Arriving in Sydney, Australia

After a very uneventful but long flight we arrived in Sydney to be welcomed by Damien, Sarah Fielkes husband. We met up with Sarah an hour later at her home. It was great to see her again and met both her children. After a Japanese lunch Wendy and I were able to spend a quiet day in our hotel in Crows Nest.

The next morning Sarah took us down town Sydney to the Art Museum and then for a walk through the botanical Gardens to see the harbor and the Sydney Opera House. It was wonderful to share interests that we are all so passionate about.

Sue and Wendy

Calgary

I spent the last weekend in Calgary at one of my favorite stores 'Out of Hand'. Deirdre who owns the store has a fabulous selection of textural fabrics and embellishments. I have never taught anywhere were we have had such a selection right at our finger tips.

The first day we worked on the Altered Texture class and it was amazing to see all the students pieces come to life and how they incorporated many different techniques.

Some worked on silk and others with wool and cottons. All made one of a kind pieces which were very inspiring. I always love to see all the embellishments everyone has in their stash.

The second class was working from my new book Magnolia. This was a very creative class with some students incorporating images from recent trips as well as a love for other cultures. I feel very honored that they would use my patterns for inspiration.

Calgary was very wintry while I was there. The morning I left we had a foot of snow over night. A little change from the Ohio weather the week before I left.

Thanks Deirdre for a fabulous trip and great hospitality. On Sunday evening I left straight from Calgary via San Fransisco to Sydney, Australia. I met my sister Wendy in San Fransisco.

Sue

New American Quilter Magazine

I am busily packing for my trip to Calgary and Australia. I leave with the sparrows tomorrow morning and I still need to pack my clothes and shorten some new pants. I just needed to share with you the new American Quilter which arrived in the mail today. There is a very nice profile about my quilts in the May issue. The photography is great and shows off the fabulous machine quilting that Carol Rickard my quilter did on all the quilts featured. Well back to packing and accumulating all my sewing threads, wools and notions for my handwork on the way. I will be taking my computer with me so I hope to keep you updated on my travels. Creative Stitching Sue

March Happenings

I had a great time at the annual NEORQC weekend where I taught 'Flowerbed'. The emphasis was on embellishments which everyone really got into. I was delighted that both Renee and Kathy brought their finished quilts to share with everyone. I love the way Kathy has put her colors together on her Ginger Grove quilt and also the great wool zig-zag border she created on two sides. Carol Rickard finished it with her fabulous quilting. Renee used some great cotton prints in her Folklore and she changed the blocks around a little to make it her own. When I teach I always try to emphasis creativity as who would want a quilt that looks just like mine. I love for my students to use my patterns as a spring board to make their pieces unique and a reflection of themselves. Even customers who buy kits have a tendency to change things around and add personal touches. It is fun to try any of the blocks from my books to make pillows, table runners and pin keepers. Have fun and don't forget to share them with me and I can then pass them on for everyone to see. This week I traveled to Michigan to teach and lecture at the Town Hall Quilt Guild. What a fabulous group of quilters! They were so enthusiastic and eager to learn. I also learnt that a local store was running a very successful BOM program from one of my books. I have been toying with the idea of starting a program for stores which will be different. This reminds me that it is probably the right time to do this. With so many programs out there it has to be unique to be successful! While I have been traveling and now getting ready for my big trip to Calgary and Australia this is what the folks at home have been up to. Aimee and Kelly have had their heads in the dye pots and Cathy along with Michelle have been working very hard with the website orders and BOM shipments. Aimee and Cathy have a little thing going and on the side Aimee has been taking photos of Cathy and posting different desktop pictures on the computer. So Cathy started hiding very funny items in Aimee's bedroom. Here are some of the things you guys are missing out on. Spring must be in the air! Take care Sue

Urban Sacs

My first purse book 'Urban Sacs' has arrived. I am delighted with the results. I must say it was the hardest book to write, I spent many days working the instructions so they would be very clear and sketched many drawings to clarify the instructions. It contains 4 sacs which I made in wonderful combination's of fabrics like hand dyed wools, cottons, upholstery fabrics, hand dyed velvets and even leather. I then embellished with ribbons, beads and antique buttons. The 'Journey Tote' is made with wool and upholstery fabrics. I did not applique on this tote but used some ribbons and buttons as embellishment. I love to travel with this bag as it has many pockets and two different size straps. The Meadow backpack uses a fun combination of Japanese fabrics and hand dyed wool and has a floral applique on the flap. The closure is magnetic. The 'Savannah Satchel' is like a messenger bag with lots of pockets for pencils and a journal as well as you personal items. As I am very partial to Africa it was appropriate to applique an elephant on the front. I used fuchsia velvet for his ear and a leather closure. This is a great sac called 'Vintage Duffel'. It was inspired from a bag my son Jason brought in Ecuador. I gave it a leather base and appliqued a floral design all the way around the purse. It is finished with grommets and a tie. It is hard to believe I have already finished all my books for Spring Market in May. It is a good feeling to be ahead as I am leaving for Australia in just two weeks and will only return home in time for market. We are in the process of assembling all the items to kit these four bags. This has been a lot of work as there are many bits and pieces to each one. We plan to have these available on the website at the end of the month. I am teaching both Magnolia and the 'Vintage Duffel' at the Sisters show in July. Hope to see some of you there! Take care and creative stitching Sue

