Something About Nothing

My first go at scrapbooking in the 80's was in black paged photo albums and then I moved on to acid-free colored papers. These early scrapbooks are some of the ugliest things you have ever seen.  In the mid 1990's I had a wonderful neighbor named  Stacey Julian .  Those of you into scrapbooking might recognize the name.  She was a stamper when I met her and was just starting into scrapbooking.  She and my other friend, Terina , self-published a book called Core Composition  and they used some photos of my kids within their pages. I learned a lot about design from Stacey and Terina.  I also learned that the self-publishing world was hard and expensive!  In the last 20 years that world has completely changed.  It can still be very expensive to come up with the initial investment to publish 10,000 books and then there is the issue of finding a place to store those 10,000 books while you find places and people who want to buy them, but thanks to a company called  Blurb you

We pulled out the Christmas decorations this week and I was reminded of where I started as a quilter and how far I have come.   In the 1970's - I Tied quilts - it was all I knew and it was quick and easy work!  (I was very young) Early 1980's - I learned to hand quilt and hand piece.  I struggled and it took an eternity to finish a project. Late 1980's -  I had moved on to machine piecing and heard about machine quilting. I gave it a try.  No lessons.  I was terrible.  I didn't know to baste A LOT and I used polyester fluffy batting. Yikes. 1990's - I went back to tying or more often than not - no quilting projects at all.  It was a time of tole painting and making clothing for the kid-a-lees.   It was cheap to make clothing then. In the early 2000's I joined a local quilt guild at the urging of my friend, Lorraine.  The ladies were kind and so willing to share their knowledge with poor little me. Little did I realize they would open a whole new world

My friend's daughter got married this week. She is a great friend and her daughter is just awesome. I would just love to make every friend's daughter a quilt.  I really, really, REALLY would like to but I decided I just don't have the money or the time so I had to opt for something smaller. I decided to create this table runner for her.  I really enjoyed making this project. One of the best parts of the project was when I taught my friend Sylvia how to use Skype and then she helped me to pick out the fabrics via a video-chat! The bride's kitchen colors are red and sage.   I hope this will go in her new kitchen! What gifts are you creating?

It's time to make gifts and sometimes I need a gift that is something quick, easy and practical.  Rice bags are one of my go to fun gifts.  I use my own rice bag all the time for those aches and pains that creep up.  I've made rice bags in all shapes and sizes but this year I am opting for the divided long version. I know there are many variations but here is how I make mine: 1.  First I cut a piece of flannel into a rectangle - approximately 12" x 22". 2.  Turn one of the 12" ends under a half inch and press. 3.  Fold the rectangle in half long ways with right sides together.   4.  Starting at the folded edge, stitch a 1/4" seam along the two raw edges.  I like to sew this seam twice, the second seam just inside the first for extra stability. 5.  Turn the tube inside out and push the corners out.  Fold the tube in half and press a crease.  Fold each end to the center and press a crease.  The seams for each section have been

I just found out last night that my friend, Mitzi, won my pieced journal at the Utah Quiltfest!  I'm so happy that it found a good home.  Thanks for bidding on it Mitzi!

I wrote about my class with Judy Coates Perez and now it's time to write about all the other wonderful classes I attended. I really enjoyed the Friday Sampler class. There were 25 teachers!  I couldn't make it to all the demos so I had to pick and choose a few favorites. I sat in on Lesley Riley's TAP class.  I am a huge fan of TAP (transfer artist paper) and it was great to learn from the inventor of the product.  I have been using TAP for a few years now but I did learn a thing or two about the product. Lesley is one of those teachers I have been friends with on-line and it was great to talk with her after class.   It is so wonderful to meet my on-line friends in person!  Phillipa Naylor , quilter extraordinary, spoke at the first luncheon I attended on Thursday and was very entertaining.  She has a beautiful British accent and is very funny as well.  She started out as a fashion designer and is always dressed impeccably and to top it off she is a fabulou

Congratulations to Cathy Perimutter!  She is the winner of my Quilt Scene Magazine Giveaway! Cathy Perlmutter  said... Carol Bryer Fallert. She's an amazing quilter and a historic pioneer in the quilt world, making it safe for machine quilting!

I didn't take half the pictures of the quilts that I should have! I would often get absorbed in looking at the design and quilting and completely forget about the camera.  I really wanted to pull out the camera for the special shows in which photography was not allowed.  Such fabulous quilts in the Rituals and Seasonal Palette exhibits.  The link for the Ritual's exhibit has photos from afar and the Seasonal Palette link is to the book you can purchase with all the quilts in it.  I should have bought it while I was there. I was excited when I was able to photograph a quilt with it's creator.   This is  Hot Africa by JANNEKE DE VRIES-BODZINGA  of KOLLUMERZWAAG, FRIESLAND, THE NETHERLANDS.   The people are all hand  appliqué. Urban Tree by Kathy York .   My photo colors are a bit off and blurred.  Sorry   Silk  by HOLLIS CHATELAIN   of HILLSBOROUGH, NORTH CAROLINA   Amsterdam Alley: The Shortcut Between  by LESLIE TUCKER JENISON   of SAN ANTONIO, T