Quilters Stitch Together

"Heartbreak to Hope" in Hampton, VA

2012-01-10T17:08:00.000-06:00

"Alzheimer's Illustrated: From Heartbreak to Hope" continues its five-year journey across the United States with a stop at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival XXII, February 23-26, 2012. The exhibit will hang at the Hampton Roads Convention Center (Greater Chesapeake Bay / Williamsburg Area). Show hours are 10 am to 6 pm Thursday - Saturday; 10 am to 4 pm on Sunday."Alzheimer's Illustrated: From Heartbreak to Hope" is an exhibit of quilts about Alzheimer's sponsored by the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI). Fifty-four small format art quilts (9" x 12") illustrate the disease from a variety of perspectives. They hang among 182 "Name Quilts," each 6 inches wide and 7 feet tall, which carry the names of more than 10,000 individuals who have/had Alzheimer's or a related dementia. The names of loved ones, written on fabric patches by family members and friends, honor the 5.4 million Americans in the United States struggling with Alzheimer's disease.

"Alzheimer's Illustrated: From Heartbreak to Hope"
Click here to learn more about this extraordinary exhibit
and how you can bring it to your community.

Record sales of $62,000 at IQF Houston

2011-12-27T20:47:00.000-06:00

No wonder it took me a week to recover!!The numbers are in!The AAQI sold 1,141 Priority: Alzheimer's Quilts during International Quilt Festival in Houston, TX, raising the most money ever during the four and a half day quilt show.This was the sixth year the AAQI was invited to display and sell Priority: Alzheimer's Quilts by IQF founder and director Karey Bresenhan. Brooke and John Flynn, from Billings, Montana, again sponsored the booth.Thank you, quilt makers, quilt buyers, sponsors, and volunteers.Click here to see a list of all the quilts that sold at IQF Houston.Click here to see more than 500 quilts for sale. They make great gifts.

Another Addition to My PQ Collection!

2011-12-03T07:30:00.000-06:00

This is the second quilt that I purchased in Houston at the International Quilt Festival this year. It was made by Ellen White of St. Augustine, FL and the artist statement reads: "I bought the hand dyed, fused fabric shapes from Frieda Anderson some time ago. As I was looking for something to inspire me to make my quilt this month, the cut-out circles reminded me of all the lost items and memories that disappeared as Alzheimer's took over my Mom's brain." Ellen lost her mom 5 years ago. I lost my dad nearly a year ago (it doesn't seem possible that it's been that long already!) and like Ellen, I miss him every day.

This quilt kept poking me from across the room. Not in a literal sense, but every time I looked up from the check out table it caught my eye. I decided to let fate have her way and since it was still there at the end of the day I decided it was meant to come home with me. Thanks Ellen, for making this quilt for AAQI - I just love all the bright colors and the fun way you used Frieda's fabrics!

If you are so moved and would like to make a quilt for us, all the instructions can be found here: How to make a Priority Quilt

AAQI Takes Over Houston IQF!

2011-11-30T15:48:00.001-06:00

This is a quilt by Fannie Narte that I purchased in Houston this year. It leapt off the walls into my arms and I knew it had to come home with me. It's called "Broken Wings" and the artist statement reads as follows: "This is a hand painted quilt with two borders made from commercial cotton fabrics. It's embellished with beads, hand embroidery and it is machine quilted. If you study the design of this quilt, you will see images of yellow butterflies with broken wings. If you drop a glass cup onto a cement floor, chances are that it will break into many pieces. When someone experiences life-altering changes, a good one-word description of how that person may feel is "broken." I think that an Alzheimer's patient and every family member of that Alzheimer's patient may feel broken. What was once whole and is now shattered into pieces is "broken." "Broken Wings" was inspired by these feelings."

Fannie was able to come spend the day in the booth with us at IQF on Saturday which was a wonderful thing for all of us. She's such a sweet gentle soul just filled to the brim with inspiration!

I absolutely LOVE the quilt and will proudly add it to my ever growing collection of Priority Quilts. Now to get them all on the walls of my studio one day!

I consider being in Houston with this amazing group of women each fall to be one of the highlights of my year. It's the most difficult thing I do and at the same time, it's the most fulfilling thing that I do. This year I was struck by the number of times the exact right buyer found the exact right quilt for the exact right reason. There is a higher power at work here, and I'm so glad it can flow through our hands and hearts and into yours. I am proud to be a part of this organization.

The following is a press release from AAQI and it gives the results from the celebrity quilt auction this year. What fabulous quilts - I had the awesome job of hanging them on the display each day when we set up the booth. It was great to see them so up close and personal!

