Where has the Past Year Gone??

Golly - I am so embarrassed!  I knew it had been a long time since I last posted in my blog, but I recently discovered it has actually been almost a YEAR!!  So I have set a goal (I am not into resolutions - just too hard to keep) to post at least once a month to talk about my new designs and my creative process.

So here goes on January 2nd in a new year.

This past year was kind of strange for me.  I had a number of "dry spells" in which I felt blocked or stuck.  I know it happens to everybody sometimes but I felt like it was happening to me a lot, and it was discouraging at times.  I have learned, however, that at such times it helps to walk  away from whatever is immobilizing me and set off in a different direction for a while.  It usually works pretty well.  Here are some of the things I accomplished since I last wrote in between my dry spells.

During the waning months of last winter, I was going great guns on a quilt for my great nephew and was having a really good time working on it.  He had explicitly asked me for very bright colors - "bright red, bright orange, bright yellow and some blue", he announced when he was nine.  So I had  been collecting the brightest and most fun of all those colors and started working on the quilt while it was bitter cold and snowy outside.  His quilt kept me toasty warm with all that brightness!  When I presented the quilt to him last summer when he came with his family to our summer place in the White Mountains, he loved it!  That was the best part for me, though, to be honest, I really hated to give it up.  I just LOVED that quilt!  (See photo below.)

A few months ago, I began working on a novel that I have been thinking about off and on for years.  It is about a young woman growing up in rural NH in the 19th century.  She becomes an accomplished quilter and tells the story of her life to one of her grand daughters.  I have been interested for years in my own family's history and this story contains many elements from my own and my family's stories of the past.  I have been having fun researching life in the late 1800's in the small town near where my family has been summering since way before I was born.

I love the story and the characters I have created, and whether or not the book ever gets published is kind of beside the point right now.  It may take me years to finish, but meanwhile I am enjoying living with my characters and the process of creating their personalities and the events which help to shape them.  The writing part is a bit harder than I thought it would be, but I enjoy that part of the process also.

I did manage to design a new placemat pattern and get it published  in the spring, but I got stuck with most of my other ideas as the year progressed.  November and December were the hardest time for me.  I always get depressed around the holidays since my family is so scattered.  My DH and I decided to give gifts to several important charities this year instead of buying into the commercialism of Christmas and that made both of us feel more of the true meaning of the holidays.

Not too surprisingly, right after Christmas my creative energy came back in full force and I am hard at work designing and making several more quilting projects that should result in at least three new patterns in just a few weeks.

Watch for several photos next time and updates on my new projects.

Have a Happy, Healthy, Creative and Prosperous New Year!

More "Marblehead" fabrics!

I have received another shipment of the beautiful "Marblehead" fabrics (designed by Ro Gregg for fabri-Quilt) - a much appreciated gift with which to make my next pattern - "Here Comes the Sun". Three fabrics are still to come but at least I can get started on the new quilt design. A smaller version (wall hanging) will be made from my stash- I have already picked out the fabrics. I hope to get the lap quilt done in time to send off to spring Market in Cincinnatti Ohio in May and, hopefully, my own quilt guild bi-annual quilt show in March.

Cant wait to show you both versions (Lap and Wall Hanging) in full, after the pattern is published.

News Flash - Zentangles Erase Creative Block!

I discovered Zentangles a few months ago and was immediately intrigued by the possibilities. So for Christmas I asked for (and received) several "how to" books so I could learn the techniques and explore some "tangled" ideas. Above are a couple of my early attempts. I am definitely hooked!

My original thought was to figure out a way to utilize these intriguing designs in my quilting work. But I have since learned an additional, unexpected benefit of this wonderful "doodling" technique.

For several weeks before and after the holidays I felt like I had lost my creative spark. Nothing came to me and I had little or no energy to come up with new ideas. In fact I was feeling a bit burnt out, perhaps because I had been pushing so hard to meet various deadlines before that.

In any case, I started, quite tentatively at first, to try drawing some Zentangles, and to my astonishment, before long I was over run with ideas for new quilt designs and patterns! There is something about the process of stilling one's mind and focusing on drawing the intricate designs that make up a single Zentangle. I don't understand what happened but it was like a dam burst that had been blocking my creative juices from flowing freely. So many ideas kept popping into my conscious thought that I had to start writing them down or sketching them out so as not to lose them!

I will remember, now - whenever I start feeling creatively blocked - I will get quiet and start "tangling"!

Thanks Mark and Maria! Go to their website and blog to learn more. You can also sign up for their monthly newsletter which is a fun and interesting read.

A Belated Update

Gosh - here it is the beginning of February and I have not posted anything about 'what happened next"!

I have had only sketchy information about where my quilts have been and where they are going next. However, I did hear that one of the employees of the quilt shop that displayed my quilts at the Road to California quilt show stated the show was a great success.

