Thursday, July 31, 2008

Martha Stewart - Dreamers into Doers Contest 2008

I am excited to share that an essay of the growth of myself and my business was submitted to Martha Stewart's 'Dreamers into Does 2008 Contest', by my daughter Kelly.
I will be highlighted as 'Doer of the week' as of July 30.
To read my story, leave a message and meet others who have turned their dreams into reality you may go to http://www.marthastewart.com/dreamers?lnc=58bcbb90f0c79110VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&rsc=breadcrumb_community

Sunday, July 27, 2008

July in New York

This month I have travelled to upstate New York and New York City. Very contracting places but I loved both for there own special qualities.
I first taught in Saranac Lake at the Adirondack North Country Quilt Camp. It was very hot but set in a beautiful area around Lake Placid. I taught 3 full day classes. We had great fun creating pincushions, the Victoria Tote and the Thistledown Table Rug. Here are some of the projects in progress to entice you to get out your needle and thread.
I just returned from a fun filled week in New York City. My son Andrew is interning in the city this summer so I just could not pass up a visit. My quilting friends Kim and Cathy joined me. We spent many hours in the trim stores and came home with enough trims to embellish for the rest of your quilting careers. We also visited the Folk Art Museum as well as many interesting new stores. We took in a cruise around the city which gave us a very different perspective.
We found a wonderful park under the bridge in Brooklyn which was full of inspirational art.
My son Jason would have loved it!
We finished our evening standing in line for 1-1/2 hours the famous pizza from Grimaldi's Pizzeria. As you can see Andrew and Kim had to pose for me before getting stuck into the garlic and cheese pizza we ordered. It was delicious! Well worth the wait.
Aimee is due back this week from her 3 week stay in Spokane. It has been a very productive visit. Wendy keeps sending me photos of all the projects they have been creating.
I just hope she made some for me! They know I love handmade wares.
She has been dabbling in handmade pottery, cement flower pots and bird baths, picking strawberries, learning to dye wool and even been kayaking a few times.
I think life will be very boring once she returns!

Monday, July 7, 2008

Primitives of the Midwest

What a fun filled week we all had in Missouri. As usual Rita and her staff from Quilters Station in Lee Summit, MO went all out to make everyone feel very welcome and at home. Opening night on Wednesday evening was filled with many laughs as Jennifer Erbe Keltner from American Patchwork and Quilting entertained us with a sneak preview of many quilts that will appear in upcoming issues of the magazine. I was very fortunate to have Jennifer as one of my students in my Folklore class on Thursday along with many other creative quilters. We used many ribbons, velvets and beads to create the blocks from this quilt. The following day we created a new needle roll using many textural fabrics, making roving balls by hand and embellishing with beads and buttons. On Saturday was my Altered Textile class and I was delighted with the results. We first wrote in our journals drawing different shapes and ideas for embellishment. My students had appliqued some of the block ahead of time and then we embellished with layers learning about the use of ribbons, fabrics, velvets and wools to make each piece unique. I can't wait to see the finished result of each block. I am very excited about the possibilities of teaching this class in other locations. Here is a sneak preview of the start of some of their creative pieces. They all had different ideas to make a one of a kind block. I encouraged them to use it as a sampler to try new stitches as well as colors and textures. Jason arrived home from India on Tuesday. Rather tired but full of many entertaining stories. I have so enjoyed being home for a while. The weather in Ohio has been great. I have spent many evenings in my garden and on my new deck stitching. I am packing suitcases again and will be on my way to teach in upstate New York on Wednesday. Looking forward to some more designing time as well as new projects to stitch when I return.