(Burton, Michigan) -- November 29, 2011: The Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative’s (AAQI) third annual celebrity quilt auction raised a record breaking $14,025 for the nonprofit. This year’s theme was the "Stanley Cup Quilt-Off." Twelve quilters in two teams competed for bragging rights, the highest selling quilt earning its maker the MVP award. The Feed Dogs team members were Alex Anderson, Hollis Chatelain, John Flynn, Becky Goldsmith, Renae Haddadin, and Sue Nickels. The Rotary Blades members were Caryl Bryer Fallert, Pat Holly, Libby Lehman, Judy Mathieson, Mary Sorensen, and Ricky Tims.Hollis Chatelain raised $2,570 with her quilt "Hollow," (shown above) a 16" x 16" thread-painted, machine quilted image of a woman's face which earned her the coveted MVP award. This is the third year in a row her quilt earned top dollar in the charity auction.A Viewer's Choice component to the "Stanley Cup Quilt-Off" was also offered at International Quilt Festival in Houston and online. Each $1.00 donation was counted as one vote, raising an additional $2,277.26 overall. Profits from sales of earrings made with images of each of the 12 auction quilts brought in $1,025, bringing the total for the event to $17,327.26. High and low resolution images of the twelve quilts are available at: http://www.alzquilts.org/scphotos.html .The Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative is a national, grassroots organization whose mission is to raise awareness and fund research. "Alzheimer’s Illustrated: From Heartbreak to Hope" (a nationally touring exhibit of quilts about Alzheimer's) and the Priority: Alzheimer’s Quilt project are two of its efforts. The AAQI has raised more than $679,000 for Alzheimer’s research since January 2006. Ami Simms of Flint, Michigan is the founder and executive director of AAQI, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Her mother had Alzheimer’s.

AAQI Sends 1500 Quilts to Houston!

2011-10-29T13:54:00.001-05:00

We asked for 1,500 quilts and WE GOT THEM---thanks to all our wonderful quilter volunteers!Check it out! We will be selling your quilts at the International Quilt Festival in Houston, TX, Nov 2-6. You'll find us in the Exhibit Hall, Row T, up at the front of the room.

The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative is in a position to break all previous sales records in its history, thanks to your efforts.

Now all we have to do is SELL THOSE QUILTS! We need your help to do that. Share the video. Send it everywhere you can think of.For those of you who have quilts going to Houston here are ALL the quilts that will be offered for sale in Houston: http://www.alzquilts.org/houston.htmlFollow the AAQI FaceBook page for numbers of quilts sold and videos (maybe) from the show floor starting November 2. If you're going to be at Festival, please stop by and say hello!!

To Honor Our Loved Ones

2011-09-19T14:13:00.000-05:00

World Alzheimer's Day is Wednesday September 21st. Please change your FaceBook profile picture to a photograph of a person who has/had Alzheimer's that you wish to honor and remember on September 21st and always.Please include this statement in your status update:I support the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative at www.AlzQuilts.org If you make a $5 donation (below) to the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative before midnight on Wednesday post the invoice number generated by your donation to the AAQI FaceBook Page*, we will capture the image of your loved one from your profile picture and add it to the 2011 AAQI Virtual Wall of Remembrance where it will remain for one year. Names will not accompany photographs.If you are not on FaceBook, or wish to make multiple donations to honor more than one person, email one photograph of each of your loved ones and the invoice number generated by your donation ($5 per photograph) to Diane at diane456@gmail.com. Pictures may be cropped and sized to fit the wall. As it is somewhat time consuming to snag and post your profile picture, please do not change it until you see it appear on the "wall" on the AAQI Update Blog. It may take several days to keep up! We'll do our best. *If you've never been there before, you may have to click the "LIKE" button. What's not to like?!

Sewing With Nancy Link to Nancy's Corner

2011-09-12T11:40:00.000-05:00

Here's the link to the segment that I did on Nancy Zieman's Sewing with Nancy for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative:http://video.wpt2.org/video/2096722168/I look pretty calm, cool and collected . . . totally amazing!!

I'm on Sewing With Nancy!!

2011-09-03T11:03:00.000-05:00

Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative volunteer Beth Hartford was an a guest on Sewing With Nancy, program #2505 – Art Quilts – Fusible Collage Workshop (a 2-part series with Frieda Anderson and Laura Wasilowski.) It was taped back in January and will be made available to PBS stations beginning on September 11 of this year.

Contact your local PBS station and ask them when they will air this show. Contact information can be found here: http://www.nancysnotions.com/jump.do?itemID=5&itemType=LANDING&page=pbslisting

Beth spoke about Alzheimer's Illustrated: From Heartbreak to Hope, the AAQI's new traveling exhibit which has been touring the United states since March. She has a quilt in the traveling exhibit.

