Hottsie Tottsie Quilt Designer reveals All !!!!

I always imagine that the BIG TIME quilt designers have very expensive and knowledgeable photographers.They get MEGA BUCKS to photograph the quilts that appear on the covers of the patterns. In the world of "Not Yet Ready For The BIG TIME", I came up with a plan which should probably stay a secret forever. Unable to photograph my new "KNOTS" quilt on the family room wall, like I usually do, I called Teri. We drove around town with a ladder a roll of tape and a pair of scissors, looking for a wall big enough to tape the quilt onto. We tried the brick wall outside of the elementary school, but tape wouldn't stick to the Brick. (It sticks to everything else???!!!!) Looking across the parking lot, we found the perfect spot!!! The tape really sticks to bus garage doors!! Anyway...we're probably lucky we didn't get arrested.

Anyway...we got the pictures, and through the magic of Photo shop, I have "Not Quite Ready For BIG TIME" MINI BUCKS pictures. Kind of makes you wonder about Karen Stone, doesn't it ?

FALL EXPO CLASSES

The FALL EXPO classes are pictured in the slideshow, below!!! NOT REALLY KNOTS looks complicated, but is actually done in FOUR easy steps!! The best part is....there is NO curved piecing or handwork. "Knots" is the third quilt in the "Inside-Out" series.
REALLY REALLY BROKEN DISHES was the first in the series. It is also done with NO curved piecing and NO handwork. It's a fun and interactive class.You start out with only 2 fabrics in your kit, and end up with a block containing 16 different colors.I'll also share the scoop on adding the ART QUILT embellishments.
Magic Mirrors is the newest addition to the "AhHa!!pattern line.Hopefully, you will leave the class with a nearly finished tiny treasure. (If you go crazy with the beading and embellishments, you may need to finish the binding at home)In a workshop last March, my friend DEB finished 2 mirror quilts in the same time everyone else did ONE!! There's one in every group! And YES....I want some of whatever she's taking!!!
Last but not least, POSTCARD PARTY. We'll discuss the basics of postcard construction, and go on from there. I'm bringing my collection of hundreds of handmade fabric postcards from all over the world. I'll share surface design ideas, mailing tricks, and some swap group info, so you can start swapping right away with old friends and new ones all over the world! You will leave class with about 6 finished and ready to mail postcards.

New Purse Idea!!

I'd love to thank Annie J. for the wonderful purse idea!! She e-mailed me a while ago, saying that she liked the style of my box purses, ( THANK_YOU !!!) but they really didn't work for her.(Too bulky) Soooo...she asked me to think of an envelope style purse. Something with a longer strap that she could wear across her chest and keep it out of the way. It needed to be large enough for a cell phone, drivers licence, and a couple of small items. Here's what I came up with. I'm really looking forward to expanding on this idea!! They are a lot of fun to make. (notice the postcard re-purposing??)

Pretty Nice Day In Ohio

It's about time we had a nice day!!!! Maybe I should explain...... The definition of a "Pretty Nice Day In Ohio"(As well as out neighboring states up here by the lake) is "Any weather that you don't have to Rake,Shovel, scrape off of your car, or pump out of your basement". Last Friday night we had some crazy wind, which split our big front yard tree,right in half!!!! The left half of it was laying on the power lines.Yikes! Luckily, the tree service came out on Saturday and munched it up in about 40 minutes!! They had a giant crane and muncher and just lifted it right over the house!!!

So.....today was a pretty nice day in Ohio. Hot and Humid with hardly any funnel clouds!! Sure makes it hard to focus on work!!!!

New Classes For Georgia Quilt Show !!!!

Dumpster Diving Friend

Sorry Teri!!!! I just had to put this in!!!! I must admit.....I have beautiful TRASH!!!! I take regular dives in there myself!!

My Stuff in Two New Books( I Just Got Lucky)

I just got the O.K. to show the front cover of Cate Pratos new book by Interweave Press.(Cloth Paper Scissors, Quilting Arts) I can hardly wait to see the inside!!!!!

It's called "Mixed Media Self-Portraits"and is due to be released in July.I love the colors on the cover!!!!

Thanks to Joanna, (Surface Design Group), I was able to have a piece appear in the book. Thank-You Cate and Joanna!

The other book is published by "That Patchwork Place, Martingale Press". It's written by Leigh Mc Donald and is called "Adventures In Circles" Quilt Designs from Start To Finish. It will also be released in July.I have 2 quilts in Leigh's book. "Sunspots" and "Really Really Broken Dishes".I just wish it didn't take soooo long! I can't wait to see the whole, finished book. It sounds wonderful, and I know Leigh has been working on it for a long time.(While, at the same time, moving to Kentucky AND getting her masters!!!) I wonder what she did in her spare time. Congratulations and Thank-You Leigh!!

New Mixed Media Stuff for Pear Tree

May has been a busy month!!! I just delivered a bunch of mixed media Journals and purses to Pear Tree.