Magnolia

I am delighted to have the book for Magnolia back from the printer. This was such a fun quilt to make using Wendy's wonderful palette of hand dyed wools. I did a large amount of embellishing using hand dyed yarns and some ribbons and beads. This is the quilt I will be teaching in Calgary and Australia in the next few weeks. The book as well as kit are available on my website www.suespargo.com If a large quilt seems overwhelming you can always do a block and make it into a table runner, pillow or small wall hanging. I would also like to share with you a quilt made by Nancy Moore from Montana using my CD 'Folk art Dreams' from the Electric Quilt Company. This is a fabulous CD with 190 of my blocks on it. You can see how you can create and design your own projects. This pillow was also created by Lynn Cibulka using blocks in the CD. I just love to see all the possibilities using blocks I have designed. I always think of them as a springboard to making your own one of a kind pieces. Many thanks to all my students who share their quilts with me. Take care Sue

Moving forward

This week was Jason's first volunteering session at the hospital and he very bravely chose the 9 - 12 pm slot in the emergency room. I did hear him come home late last night so he made it through. I suspect he will be sleeping through the morning and will have good stories to tell when he stirs. Good on ya mate!  

He also learned to dye wool this week and was big help to me as I finally managed to get all this shipped before the weekend. It is all for the wonderful kit Magnolia. You are all one step closer to getting the goods, enjoy!  

Wendy

Adventures in January

What a fun group at Capital City Quilt Guild in Lansing, Michigan. I taught for two days and was inspired by all the wonderful projects they were working on. They all chose different patterns and kits and personalized each of their own pieces. I then traveled to southern Ohio and taught a day workshop at Appalachian Quilts. It was great to meet new people and see some of my old friends. They worked on the Thistledown table Rug as well as the Greenbrier Quilt. I stayed with my friend Trixi. It was fun to meet her family and hunt around the local antique stores. I travelled on to see Alice from kindred Spirits. I was fortunate to be there the weekend she was moving her studio and store into her renovated cottage at her home. What a wonderful place she will have! We also worked on the details for our Workt by Hand retreat May 5-7 this year. I am very excited about the project and delight to say we are nearly full. We only have 5 spots left! I have been working on many projects for publication as well as writing books for market. I will be writing about these in the next few days. Take care Sue

Whirlwind Visit

Earlier this month Sue paid a surprise visit to Spokane to celebrate both our moms and Jason's birthdays. When she arrived the view out our kitchen window looked like this but luckily for us she brought some warmer weather and it has melted substantially. We did get to see our wonderful view of the mountain while she was here.

Sues visit was perfect timing for taking some updated photographs for an upcoming article about her, we will keep you posted when the magazine hits the newsstands. We also managed to play a little and Pete and Jason were very accommodating about displaying our knitted and felted accessory bags. They even match their clothes.

Sue, mom and I enjoyed an evening dyeing skeins of yarn to make hats with and I will share those soon.  Its a great way to play around with color and the possibilities are endless. 

This month has been exceptionally busy with the new block of the month and the new bracelet project underway. It is hard to believe we are still only in January, this winter seems to have lasted forever. It is a good time to get lots of work done because I know the first sign of spring I will want to be digging in the garden. I know it is out there somewhere!

Wendy

2008 Wrap Up

I feel very blessed 2008 has been a very productive year filled with wonderful teaching opportunities, travel, family and many creative openings. I finished the year teaching for Amy and Angela at Yellow Bird Art where we made barrel purses using hand dyed wool and embellishments. It was a great creative group and I was fortunate to be invited back in 2009 and 2010. Their store is wonderful and filled with all the fabrics I love. Cathy, Melissa and I vended at our first large show in Atlanta, GA. It was hard work but very successful. Our booth was packed with all the lovely products I like to use. Wool was new to this area but we were delighted with the interest and enthusiasm of all the quilters in the area. My youngest daughter Aimee has become very interested in sewing. As you can imagine her Mom is so excited! We will be collaborating on some new ideas for the website in 2009. One Friday evening Aimee, her friend Linda, Cathy and I went to a lecture in NE Ohio by Carolyn Mazloomi. She is an African American quilt maker and I was fascinated to here her talk about her quilt journey. It has been a year of change as well. Jason has moved away and was not able to join us for the holidays. That was hard but I am sure Wendy was glad to have his extra pair of hands to shovel the 60 plus inches of snow they have had this month. Andrew is in his final year and after studying in to Italy and New York it has been great to have him home for a while. I need to make the most of it as he plans to return to New York City in the summer. Kelly is doing very well and works hard with handicapped adults and in her spare time has produced some amazing knitting projects. Aimee has also become a knitting machine and made quilts and hats for her favorite kids she babysits for. My mom and dad continue to be very productive and supportive with my business and keep me on the straight and narrow. As for Wendy, my sister, I am hoping she can get her head out of the dye pots for a little while to pursue more of her own art in 2009. Folk art Quilts would not be possible without the dedication from Michelle and Cathy. I could not do it with out them and I thank them for all the long hours and thousands of kits they have produced in 2008. I would also like to thank all my customers and friends and wish you all a very creative and healthy New Year! Take care Sue