Beth shared several Name Quilts on camera as well as some Priority: Alzheimer's Quilts, inviting quilters everywhere to thread their needles and help us fight Alzheimer's.

The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative wishes to thank Nancy Zieman for this opportunity to share our mission to raise awareness and fund Alzheimer's research with a wider audience. And, we especially want to congratulate Beth Hartford on her first television appearance!

"Heartbreak to Hope" Exhibit Comes to Quilt Expo!

2011-08-18T06:58:00.004-05:00

"Alzheimer's Illustrated: From Heartbreak to Hope" continues its five-year journey across the United States with a stop at Quilt Expo, September 8-10. The exhibit will hang in Exhibition Hall at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wisconsin.

Show hours are 9am to 6pm daily.
For more information, please contact call 866-297-6545 or email wiquiltexpo@wpt.org.

"Alzheimer's Illustrated: From Heartbreak to Hope" is an exhibit of quilts about Alzheimer's sponsored by the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI). Fifty-four small format art quilts (9" x 12") illustrate the disease from a variety of perspectives. They hang among 182 "Name Quilts," each 6 inches wide and 7 feet tall, which carry the names of more than 10,000 individuals who have/had Alzheimer's or a related dementia. The names of loved ones, written on fabric patches by family members and friends, honor the 5.4 million Americans in the United States struggling with Alzheimer's disease.

Ami Simms, AAQI Founder and Executive Director will present "Quilting & Caring: The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative" at 8:30am on Friday, September 9th in the Waubesa WA room on the second floor. Tickets available here.

"Alzheimer's Illustrated: From Heartbreak to Hope" is exhibited at Quilt Expo through the generous support of Wisconsin Public Television, Nancy Zieman Productions, and the Professional Art Quilt Alliance (PAQA).

Three NEW Priority Quilts

2011-07-30T18:13:00.005-05:00

I've been "on a tear" making Priority Quilts lately. Having the studio set up so that I can just go and start creating is very freeing! I can have my machines set up to perform a function and just move from one to the next as I need them. Anyway, the first one here is made from a purchased panel that was colored by my sister in law, Mary, and then cut apart and put back together with this cute print. This one is #7564.

The other two are from a dresser scarf that I purchased at an estate sale last summer, both nearly identical, but I've been perfecting my piping technique and really like the way it brings something extra to the quilts.

#7755
#7756

AAQI MEGA AUCTION AUGUST 1 - 10!

2011-07-19T18:00:00.001-05:00

August Online MEGA Auction!

From August 1-10 the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) will be offering 20 quilts that were part of the "Alzheimer's: Forgetting Piece by Piece" exhibit in an online auction like no other.

Quilts made by Sue Nickels, Diane Gaudynski, Marsha McCloskey, Nancy Brenan Daniel, Melody Crust, Mary Stori, Elsie Campbell, Debbie Bowles and others will be auctioned. This is a rare opportunity to acquire quilts by nationally acclaimed quilters who rarely sell their work.

Own a quilt from the exhibit that has touched the hearts of hundreds of thousands of people nationwide.

Bidding begins August 1st. Preview all twenty quilts now. As always, all profits fund Alzheimer's research.

Island Batik Donates $25,000 to AAQI!!

2011-06-21T12:33:00.002-05:00

Hold onto your hats!

I know whose fabric I'll be looking for in the future!

Moira and Adam Dewar of Island Batik, Inc. have donated $25,386.00 to the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative!

This is our largest donation to date. As in EVER!

Moira and Adam have been proud supporters of the AAQI through the Rose of Sharon project and have donated fabric for “Alzheimer’s Illustrated: From Heartbreak to Hope.” But this! OH MY GOODNESS!!!

Adam said, “We are very happy to give this money to the AAQI. We think they are doing fantastic work.”

We are ecstatic! Jump-up-and-down happy! Over the moon! THANK YOU!

There are an estimated 5.4 million Americans with Alzheimer’s. One in eight people age 65 has the disease. Right now. If you are a Baby Boomer, your age cohort is turning 65 at the rate of between 7,000 and 10,000 people a day. Chances are high that you will spend your retirement years either struggling with this vile disease yourself or taking care of someone who is.

Let Island Batik’s commitment to fighting Alzheimer’s be a challenge to every quilting industry leader to support the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative. We fund research directly. 100% of the money that funds “our” research goes to budget, nothing to overhead. Our organization is run by volunteers and we spend zero money on fundraising. We are quilters doing what we love to do and making a difference. HELP US!

