So, I somehow trashed my Blog – the software didn’t ask, if I was sure after I hit the button by accident, if I REALLY wanted to trash it  🙁

I just figured out how to fix it on my own (yeahh!!!  😉  )  but it took a few days – apologies for my temporary disappearance.

Michelle’s book is quite the quilter eye candy which she brought to the Enfield Quilters guild meeting this week. Seeing some of the samples in person was GREAT! Lots of members were inspired to purchase her book and took advantage of the opportunity to have it personally autographed by Michelle. — Thanks Michelle

Can’t wait for next month’s speaker, Madonna Terlizzi, she’ll be covering Crazy Quilts and embellishing.  Here’s her website if you want a preview

http://fabricaddiction.net/index.php

I issued a solid fabric only quilt challenge to the Enfield Quilters guild last fall with a due date our 2015 September, tomorrow. The challenge was inspired by solid color quilts I found on Pinterest – there are some amazing traditional and contemporary quilts out there that only use quilt design to make a statement, they have no need for patterned fabric.

My ideas for the challenge were all over the place: I love red and green quilts and thought this was my opportunity so I spent about 6 weeks researching Carolina Lily quilts. This was funny to me since the contemporary photos had been my first inspiration for the challenge. I also found a lot of other red and green quilts to fall in love with but if there’s one skill I haven’t mastered its hand applique, so a lot of those inspirations would have taken me a lifetime to complete.

I settled on a quilt done in a Fibonacci sequence of finished strips of 1”, 2”, 3”, and 5”. A friend of mine and I had a great time at the quilt shop one day, stacking and restacking the solid fabric bolts to reach the final selection.  Then, in order to continue machine quilting for customers, I dedicated 15-20 minutes a night to iron, cut, and sew which was going fine until the last seam.

The last seam has now been sewn three times and is ripped out again – I keep sewing one section in upside down. You would think I couldn’t do this more than once but I assure you, I can and have. Tonight, I’ll hopefully sew the seam for the fourth and final time, right side up, and add the borders. Even when I plan well (I started in July) I still find myself up against the deadline!

Finally, because it is my quilt and I’m not good at putting my quilts in queue, before quilting customer’s quilts, it will sit on a hanger among my many other long arming UFOs. As my Mom always says, “The cobbler’s children have no shoes.” – need another deadline to get it quilted!

I’ve been a fan Caryl Bryer Fallert for a long time, I’ve even taught classes on one of her patterns. Being a long arm quilter, I became an even bigger fan when I discovered she created the first machine quilted quilt to win the top prize at the AQS show – Corona II: Solar Eclipse, 1989.

Why mention this now? My Mom and I were at New England Quilt Museum (NEQM) http://www.nequiltmuseum.org/ in Lowel, MA last month and discovered the next exhibition at NEQM is:

“CARYL BRYER FALLERT A Retrospective”

The exhibition runs August 20^th through October 31, 2015.

The volunteer at the check out desk said she helped move the quilts in and described Corona II as, even more beautiful in person. You can bet my Mom and I will be trekking back up to the museum to take this exhibit in.

For a sampling of Caryl Bryer Fallert’s beautiful quilts – http://www.bryerpatch.com/

Starting a Blog – for me it’s a daunting task because I’m a very private person, but I do like to share when it comes to quilting.  Sharing for me has been through teaching and/or just helping, I love to see the light go on when people “get” what they were stuck on or someone realizes that they really can create a complex shape with some simple seams. I’ve worked with kids and adults with great satisfaction.

A little about me –

I am a fiber artist, long arm quilter, Pete and Bella’s (puppy) Mom, and love of my Honey (Dave). I often wonder what other people are doing or thinking about quilting. I have a passion for fiber and love experimenting – manipulating the texture, mixing colors and patterns, I love fusing, I like to melt –layer and burn to create my own fabrics, embellishing, I’m also a hand dyer. I hope to share my adventures in stretching my skills and boundaries surrounding my current processes.

I’m a Fiber Extremist – I love / make / collect: art quilts, antique orphan blocks and quilts, art dolls, thread, and all sorts of fabric. I don’t know when I’ll find time to use it all but I love surrounding myself with it, staring at it, planning more quilts than I’ll ever find time to make in my lifetime – but that’s OK, I keep planning (so yes, I have UFO’s).

Hopefully sharing this journey will expand my circle of like minded friends – those that like traditional quilts but might be looking in a little different direction, just a little to the left or right of center. Sometimes I find myself way out in left field and giggling at what I’ve created.

GROW is my word for the year, I love to learn, from books, videos, classes and sharing – it’s how I grow. I’m hoping this blog will become something that grows more interesting as time goes on. I’d like it to be a positive place to visit, share, and where we can be helpful to each other. I hope you’ll follow along.