…..but you might hear a hint of it, just a bit, in our phone convo! I tried really hard not to hack on the air. ;c)

I invite you to listen in!

CLICK HERE to Listen to the show

It airs at 4 pm Eastern, 3pm Central, 2pm Mountain, 1pm Pacific

(CLICK HERE for a Time Zone converter)

Listen online or download the podcast after the show!

• ITUNES - CLICK HERE To subscribe


• American Patchwork & Quilting FACEBOOK page CLICK HERE to Join
  


• American Patchwork & Quilting magazine online www.allpeoplequilt.com/

And for more info, click on over to PAT’S BLOG to see who else is on the show! There is also a display of Halloween Quilts from all the interviewees --- Like me! ((Mine is at the top of this page, I stole back the graphic from Pat..LOL!))

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I loved it as a kid, I loved it when my kids were kids! I love it now!

Today, since there are no kids left at home, no costumes to sew, no candy to buy, nothing to decorate for – I want to do something a bit different ----I had some email exchanges with Nancy Arsenault, a quilter from Tuscon, Arizona, who shared some of her “Dia de los Muertos” quilts with me after reading my post about my trip to New Mexico last week.

I asked her if I could share them with YOU, because they are truly charming and fun! And I decided to do it today because TOMORROW is already taken --- I’m releasing the yardage info for the new Mystery Quilt tomorrow. ((OH GOSH!! It really IS that time already!!))

November 1st, the day AFTER Halloween, is traditionally known as “All Saints Day” in many Christian cultures. Dia de los Muertos stems from that tradition, with Day of the Dead being celebrated on both November 1st and November 2nd.

Read on! If you want to know more about the history, I found a more reliable explanation HERE! ((Oh, I love history!))

Enjoy Nancy's Quilts!

She loves me, She loves me not!

Nancy writes:

I'm not from Mexico...in fact I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. So how, you might wonder, did I come to make a series of quilts to celebrate the Mexican tradition of Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)? I am a quiltmaker and collector of whimsical folk art. Living in the Southwest, I was attracted to the colorful imagery of skulls and skeletons which are often represented in Mexican folk art. It was only a matter of time before I began to use these images in my quilts. I made the first in the series (a five piece Mariachi band) in 2006.

Quilting Bee de los Muertos!

As I made these quilts, I learned more about how and why this tradition exists in Mexico. I learned about the belief that each person dies three times. The first death takes place when the body dies. Another death occurs when the body is laid to rest. A third and final death happens when there is no one left alive who remembers the departed person. To avoid that last death, some people make an effort to keep alive the memories of their departed friends and family members.

Swan Lake de los Muertos!

Each November, they clean and decorate the graveyards. Many families build small altars in their home to commemorate the lives of loved ones. Often these altars include favorite foods and symbols of the departed's favorite pastimes. There are special foods associated with this observance as well but what interested me most was the calaveras (skeletons) depicted doing the ordinary, everyday activities that they loved in life.

Flower Power de los Muertos!

Many of my Dia de los Muertos quilts are large but I also do some small (12 x 12") pieces. They're done with machine applique and quilting. They've been exhibited in shows around the country and they're meant to tickle your funny bone. You can see many more of them on WEBSHOTS under the name AZquiltmaker.

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Be sure to come back tomorrow for the Intro to the new mystery…I’m not even TELLING you the name until then, just to keep you hanging just a bit longer, but you won’t want to miss it!