Priority Quilt: The Imperial Irish

2011-06-05T11:22:00.004-05:00

As you may or may not know, I am the Quilt Registrar for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. What that means is that anyone who makes a quilt for AAQI has to fill out a form that is emailed to me. I then assign that quilt a number, format a reply to the maker, build a webpage for that quilt and send the registration back to the maker. Last month we had a record 316 quilts registered! It was crazy! Well, I thought it was a "one hit wonder" and figured once I was through that, things would slow down a little. WRONG! In the first 4 (yes FOUR!) days of June, I've already received over 100 NEW registrations. Could this be another record breaker? Sure seems like it!

Well, after sitting at my computer for what felt like (and actually was) hours on end yesterday, being hit by wave after wave of creativity from these quilt registrations, I thought if I didn't do something creative for myself I might just go a little bonkers! Mind you, I don't get to see the acutal quilts, I'm just reading the descriptions and dedications from the quiltmakers! The actual quilt gets sent to my sister and once she creates a picture, she puts it up on the website page. That process takes a couple of weeks at least.

So anyway, I decided a break was in order and went down to my beautiful new studio (see the studio posts). I looked around and picked up some things that were laying out with no intended purpose. The first thing I saw was this dog fabric that my sister-in-law had put fusible on and cut out, but not used. Wow. Great start!

Looking for a background, I saw some bits and pieces left over from another quilt that were then ends of rows not large enough to be used in that project. By re-sewing some and cutting down the block size, I was able to make 8 smaller blocks which I sewed together to make a background for the dog. I also had a panel of doggy sayings that were cut up, waiting to be used, and this one sure seemed to fit the look of that dog! And so, The Imperial Irish was born.

A quick border, a little machine applique, some stippling, binding and a label, and within 2 hours I had a Priority Quilt of my own to register. I still have to do the hand sewing on the binding, but I can turn it over to my sister tomorrow when I see her. A very small time investment that can raise funds to fight Alzheimer's Disease, which took my Dad away from us last December, and long before that.

Please consider making a contibution of your own. They don't have to be masterpieces, as you can see. This quilt was all made up from things that otherwise might have ended up in a scrap bin and never used.

Check it out here: Priority Quilt

One of my last Priority Quilts, Dare to be Different, #6438 is available for sale here on the Quilts for Sale page.

And I am happy to say that Doggie Diaries (see last post) sold and earned $50 for AAQI! Thank you so much to whoever bought it!

Doggie Diaries

2011-05-01T14:05:00.009-05:00

As promised, here is a scan of my latest Priority Quilt for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. It's called Doggie Diaries and is made from a panel that was donated to us in Houston last year.

This is the one that I stipple quilted with the feather stitch setting on my machine (I didn't realize it at the time), and as I was stitching I thought it looked a bit odd, but chalked it up to the twisted thread. Can you tell I was tired after a "working" weekend with my sisters and mom?

Here is a close-up of the quilting - the thread really does make it difficult to see the stitching well.

Anyway, I'm happy with the way it turned out, and I am sure someone will love to become its new owner. This one is #6955 on the
Quilts Waiting For Assignment page.

Mom's Priority Quilt #6885 from the previous post is now up here: F-f-f-fish.

Mary's can be seen here: Off Kilter, here: Wag Your Tail and here: Mischief Maker. Not all of the pictures are up yet, but check back - they are adorable! Alright - here's a sneak preview of Mischief Maker . . .

My last Priority Quilt, Dare to be Different, #6438 is available for sale here on the Quilts for Sale page.

Help me inch closer to reaching my $1000 promise!

The Christening . . .

2011-04-09T19:10:00.008-05:00

Of the new studio, of course!

The girls (my mom, sister-in-law Mary, sister Diane & I) decided to have a Priority Quilt weekend to christen my new studio space. My husband & I worked feverishly to get it close to finished in time for the gathering, and I spent a lot of time organizing and cleaning too.

This is sort of a "before" picture - before we really got into the thick of creativity and craziness . . .

This is a quilt my mom started (and finished, too!) - she wanted to do a crazy quilt, so we pulled out some crazy fabric and some of my hand dyes and started figuring out exactly how to put it together. You can see this quilt on the Quilts Waiting for Assignment page , it's #6885, the picture will be up when Diane gets to that batch of quilts to post, but the story behind it is there now.

On Monday, Diane's friend Andee (on the right, Mom on the left) joined us for the day and worked on her own creation, using some hand dyed velvet as the centerpiece. You'll have to wait a bit to see hers, as she didn't quite get finished before it was time to go. You can see Mom's finished quilt on the ironing table if you look closely - it's darling!

