Celebrating

I'm finally celebrating my 1,000th blog post and I'm celebrating in the only way that counts:

Chocolate cake.

I'm raising a fork to toast the next 1,000 blog posts.

Too soon?

I know it's only March 22 and barely spring, but it's over 40*F now and I feel it's worth the risk.

Today, I made the bold choice to take the Christmas quilt off my bed.

Since I don't believe that winter is done with us, this quilt has a wool batt and is layered over another warm quilt.  Maybe I can put out the real spring quilt sometime in July?

Leftovers

I have been working on some projects that I cannot share with you (yet).  This project took approximately 40 hours of my life, but all I can show are the leftovers:

If you missed them, there are FOUR empty spools in that photo.  

Lancaster Loot and a PARTY!

I love going to quilt shows, but I honestly have little time to shop there.  I tend to come home from the show with items purchased from whichever booth was across the aisle from me.

At this show the AQS booth was directly across the aisle from me, so I brought home an AQS iron, gently used in the classroom:

I have used it a bit this week and am loving it!  It was an impulse purchase, but one I don't regret.

Now, for the party -- This is my 1,000th post.  How should I celebrate?

Going Places: The Travel Folder

At any time, I have twenty or more teaching trips planned as well as personal trips.  How do I keep all of those details straight?  How do I know if I am coming or going?  I have Travel Folders.

Yes, I recycle my folders.

You might only travel for personal holidays, but I believe that these travel folders can help you to have a better trip whether traveling for business or for pleasure.

I just got home from AQS Quilt Week in Lancaster, PA.  My Travel Folder contained:

• hotel confirmation, with address and phone number
• a show brochure showing the address of the venue, hours of the show, and classes I would be in
• a printed map (backup to my GPS)
• a coupon for a clothing store I planned to visit on the way to Lancaster.  Also the address, phone number, and hours of operation.
• the address and phone number of a co-worker that I was picking up on the way
• address, phone number, hours of operation, and coupon for a Lancaster restaurant I hoped to visit while in town
• a shopping list of threads to buy from WonderFil while at the quilt show
• a packing list of things I wanted to be sure to bring to the show with me (gift for a friend I would see there, hand sewing, etc.)

I did not take 10 hours the day before the trip to gather this information; I made the folder as soon as I knew that I would be attending the quilt show and added confirmations as I got them.  Every time I thought about the show and had an "on the way to" idea or a "while I am there" idea, I wrote it down and put it in the folder.  This folder was always easy to find because my Travel Folders are filed  chronologically with the soonest trip at the front of the file.  I knew that the Lancaster show was after Road to California but before Quilt Dubai (when you travel as much as I do, you tell time by quilt shows, not by weeks and months).  

If you are a nervous traveler or always seem to be missing bits of information about an upcoming trip, I strongly recommend making a Travel Folder.

Note:  if you ever wondered if my geekiness had any limits, you now know that it does not.

Lancaster Loot

Still more purchases from AQS Quilt Week in Lancaster, PA.

I brought along a partial project made from leftover bits of a recent quilt.  I pulled a few fabrics from my stash to applique over it:

These were the best I had, but they seem a bit harsh.  I purchased a few duller pieces that I think will work well:

I have no idea what I will applique on this little quilt, but I now have all of the necessary supplies.  No excuses!

True Love

Yesterday I spent the day with one of my quilting heroes, the fabulous Pepper Cory.

She was teaching at my guild and my calendar was clear, so...

In the morning she taught us how to hand piece a pineapple block on a foundation:

Maybe I'll finish it on one of my ridiculously long plane rides in the next few weeks?

In the afternoon, she taught us how to hand piece a folded log cabin block on a foundation:

I finished this one in class and hope to make a few more blocks and turn this into a cushion.

In the evening, Pepper taught us about the Art of Real Scrap Quilting:

My guild can be a chatty group, but you could have heard a pin drop while Pepper was speaking.  She had us all enthralled!

I first met Pepper when we taught at the Vermont Quilt Festival and ended up sharing a room.  We wave and hug whenever we are teaching at the same shows.