I found a great resource for clip art!! "The Vintage Workshop" and "Twisted Papers".You can purchase and download right from the website or buy the CD and install it at home. The image collections are wonderful. It's hard to know when to say "ENOUGH ALREADY!!!!".

The Ladies of Worcester

I'm back from the last show of the Expo season, in Worcester(pronounced WOOSTER, and they teased me about my lack of any charming accent????) It was a really fun show with lots of laughs and many new quilty lady friends, not to mention the awesome shuttle drivers.
We had a HUGE booth and tons of great stuff.This trip completes my first year of teaching with the Original Sewing and Quilting Expo. After 8 shows....it still amazes me that we come into a large empty convention hall, and by the end of the day on Wednesday, the entire space has been transformed. We are surrounded by creativity at every turn.Dozens of sewing machines and sergers appear in every imaginable corner. Fabric, patterns, muscle relaxing tools, cutting,measuring and pressing tools, nail, fabric and glass paint (yes, I bought every color!) Food vendors (especially the ice cream guy) beautiful handmade jewelry (OK...I bought lots of that too).The classrooms are set up and ready to go!!! It would just seem like magic, except that we, The Cotton Candy Women, are right in there unloading and setting up too.(Oh gosh....I hope we brought enough Do-Sew this time!!!) Wednesday night we somehow manage to drag our sorry selves back to the hotel, and pray for enough energy to go back in the morning! Overnight, a miracle occurs. At 6:30 a.m. the alarm goes off and we're up and running.I have no idea where the energy comes from. (Mr. Folger and Mr. Starbuck perhaps?) Most of my energy comes from the ladies in the classes. We come together for a short time, but I hold each moment close to my heart.The shock of the 6:30 alarm fades quickly in the warmth of laughter and sharing. I feel extremely blessed by this wonderful opportunity.

The "MAGIC" continues until the final BIG DRAWING on Saturday afternoon. Mark draws the names of the door prise winners, then...the whole expo begins to dissolve like a chalk drawing in the rain. Within 3 hours...the vibrant creative space turns back into a pumpkin!!!It would be fun too see a time lapse video of the whole process. It's always shocking that everything get done in such a short time!!I expect that as time goes on...I won't be as amazed by the whole thing, but for now, I feel like the country mouse in the big city. At least I don't walk around with my mouth hanging open any more. ( If anyone sees me doing that, please let me know! I'm trying to look COOL!!!!!)

Partners In Crime Quilt

I finally got permission from the second of two"Partners In Crime". We tried to get together every couple of weeks to plan and assemble our guild challenge quilt.
Teri, Barbara and I had so little free time that we would get together for a couple of hours to plan, and assign homework. Then, we took our ideas and basic guidelines home to do the actual work. A few weeks later, we would get together again, cross our fingers and assemble what we had so far.
After another evaluation, we could move onto the next part. This one turned out WAY better than we originally planned.
This quilt was for our guild challenge "Months That End In ER". Well....We decided that all of the months end in "ER" SOMEWHERE in the world. If the photo of the whole quilt were larger, you could see the detail in the hanging down fringy stuff. We made long charms with each month spelled out, in a different language. We hung the month names hidden in the fringy stuff above the season panel that the month is in.

Cleveland Expo

I think I can safely say, "A Good Time Was Had By All." Well...I had a good time. Adorable Jenny took the Really Really Broken Dishes class on Thursday morning. Also Dashing Dennis, from one of my postcards groups, was able to come. It was a lot of fun reconnecting with old friends and meeting some new ones.The Really Really Broken Dishes and Hearts class are made possible by Marlene, the EXPO queen. It was her idea to work in teams (due to time restraints) and then share the "parts" with each other. It's worked out amazingly well. Everyone gets up and moves around the room to use the different sewing machines and to swap "Parts". It's so interesting to see everyone discovering connections to one another, that they wouldn't have known before! Well done, Marlene!!!! Everyone leaves with a finished block, a full size pattern to make a quilt in her own color choice and the mastery of a new skill using a couple of old products in new ways. We go to Wooster Mass. next week. I sure hope it's warm there.

How Does THIS Happen ?

All the other icicles are hanging vertically. What's going on with this one? HOW does this happen?

Cell Phone Holders

I've been having fun with Cell Phone Cases too. These are made from a preprinted, fusable base, made by Quiltsmart.They have 2 interior pockets and can fit credit cards and IPODS also!!! They're made with only 3 folds and 2 sewn lines!!!

Purses

O.K.....I've had so much fun reading everyone's Blog, I'm ready to give it a try.(With the understanding that it's so easy that anyone can do it!!!! We'll see......)

I'm determined to start but unsure of "Where"??? It's like trying to speak while sitting on my hands!!! On a journal page or collage..... you can use charms, pictures, fibers, paint, torn bits of books or headlines, stickers, polymer stuff, rhinestones, beads, etc. Being limited to words only, will be a challenge!!! I've been making journals and box purses lately. Hopefully, we can do a class next year at NEORQC.