Here is Mary, working on her third Priority Quilt, this one will be so cute!

And finally, on Tuesday, when everyone had figured out how the machines worked and where things were in the studio, I got to work on a Priority Quilt of my own. It's not registred yet, so I don't have a number, but I will post about it soon since it is finished except for a label.

Funny tidbit about this quilt - I did some machine applique using the feather stitch, then did some tiny stippling which seemed to be going oddly, but also seemed to fit the character of the quilt. When I got all done, I realized that I had done the whole thing in free motion with the machine still set to the feather stitch! I'll try to get a picture of the quilting for you.

So here's the "after" shot, not too much mess left, but I will have to go and straighten things out a bit and put a few spools of thread away. All in all, I'd say it was a smashing success, we got lots of parts and pieces of PQ's done, and several finished to the label. Well done girls!!

Studio - Design Wall & Ironing Station

2011-03-20T15:48:00.007-05:00

So last week I finished the ironing station with some help from my sister-in-law, and today I put the bins inside the cubes. I think it will work out very well - it's the perfect height to work at standing, or the chairs I ordered can be raised to work sitting as well - nice if there are lots of parts and pieces to be ironed. The table is 5' long so even two people could easily use it at the same time. It's covered with duck cloth and a layer of batting so it's a nice firm, sturdy surface, and best of all, it's on wheels so I can move it wherever I want as long as there's an outlet nearby!

The bins and cubes are from ArtBin, they have many sizes and configurations of bins. I chose all these to be the same size as I have another bank of these in my cutting room that hold smaller items. Some of these bins have an insert that will accomodate thread cones so that they can be stored easily and dust free, plus I'll be able to see what I have at a glance.

The design wall got finished this weekend. It is made of homosote, which is essentially a pressed fiber product that you can pin into, and it's heat and fire resistant so that you can put an iron on it without issue, unlike many insulation products that many people use that are highly flammable. I covered it with white flannel because the homosote is gray and not very attractive.

I purchased this at Menard's, many home improvement stores carry it. It comes in a 4' x 8' sheet and is 1/2" thick (the picture shows two pieces together). I used the full 4' width, and had to trim each piece to 74" high because my ceilings are low in my studio. Now I have a couple of left over pieces that I could cover and use if I need a smaller surface. The beam made the perfect place to hide the light fixture that shines directly on the wall.

My wonderful husband is working on some trim as I write this, so the progress continues!

My Longarm Experience

2011-03-13T10:33:00.009-05:00

I had the opportunity recently to take a beginning longarm quilting class at The Quilting Connection in Elkhorn, Wisconsin with Sue Schmieden. It was a really fun day and we created two quilts that will be donated to a local homeless shelter and I learned a lot about longarm quilting, using Sue's amazingly clever Quick Zip System which allows the renter to get going on the machine without all the time to pin the quilt to the frame - you just zip your quilt on and go! Sue rents time on her machines so of course, I immediately rented time for the following week to finish a quilt top that had been hanging around here for at least 10 years.

It's a churn dash block, done in batiks on black. I really like this quilt, and I like it even better now that it's quilted. It took me about 4 hours to quilt this full size quilt - I can't imagine how long it would have taken on my Bernina, but I know that it would have been MUCH more difficult and MUCH more stressful!! I really enjoyed the whole experience and I am certainly going to do it again!

You can kind of see the pattern I chose, it's called "Paint Splat" (or something like that) and it was really fun to do and looks nice with all the straight lines in the quilt. I chose a bright pink thread to show off the quilting (how brave!) and it really works. The binding is a fun stripey batik - I'll post a picture when I finish hand sewing it to the back of the quilt. I think I'm going to hang this down in my new studio - it really needs some quilts on the walls!!

Renovation Progress

2011-03-07T16:16:00.004-06:00

I can't believe it, but it's been a full 6 months since I started my (simple) studio renovation. Things got stalled and so much has happened since I started this process! I think the biggest hurdle was finding the right work surfaces for the space. We talked so much about building tables, buying tables, but never actually got around to DOING anything about it. Then fall came and went, things got really busy at work, my dad got sick and passed away, Christmas came and went and still no forward progress until this past weekend! We were at Menard's and like a lightning bolt from above, I see these bench frames! Perfect! The frames are adjustable from 5' to 8', and you just buy whatever table top you want, so I got countertop, pre-cut to one 6' and two 8' lengths (would have gotten 3 8', but they only had 2) and voila! I have tables!