Last October in Houston, we took a minute and got our photo taken together:

It was Halloween and I'm wearing cat ears (Hello Kitty!).  Don't judge me.

If you get a chance to take a class with Pepper, just DO IT!  If you are in charge of booking a speaker/teacher for your guild, I highly recommend the fabulous Pepper Cory.

Lancaster Loot

I'm enjoying more of my purchases from AQS Quilt Week in Lancaster, PA.

Purchases like:

The top two spools are 50-weight cotton Konfetti from WonderFil.  I was out of those colors.  The bottom six spools are 100-weight polyester InvisiFil from WonderFil.  These were the last spools needed to complete my collection.  I now have every color so I have a perfect match for my hand-applique.

Last Chance to See

I'm cleaning up my YouTube channel and am going to be taking down a few videos.

This video about stitch in the ditch will go away soon:



Watch it now or forever hold your peace.

Lancaster Loot

Even though I came home from AQS Quilt Week in Lancaster, PA with a light wallet, I had a full heart and some new additions to my quilting studio.

Yummy things like this leather thimble:

I placed my old thimble in the picture to show that this was a necessary purchase.  Very, very necessary.  I hand bind my quilts and I also hand applique.  My finger thanks me for this, the best. thimble. ever.

Breaking Up is Hard to Do

Dear Electric Clothes Dryer,

I'm breaking up with you.  It's not me -- it's definitely you.  To be fair, the electric company's new rates have made you much less attractive lately.

So, you might feel lonely:

But I have to confess that I have a new friend:

Someday soon, hopefully, spring will arrive and bring a laundry line, sunshine, and breezy days.  Then I will have many, many new friends:

So, dear dryer, we might bump into each other when I'm on a 24-hour-visit between trips and I won't have time to spend with my new friends, but otherwise... I'm over you.

Sincerely,

Debby,
who would rather spend her pennies on fabric and thread than the electric bill

Lancaster Show -- the Aftermath

I am home from AQS Quilt Week in Lancaster, PA.  I worked hard and chatted with a bunch of quilter friends, new and old.

One of the first things I do when I get home is clean out my purse.

I pulled out my wallet:

How many of you use the Wonder Wallet?

I was shocked to see how much cash I brought home with me:

Until I pulled it all out and saw this:

I guess I might have bought just a few things at the quilt show...

It's About Time: double your time

I plan to spend this week puttering around in my sewing room.  I have a few designer quilts to finish, some show samples to make, class kits to prepare, and a few original projects to (hopefully) finish in time for a show deadline.  I might have trouble deciding what to work on first, but I will DEFINITELY have trouble figuring out which lovely audiobook to listen to while I'm working:

Most of these are Young Adult novels, but not all.  I enjoy a good story no matter who the intended audience is.

I work and travel a lot (a LOT!), and don't have time to sit and enjoy all of the books that I want to read.  To solve this problem, I double my time by listening to audiobooks while I work with my hands.  If I'm doing paperwork or writing something, I need my whole brain, but while I'm cutting kits for a show, my ears are free to listen to a good book.

I don't pay for many audiobooks.  My library system has a large number of books on CD available to borrow.  They also have access to a downloadable audiobook system online.  I use this and love to listen to my books without being interrupted to change a CD.  Some books are not available from the library, and I end up buying about one book per month from Audible.com.  I have an account with them and have been building my Audible library for about a decade.  I often re-listen to books I purchased long ago.  If you are into the classics, LibriVox is a great site.  Volunteers record parts of copyright free books and you can listen to a variety of narrators.  Some are not bad, but others....?  They are not the professionals that I am used to hearing.

My favorite narrators (in no particular order) are:  Jim Dale, Patrick Lawlor, Davina Porter, Dylan Baker, Carolyn McCormick, Scott Brick, and Dennis Boutsikaris.  They are able to make a book come alive!

If you don't have time to read all of the books that you want to read, consider listening to them while doing another task that doesn't require all of your brain.  It is amazing how fast a long car drive passes when listening to a good audiobook!

Oh my aching...

... throat?

I just returned from AQS Quilt Week in Lancaster, PA.  It was WONDERFUL!