Best of all, next in line on my quilts' journey is a trip to Fons and Porter (!!) to be used with other quilts as backdrop in an episode of the 'Quilt It' show! This show will be aired LIVE, Tuesday, April 10, Episode #301, Season 3. I am pretty psyched about that! I will keep you posted as I learn more about the show.

Then on to another quilt shop somewhere for a trunk show, then off to spring Market in Cincinnati, Ohio in April (not yet confirmed).

I am feeling a bit frustrated to have so little control or information about what is happening to my quilts but I guess that is the way it works when you work with a large fabric company. However, it is exciting that my quilts are on this journey and will hopefully benefit both Ro Gregg and me by helping to promote sales of her fabrics and my patterns.

I am just "going with the flow" and enjoying the ride.

Almost There!

At long last, the finish line is in sight! My "Games We Play" quilt in the Calypso fabric by Ro Gregg is complete - just needs a label on the back which will go on later today!

My "Wreath For All Seasons" quilt, made from Ro's gorgeous "Marblehead" fabrics, will be quilted and bound on Wednesday and the label sewn on.

Thursday both quilts will be on their way to CA. They have to be there by the 10th, so it will be close. Wish me luck! They will be shown at the Road To California quilt show in southern CA and in trunk shows featuring Ro's new fabric lines at a couple of quilt shops in the area. It will be a few months before they return home.

Above are a couple of close-up photos of the quilting on the Calypso quilt. My good friend and professional Long Arm Quilter, Nancy Tatro (Finely Done Quilting, Candia, NH), did the fantastic quilting. I specifically chose the dragonfly pattern because it is a playful design and also because the Calypso fabrics are full of dragonflies! SO cute!

Let me know what you think.

"A Wreath For All Seasons" pattern is currently available from www.quiltwoman.com and "Games We Play" will be available in a few weeks.

Such a Busy Season!

This is SUCH a busy season for everyone, regardless of your faith or family traditions. Between shopping and preparing for my own family celebrations, planning, preparing for and attending holiday quilt guild parties (I am Program "helper" for one guild and Program Chair for another), not to mention, of course, working hard to meet an important deadline in early January, it is enough to wear me out!

I am always slow to get into the Christmas spirit, but finally I am there, after two really fun guild parties. I am fortunate to have many quilting friends, and, for me at least, sharing good times and fellowship with family and friends is what the Christmas season is all about.

The photo above was taken more than a week ago but I have been too busy to get it posted. This is my new version of a Wreath For All Seasons in sections on my design board. It is wonderful to see Ro Gregg's Marblehead fabrics finally come together in front of me! The quilt is missing the two outside borders and does not have most of the sashing in place yet, so it looks a bit wonky. I can't wait to see it all together!.

I changed the color scheme slightly from my original design after receiving Ro's fabrics, but I think it is going to be a really interesting and beautiful quilt when it is finished. I am hoping to have the top done by early next week and then have it quilted and bound in time to ship to CA - this quilt and the one below (Games We Play) have to be shipped no later than January 5th.

Once again, my great friend and fellow collaborator, Cathy Bowen and I are working on this quilt together and she will quilt it on her long arm next week.

Never a dull moment!

Many Many thanks to Ro Gregg for her generosity and support. Her fabrics are amazing! They should be available at your local quilt shops very soon. Please ask for them if they are not there!


Wishing each and every one of you a wonderful holiday, however you celebrate and Best Wishes for a prosperous and creative New Year!

A Wreath For All Seasons - using the new fabrics!

This past Tuesday I cut out all the parts of the Wreath For All Seasons quilt, (with the exception of the blocks). I am so curious to see how all these different "Marblehead" fabrics (by Ro Gregg, Paintbrush Studio - scroll down a couple of posts) will work together. I chose all of these fabrics without seeing any of them "in the flesh" (only small thumb nails on my computer). They are gorgeous but I might have made a few different choices had I seen the actual fabrics first. I am a bit nervous!

Today I spent the afternoon with my friend and frequent collaborator, Cathy Bowen (Night Owl Quilting Studio) Cathy has been great at helping me "test" my patterns and helping me with making samples. She also is a long arm quilter and has quilted many of my projects. One of the best things Cathy does for me is that she has a different way of seeing and thinking about things than I do and is really good at asking questions I might not have thought of. I really value her input and her help in testing and editing my patterns.

Anyhow, we got all my cut sections up on her design wall and made some final decisions about fabric choices for the blocks. The end result will be a bit different from the full color "virtual quilt" (scroll down a ways), but I think will be better than what I originally envisioned and is a great solution of how to design with fabrics you have never seen before "in the flesh".

Each of us is going to make half the blocks and we will get together again next Friday eve. to begin putting the quilt top together. Cathy is ten times busier than I am so this is going to be a fun challenge! Nothing like working with a deadline!

I will post photos of the quilt as we go along. A photo of the final quilt will replace the "virtual" quilt on the cover of the pattern when it is finally done.