The boxes that are lying down are my new ironing/storage unit. The top will be covered with a 5' long piece of wood that will be covered in batting and cotton duck, the boxes hold all those bins that are stacked on the tables to hold cones of thread and fabric and whatever else I need to store. The whole thing is on wheels which makes it very handy. I have a cutting table in an adjacent room so this will just be for ironing. The wall with the black stuff hanging on it will be covered with homosote and flannel for a design wall that I can iron directly on or pin things to - behind the beam there is a bank of florescent daylight lamps that shine directly on the wall.

Won't be long now! Stay tuned for the next installment!

One World One Heart 2011

2011-01-31T00:01:00.003-06:00

And the winners are . . . .

SHAUNA HENRY - SHAUNA HENRY ART

and

LESLIE ANDERSON - MY LIFE AND TIMES

Congratulations to the winners, and thanks to everyone who stopped by!

UPDATE! Now that we've hit 100 comments, I will add a SECOND scarf (my choice!) to the drawing. There will be TWO lucky winners!! Way to go!

OWOH LIST OF BLOGGERS

One World One Heart is a worldwide event for bloggers only. It gives all those who blog a chance to meet and mingle and form connections with those they may not have otherwise met from all over the world. In the past 4 years this event has grown to over 1,000 participants with lasting friendships (and even one love connection) formed along the way. Think of it as a GIGANTIC open house allowing you to travel without ever leaving your home........going from blog to blog(in various countries) seeing the wonder each one has created and meeting all the fabulous people behind those blogs. As a bonus each blogger participant will offer up a "door prize or prizes"....just for dropping by, saying hello and seeing their world. It's really that easy.

My give-away is pictured below, it's a silk/rayon velvet scarf hand dyed by me. The scarf measures 48" x 10" and is soft and dreamy!

The scarf has color changes throughtout. Last year I got so many comments that I ended up giving away THREE scarves, one for every 100 comments . . . . maybe we can do the same this year!! And to top it off, I won some really great prizes last year from other bloggers.

The fine print: You MUST have an active blog. You MUST leave a comment on this blog entry - and that post has to include a way I can contact you if you win. You can leave your email or you can leave your blog address (but make sure your email or contact me info is current on your blog!).

THE END - yes, all good things must end - is on February 17th - the day the winners will be posted. So the cut off for comments on my blog will be midnight on the 16th. I'll use a random number generator to pick the winners.

Please, if you like fiber art, click to "follow" this blog and come back to visit now and then! I usually post about art and I try to give some steps for each piece I post so that you can get inspiration. There's even a tutorial about snow dyeing (we're expecting a blizzard this week!) so if you're in a snow belt, check it out!

My Latest Priority Quilt

2011-01-30T19:20:00.006-06:00

Finally finished another PQ for The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative! This one was made up of things that were laying around on my cutting table and in my sewing room. I just walked around and grabbed what caught my eye and this is the result.

I took a piece of my hand dyed fabric and used that as the foundation, the stripes are from one fabric, and the leaves from another. I really liked the one strong red leaf - it reminded me of the "stand-out" in a crowd. Since losing my Dad to Alzheimer's related issues in December, red things catch my eye as his favorite color was red. He even had a red and white bathroom in one of their houses! This quilt is dedicated to Dad - he was always a bright spot in a crowd. This quilt was a challenge to myself to do something totally creative. It was “born” from bits and pieces of that were lying around my sewing area just begging to be used! I may have to do more things like this - it is a good way to use up odds and ends and be creative at the same time. Even the thread I used was the first spool that I touched when I went looking for thread to quilt it - I auditioned others, but this one was the ONE!

The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative is the featured charity TODAY (Friday, January 28)

2011-01-28T09:35:00.005-06:00

My Dad passed away December 14, 2010 after a 6 year battle with Alzheimer's. My sister Diane and I have been involved with the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative for the past 5 1/2 years, and I can't think of a more grass roots, completely volunteer organization that has touched my life more. PLEASE, go check out this site TODAY!! The Philanthroper

Here is Ami's story:

“My mom had Alzheimer’s...watching somebody you love disappear, one skill at a time, is really hard. I got really angry and really frustrated at the disease and I wanted to do something, but I didn’t have the skills to sit in a lab somewhere and cure it.
“But I’m a quilter.”

That’s Ami Simms, she’s a professional quilter and the founder of Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI). Before you assume that quilts have nothing to do with a neurodegenerative disease, know that since 2006, working solely with unpaid volunteers operating out of their homes, the AAQI has raised over $500,000 for Alzheimer’s research.

“I thought we could raise some money making small sized quilts we could sell,” Simms explains, which is the basic principle behind the AAQI's chief fundraising outlet, the Priority: Alzheimer’s Quilt Project.