I woke up this morning with a bit of a problem, though.  When I tried to greet my husband with a "Good morning," what he heard instead was, "Squeak!"  I trashed my throat at the show.  Talking all day in a noisy, dry convention center is a recipe for disaster.

This lactose-intolerant gal is trying to figure out just how many LactAid tablets to take in order to bathe her battered and bruised throat in this:

If you can't imagine my squeaking voice attempting a "Good morning," try to imagine my squeaking voice trying to sing hymns at church this morning!!!  I closed my mouth and sang with my heart instead.

Hotel Tour of 2014 -- night 21

One of my favorite amenities in a hotel is this:

This means that a quilt show is in town and my Handi Quilter buddies are staying in my hotel.  I love working at quilt shows and adore my Handi Quilter team mates.

What did I do to deserve such a great job?

Going Places

As a quilt teacher, I travel a lot.  A Lot.  A LOT.  Before I started teaching machine quilting, I didn't have a passport and I had visited about 10 states.  Nearly a decade later, my passport is filling up and I've taught in 39 states... so far.

I've learned a lot about the "ins and outs" of traveling over the years.  The first tip I'd like to pass along to you is:

Only pack what you can carry.

Whether you are traveling by car or by plane, travel is very difficult when you can't carry your own luggage.  I break this rule by necessity at times, and my trip is always more stressful than necessary.

I am away from home this week at the AQS Quilt Week in Lancaster, PA.  I drove here so, in theory, I could bring as much as I wanted.  In reality, I have to move my possessions from my car to my hotel room and back.  

There was a possibility of bad weather this week so I want to make sure I can get to the hotel in one trip.  My suitcase is on wheels and this little gem is a lifesaver:

I can carry my computer bag, my tremendously huge handbag, a grocery sack full of lunch fixings, and a few other needed items all in one trip, without waiting for a luggage cart or needing to make a second trip.

There are so many things that can go wrong when traveling; I try to plan for as many problems as possible ahead of time to lessen the stress.

Hotel Tour of 2014 -- Night 20

When I travel, I try to pack some hand sewing to do in the evenings in my hotel room.  I brought some hand applique with me this week.

I did a little shopping at this quilt show, and I'm happy to report that my collection of 100 weight polyester thread is complete:

I would show a photo of all of the hand applique that I'm completing on this trip, but so far, I haven't done any stitching.  Maybe tomorrow?

Globetrotting: Block 2 Venice (in review)

I am in love with Pat Sloan's Globetrotting block of the month and can't wait to see all of the beautiful finished quilts at the end of the year!

My Venice block:

My quilting plan:

The center square tutorial and video:



The corner squares tutorial and video:



The tan ribbon candy tutorial and video:



The orange lines/swirls tutorial and video:



The finished block:

I plan to join these blocks once they are all quilted.  There are a few methods that work for quilt-as-you-go:  one involves adding fabric strips and another involves simply stitching the blocks together using existing borders/sashings.  I will give some hints on joining the blocks at the end of the year.

I'm ready to quilt Chicago next:

Are you?
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All of these amateur YouTube videos are free.  If you would like to see my professionally produced quilt DVDs, they are available for purchase:

Sit-down Longarm Quilting: Getting Started
Sit-down Longarm Quilting: Quilting Blocks and Borders
Sit-down Longarm Quilting: Using Rulers and Templates
Sit-down Longarm Quilting: Thread Work
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If you would like to take a machine quilting class with me, check out my teaching calendar.
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Globetrotting Block 1 Washington DC (in review)

Hotel Tour of 2014 -- Night 19

Getting ready for work this morning was a pleasure.

The shower was very straightforward:

Step one:  turn.  There was no step two.  Heaven!

The hair dryer was easy to find:

It was attached to the bathroom mirror, near the plug.

It would have been easy to find even in the dark:

The hair dryer was the nightlight!  This was a first for me and I am apparently easily impressed.

Now that I established that the hotel was far superior to the one I stayed in last week, I want to show why the hotel was awesome:

Outlets on the nightstand!

The internet is truly high-speed, too.  I think I love this hotel.

Dubai, here I come

I just saw this link to a press release about the show in Dubai.  I'll be there in less than 2 weeks!