Answer a few Questions!

I have had a few questions about Miss Carole's new book, so I'll try to answer them. It is not the same book that is included in the Dream-A-Seam Templates. The first half of the book teaches her method of piecing a crazy quilt fan. It really is a wonderful way to piece a fan that can easily be done by hand or machine. The last half of the book gives instructions and stitch ideas to create the "needlework" lace that surrounds the top half of the fan. I hope that answers any questions you might have. The picture above is one of the two fans I stitched to practice before I taught this class in Maine.

Be sure and check in tomorrow for I am going to participate in Pink Saturday. Imagine that!

Mommie's Ties Workbook is done!

I wanted to dedicate this post to Miss Carole's new workbook for Mommy's Ties. Two years ago, she taught this class at the Victorian Stitchery Retreat. She has developed all of her notes from that class into a very nice instructional workbook. It goes through the steps of piecing crazy quilt fan's using her own unique method. She then gives complete instructions and design ideas for the needlework "lace" that you embroider at the top of the fan.

I taught this class in Maine for her and I have to tell you, it is my all time favorite class of Miss Carole's! If you would like more information on purchasing her workbook, just leave me a comment.

Talk to you later!

A Great Give Away!

Right now Pam Kellogg of Kitty and Me Designs is having a give away for this great sewing quilt. You may go to her blog www.kittyandmedesigns.blogspot.com to get me info. Good Luck!

Back from Omaha and the new MCC Crazy Quilt

Well, I am back from teaching in Omaha and I had a wonderful time! I really had to laugh because I gave a lecture there on Tuesday night at the hospital. They didn't have a cart to carry my stuff in, so we used wheelchairs! I don't know why, I just think that is funny! I have my bags hanging from the IV stand.

The next 6 pictures are of the first squares that we will be working on for the next MCC Crazy Quilt which will be all about pansies.






Talk to you later and have a good weekend!

MCC Sale Hutchinson Kansas

Our Valentine Crazy Quilt for the MCC sale was sold last Saturday. Here is a picture of the quilt on display before it was auctioned off. It was hard to get a picture as people were crowding around it taking pictures and just looking at it! One person came from Tyler, Texas just to buy it! The MCC sale is always a fun day even if you aren't there to see a quilt get auctioned off. It is held at the Kansas State Fair grounds and there is plenty of food to buy. There are zweibach, pies, verenika, german sausage. You name it, it is there to buy and eat. We got there around 8:15 and the auction started at 8:45. Our quilt had a late number, so it didn't auction until around 2:30.

Here is a picture of the crowds right before our quilt auctioned. When they started, I think about 5 people immediately began bidding and within seconds, it was at $1,000! The quilt sold for $1750 and we were thrilled. Many of the quilts went for a much lower price than usual, probably due to the economy. We were also thrilled to meet the person who purchased the quilt. She is a crazy quilter and lives about 45 minutes away!

Here is a picture of our quilt as they auctioned it off. They put the quilt on a bed and rotate it around so everyone can see it. Stayed tuned as next week I will be starting next year's quilt which will have a pansy theme.

Oh, I will be teaching in Omaha, Nebraska next week. If you are interested and live close by, let me know, I think they have a couple of openings.

Talk to you later,

So Very Thankful and a bit of Eye Candy

So sorry I haven't posted for awhile. This week I had a bit of a scare. I don't usually share alot of personal stuff, but here I go. I was talking on the phone to a friend and I saw a bright flash of light in my eye. I didn't really think too much about it. It happened again a couple of days later when I was shoe shopping and I still didn't think too much about it. About a week later, I kept seeing floaters in my eye and I was due for an eye exam anyway, so away I went.

So I tell my eye doctor that I am seeing floaters. He quietly says, "Did you see a flash of light?", "Yes". He then explains to me what might have happened. For those of you who don't know me really well, I am truly a science geek inside even though I am a crazy quilt teacher! I have a degree in both biology and chemistry and I am 100% understanding what he is saying to me including the part about maybe going blind in that eye. There were two possible places in my eye that I might have torn. One place, no big deal but floaters for the rest of your life. The other place, the retinal wall requires surgery to keep your sight. Whoa! I also have a weak stomach and when he said that, I had a total panic attack! I went home and prayed about it...then I went back the next day to get my eyes dilated to see what exactly had happened to my eye. I am happy to report that the news was even better than expected and I had torn nothing! I am very, very thankful for that! God was good to me beyond my expectations! Thank you to my dear friends and husband who prayed for me!

Now, for some more fun things! The final posting of pictures of the MCC Crazy Quilt. We decided to name it a Victorian Valentine Crazy Quilt. The pictures I am posting are of the large center square that measured 20 x 30. I was so, so disappointed. I took pictures of the quilt as we inside tied it, and I was going to do a small tutorial on how to do that. I went to download the pictures from that day and they simply are not on the memory card. Not real sure what happened. If you look back on my blog, about two years ago, I have a tutorial when we inside tied the first MCC Crazy Quilt we donated.

Talk to you later,

MCC Squares 12 through 14

Here are the final three squares that surround the large 20 x 30 center of our MCC Valentine Crazy Quilt. We sewed some of the sashing around the center last Wednesday and will finish up next week. On March 17, we are scheduled with my quilting group to inside tie the quilt. I'll take pictures as we do it! I a few days, I'll post what the large center section looks like. It is really beautiful and I will be anxious to see who buys this quilt at the MCC auction in Hutchinson in April. Since MCC is usually one of the first organizations to appear at natural disasters, I am always happy to donate to them. I have been toying with naming the quilt Hearts of Haiti, but I haven't talked to the other members of our group to see what they think.

Thank you to all of the ladies who have helped with this quilt, they did a large majority of this quilt and spent many hours of dedicated work. They are all very talented and I feel very honored to know all of them. Many thanks to Miss Carole Samples for her inspiration and ideas for this crazy quilt also.

TTYL,