Volunteers sew quilts as large as 9”x12”—not your typical big bed quilt, but a small square that can be fit in a Priority Mail envelope and mailed to the AAQI’s central operations. Then through online and traveling sales, these quilts commonly sell anywhere from $25 to $125 with all profits going toward the study of Alzheimer’s.

Researchers can submit grant applications on the AAQI’s site, which are reviewed and awarded by an internal scientific advisory board. But these grants come with a stipulation—they can only fund the direct costs of research. Or as Simms puts it, “We’re gonna buy test tubes; we’re gonna pay researchers' salaries.”

The AAQI has awarded several grants, but their recent contribution of $30,000 to a University of Michigan study has already garnered some promising findings regarding the “cleansing” of the disease's trademark amyloid plaques.

Indeed, it's a bit odd to donate funds to any group that ultimately only exists to raise funds for another group, but if the AAQI has proven anything, it's that their stitched niche is highly effective and stunningly equitable. They amplify their resources while operating with an essentially nonexistent overhead.

“With quilting, some people think of little old ladies,” Simms explains. “But quilters are cutting edge. And there’s a boatload of us. “

THE QUILT SHOW #712 is now ON!!

2010-12-05T11:43:00.007-06:00

Alex Anderson, Ami Simms, Ricky Tims

Please share this news with your friends. Thousands of quilters, perhaps someone you know, have written the name(s) of a family member or friend who has/had Alzheimer’s on a purple patch of fabric. Those patches have been stitched into 182 “Name Quilts” honoring more than 10,000 individuals. The”Name Quilts,” along with 53 small format art quilts, make up the AAQI’s new traveling exhibit called “Alzheimer’s Illustrated: From Heartbreak to Hope.” A portion of “Alzheimer’s Illustrated” exhibit is shown on program #712 for the first time anywhere. The AAQI is looking for quilting groups to bring this poignant exhibit to their communities.

Slideshow created with Smilebox

Here is a slideshow of some behind the scenes photographs from the taping of the episode. The last picture is Ricky & Alex with AAQI’s founder and executive director, Ami Simms and the "road crew", right to left Alex Anderson, Kathy Kennedy-Dennis, Susan Pain, Mary Lecea, my sister Diane Petersmarck, Ami Simms, me and Ricky Tims. You can now watch show #712 featuring Ami Simms and the new Alzheimer's Exhibit by clicking here: The Quilt Show. If you want to subscribe to The Quilt Show, use this coupon code for a 20% discount on a 6 month membership: 125030263501 (membership begins January 1, 2011), and by filling out a short form you can watch for the entire month of December for free. Please check it out!

Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative on The Quilt Show!

2010-12-02T20:17:00.002-06:00

This is the taping that my sister Diane & I flew to Colorado this summer to be a part of - it's the debut of the new Alzheimer's exhibit that will travel the country for the next 5 years or so. You can see me in the audience in the back row on the left side as you're looking at the video, Diane was sitting to my right, but missed the shot. The whole show will air begining Monday, December 6th. I'll post a link when it's available.

1000 Quilts Going to HOUSTON!

2010-10-19T14:44:00.001-05:00

Click on the YouTube video below to see some of the quilts that will be available for sale at the AAQI booth in Houston this year. There are some amazing pieces that can be yours for only a few dollars!! Come do your holiday shopping!!

Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative Auction is ON NOW!!

2010-10-07T12:37:00.013-05:00

You will not believe the great changes that have come to the AAQI Auction this month! There is a brand new auction hosting site that makes the process quick and easy! Your bids show up right away and you get a notification if you are outbid so that you can go back and bid again.

The auction is now automated and conducted in real time so it's easier to bid than ever. Please bid here: AAQI Quilt Auction. Hurry - the October auction ends on Sunday the 10th.

All profits fund Alzheimer's research.

Use this link to see a Smilebox slideshow of all the quilts.

Think ahead and purchase wonderful Christmas gifts for special friends. They will be pleased with the artwork and you'll have made a donation to a wonderful cause.

Come and see us in Houston at the International Quilt Festival from November 3rd through the 7th also - we're bringing over 1000 quilts to sell. We'll also be showcasing some amazing quilts from well known quilt artists such as Hollis Chatelain, Ricky Tims and John Flynn. See them here: World Series Quilt Challenge

And for all you quilters out there, we need more quilts to restock the shelves. It's easy to make a difference! Look here to see how to make a Priority Quilt. It's a great way to try a new technique or pattern or use up some of those UFO's!

This one of the two quilts that I made that will be for sale in Houston - the story behind them is in my August posts. They were fun to make!

