Showin' & Sharin' in Idaho!

I want to introduce you to two very special ladies.

These two (and some others as well) came to my lecture in Idaho Falls, a complete surprise.

If you could follow the timeline of my life back about 20 years, you would find me as a busy mom of a 12 y ear old and 6 year old boys, still a bit busy with a doll pattern company  called “Needle in a Haystack!!” Which had just been picked up by the Butterick Company after vending a Quilt Market a couple years previously.

I was a new Bernina owner after I ran my last Kenmore into the ground with all of the sewing I was doing and it was time to bite the bullet and “upgrade.”

It was about this time that I also bought my first longarm quilting machine, an APQS Ultimate I that I had bought sight unseen from an online quilter’s email list because I had test driven one at Quilt Market, and this one was less than a year old, and the woman was going through a nasty divorce and sold it to me for half price.

ALL OF THESE THINGS ---were a turning point in my life and I didn’t even know it.  Did you ever look back and try to pinpoint where certain things put you on a path you never dreamed possible?


These two women, Carol June and Gail were my left and right hands in quilt crime.  I haven’t seen them since 1999 or so.  And I just about bawled when I saw them walk into where I was just setting up for my presentation.

Thank you for the surprise, ladies!  You did my heart good – after it started beating again!

It was a full house!

trunk show, laid out and ready to roll!

I spied a Boxy Stars

We had a fabulous round of Show & Share!

I love this Grand Illusion in orange, purple, green, black and white!  What a fun take on this mystery!

Texas Tumbleweed from MORE Adventures with Leaders & Enders  in nearly KING SIZE!

Isn’t this fabulous?! 

I think this is Mary’s…she’s hiding behind it, but these are all leftover Quiltville bits and pieces….and check out the back:

There she is!

Chery’s Orca Bay from String Fling!

Close up on this one.  Still a favorite!

Jamestown Landing also from String Fling in Green by Alicia!

Elisabeth’s big bunch of Leader & Ender Tumbler Fun!

Check out the fabrics!

I adore her tumbler shaped label!

Cindy’s Trip Around the World!

You can find the free pattern for this one also under the Free Patterns tab – LOVE her colors!

And I had Wonky Wishes Sweet Dreams at night!

It was fun to be able to bring Wonky Wishes to it’s FIRST guild presentation, even if it was the last one of the year!

Flying Home yesterday --

I left Idaho Falls on a 7am flight, getting me to Salt Lake City with just enough layover time to grab breakfast.  The snow from a couple days before was gone, except for what stayed in the mountains.  I caught this shot as we left the airport and headed toward Atlanta.

I’ll see you next July, Utah!  I’ll be teaching for the State Guild and will squeeze in a couple days beforehand for more family time.  Balm to my soul.

I’m on row 10!

Starting to think that at some point I may FINISH this eternal hexie project!  And I’m thinking of how to finish it.  These 4 neutral corners are just SO neutral.  I feel like it needs to be framed with something.  And I’m trying to be realistic here.

This will likely HAVE to be machine quilted, so I am considering appliquing the edges down to a border of some kind.  I need to add the corner, measure, and decide…how big does this really need to be?  And I’m being honest with myself.  My eyesight is just not going to hold up to the kind of hand quilting I’d really like to do on this. And then there is that time factor thing.  I’ve got two other BIG quilts in the hand quilting department that have languished for YEARS.  It’s kind of hard to realize that there are more years behind you than will be in front of you, and at some point you just bite the bullet and do the next best thing and focus on what you really want to do to make the best of it.

SWEET SADIE!

This girl was so excited when I came in the door last night. Love her to bits.  And just as ecstatic this morning.

I’m home.  My next teaching trip isn’t until early January.  Time to breathe.

And time to get back to the diningroom table where things are waiting to be shipped.

I am thanking you AGAIN for your patience with me.  Today orders resume going out in the order in which they came in.  I will be doing all I can before I leave for Thanksgiving on Wednesday evening.  I return home Monday night.  I will resume again on Tuesday until all are out.

Our first clue for En Provence goes live on FRIDAY!  It will NOT require specialty rulers.

There are units in the quilt that can be made a number of different ways,  and regular rotary cutting instruction will be given for those if you haven’t received your tools yet.

I highly suggest getting the Tri-Recs tools or the equivalent (Many manufacturers have their own version) as this unit is NOT easily made with regular rotary cutting math.

I will continue shipping Essential Triangle Tools until the stock I have runs out, more is expected Mid-December.  The manufacturing process is out of my hands, and when they arrive, they arrive.  If you have the equivalent from other manufacturers such as the Easy Angle and Companion Angle you will be fine until more are in stock.

And I think that’s it for now.

Quiltville Quote of the Day!

There are people, situations and circumstances that will try your peace of mind. Others might not understand the decisions you make for your life, and that's okay. You don't have to explain yourself to the masses.

Keep your peace at all costs.

Vintage Chips and Whetstones quilt shared by Siobhan.

Happy Monday, Everyone!

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