Gardening and Graduation

I find it very hard to focus on work and quilting when my garden starts to bloom. We have such dreary winters here in Ohio that I just love to spend as much time outside with my hands in the dirt especially when the weather is sunny. We have had a wet summer but the temperatures have been great. For once we experienced a spring and then followed by a mild summer. We normally go from winter to summer with not much good weather in between.

I am very fond of perennials and have large flowerbeds filled with color. One of my favorite things to do is sit out in the early morning with my coffee and watch the birds.

I have four children and my third child Jason just graduated from high school. Andrew and my mom and dad flew in for the celebration. It was great having everyone home.

Andrew is now back in NYC and Jason is in India. It is amazing how quickly time together passes. I am just so delighted they are all doing so well and experiencing life to the fullest.

I am travelling to Primitives of the Midwest tomorrow so will keep you posted on all the classes at Quilters Station. It will be good to see a bunch of my friends again.

Once again I am over packed, I am finding it very hard to pack with the new restrictions on baggage!

A week with Kaffe and Brandon

It is wonderful to be a student sometimes. I always get another perspective and find it very stimulating as well as humbling at the same time.

Wendy, Melissa, Michelle, Betty and I spent 5 wonderful days learning and laughing together. We stayed at a home in Sun River and spent our days in Sisters. The first day of our workshop was a hike which was enlightening as it started to make us aware of the wonderful colors that surround us. We seem to take this so for granted especially with our busy lives today. Even though it was very early in the season we still found amazing color underfoot as well as miracles in nature. This area of the country is a special place I have become very fond of my visits here. It is so different to Portland which is not that far away and is one of my favorite places to visit.

The second day was our painting class which was a challenge. We were given copies of one of Kaffe's fabrics and we had to recolor it using a famous painting as inspiration. It sounds easy but you need to know how to mix color as well as achieve a fabric you would like to put in a quilt!

The next two days were quilt days. We designed two quilts a floral and a bowtie. I was amazed to see all the varieties in the class. The best part was choosing all the borders for the quilts. Many had wonderful wild fabrics which just brought them alive.

Our final day was knitting. We were pretty worn out my Friday but still found a little energy to buy more yarn and start new projects. The one project we could not let Melissa talk us into was purchasing coffee bags to make recycled purses. She tried very hard but I am proud to say we left that project in Sisters.
The Stitchin' Post is a fabulous store, the staff are great and I was made to feel so at home both as a teacher and a student. I am delighted to be returning to teach at Quilters Affair in 2009.

Spring Quilt Market

Quilt Market was in Portland, OR. One of my favorite cities. Wendy and I arrived at the convention center and were met by Melissa, Michelle and Betty who I had not seen in a long time. We were a good team. It did not take us long to get organized and have the booth complete. Even if I say it myself it looked great! I had three new books and 2 new patterns. The first day we sold out of all the books I had shipped so we then took orders. We stayed at the Northrup Inn which was wonderful. Just far enough away from the bussel of down town but still a tram distance to travel. It was fun to try new restaurants as well as shop at Powell's book store and the local knitting stores. The last day I had coffee with Sarah from Material Obsessions in Sydney Australia. I am delighted to say we talked about my upcoming trip to teach in Australia in April 2009. How exciting! She also gave me a personalized copy of their new book 'Material Obsession Contemporary Quilt Design'. It is a wonderful book! I am happy to say this will be available on my website at the end of the month

http://www.suespargo.com/

I have many new possibilities from quilt market. I try not to get to excited until they happen. I will have to keep you in suspense until the time

is right to share. It was great to see all my friends who are shop owners as well as the designers that I know. I also bought many new fabrics and embellishments which will be on my website soon. My favorite fabrics were from Westminster fabrics and Seven Seas. I have so many ideas in my head about what to do with all these new textiles. I am hoping I have more time to sew once Cathy joins us. It was a very successful market for myself so it was good to pack up on Sunday feeling very satisfied and head to Sisters for our creative week with Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably.

Teaching in May

Well once again the time has gotten away from me. I will be posting small posts for the next few days to catch up. I am delighted to say that my friend Cathy is now an employee of Folk-art Quilts and will be a great help to both Michelle and I. I am hoping this will free up a great deal of time for me to pursue the tasks I am neglecting to get done.

May was a very busy month. I taught at Oakland County Quilt Guild in Rochester Michigan. We had a small but very enthusiastic class fun was had by all. We created table rugs and the Ginger Grove Quilt.

Next I taught at the Stitchin' Post in Sisters, OR. I had a full class and we had great fun creating blocks from my new book Flowerbed. We worked in wonderful hand dyed wool, velvets and then embellished these blocks with great embellishments. You can see some of the blocks that were created. I will miss Quilters Affair in Sisters this year but am very pleased to have been invited back to teach July 2009.

The weather in Sisters was fabulous. My sister Wendy joined me from Spokane on Wednesday. We rose early on Thursday morning and drove through the mountains to Portland for Quilt Market. I was amazed at the amount of snow that was still around.

I just love Portland! I will share all that happened at market shortly.