Reprise

2010-08-02T12:54:00.005-05:00

Well, once I got going on these Priority Quilts, I can't seem to stop! This one was SO easy that I feel a little guilty. Someone unknown long ago did the embroidery on a table scarf that I recently purchased at a garage sale for $1.00. I took one end and trimmed it down, quilted around the flower and bound it in a beautiful batik frame. Now it can live its "new" life as something fresh and beautiful.

Faded Glory Finished! (well, almost!)

2010-08-01T18:14:00.003-05:00

It still needs the binding hand sewn to the backing, and it still needs a label, but it's essentially done! I think the piping was the perfect solution. This one will be donated to the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative where it will be sold to raise money for Alzheimer's research. I dedicated this one to my Dad, who suffers from a variation of Alzheimer's. My artists statement reads: This rose was once beautiful, vibrant, colorful and full of life. It’s now faded and beginning to lose petals. If one looks closely, you can still see some of the vibrant color that once was prominent, much like someone who suffers from Alzheimer’s Disease . . . those infrequent flashes of the person they used to be that are so precious.

Priority Quilt Revisited

2010-07-31T11:23:00.002-05:00

I started talking about this quilt nearly a year ago, on August 6, 2009. I brought it back out to see if it could be saved the other day and ended up cutting off the borders and just keeping the center. Then I attached new borders and put some batting in between that and a new backing. It's not really crooked IRL, that's my bad photography. I will quilt the borders, probably folloing the hearts in the fabric, but it needs something else. I'm thinking of maybe putting a pink piping on before I bind it. What do you think? All suggestions are welcome! I don't have much time, need to get this one done.

Some Exciting News!

2010-07-06T15:41:00.003-05:00

I got an email from Kathy Shaffer who owns a new little quilt shop in Millburn, Illinois called The Common Thread Merchantile. It's the cutest little shop tucked in amongst beautiful trees in a lovely, calming setting.

She had come across my information at the Village Quilters Guild where Annette Hendricks had been the speaker and I brought my hand dyed fabric to sell. Kathy was interested in carrying my fabric in her shop, so I brought her some of my inventory and it is now available to you through her. The shop is well worth a visit, although currently her hours are limited, so visit her blog for details and directions. I had the opportunity to sit on her porch and enjoy the beauty, and it was very peaceful and inspiring. Thanks, Kathy!

Time . . . . so fleeting!

2010-06-01T16:59:00.007-05:00

I can't believe how quickly time is passing by. My son is graduating from 8th grade this week and will soon be off to (GULP!) high school. He was a baby not that long ago!

Needless to say, all this has kept me busy with all the preparation and events leading up to the actual graduation, but I'm in the studio dyeing as well. My favorite Canadian customer wants some rainbows ( I just love these! ) and she has a fondness for lime green, so I'm doing some yardage for her.

My studio renovation has stalled - things are crazy at work for both my husband and I so our free time (ha!) has disappeared - hopefully things will get back on track soon so I can get some sewing done! One good thing that comes with graduation . . . the school auction comittment is over for me, turned over to other hands!

One fun note: My sister Diane and I are going to the taping of The Quilt Show in August in Bolder, CO with Ami Simms. Should be fun - we're talking about making a road trip out of it which could be quite an adventure! Will keep you posted!

Alzheimer's Name Quilt #2

2010-04-08T12:22:00.003-05:00

I finished the second Alzheimer's Quilt (see the last post for details) and will send them both off to be bound by another generous person. I am proud to have been one little cog in this huge wheel that has raised not only money, but awareness of Alzheimer's.

This one is hearts - it took me a while to figure out how to make them continuous, but once the idea hit me, it went very quickly. For me, the quilts signify all the love that has gone into this project and the love that we have for those who have been stricken by this horrible disease. I pray that a cure will be found soon!

What I've Done This Week

2010-03-24T15:36:00.005-05:00

Among a multitude of other mundane tasks, I have just finished quilting this rather unusual quilt. This is a section from the first of two 6" wide by 7' long name quilts (you read it right, six inches by seven feet) I'm quilting for the AAQI new exhibit Alzheimer's Illustrated: From Heartbreak to Hope. The two I'm doing will hang with 180 others, each bearing the names of 55 people who currently have Alzheimer's Disease or have died with Alzheimer's or a related dementia. There will be over 10,000 names represented in this exhibit and that's not even a fraction of those who have been stricken. Many hands have touched each of these quilts, those that donated the fabric, collected the names, assembled the tops, those that organized them and sent them to quilters all over the U.S. (maybe farther!), those that quilted them and then to the hands that bind them, finally to those who will hang them for display. It's quite an amazing feat, all spearheaded by the tireless Ami Simms of Flint, Michigan.

I chose to do a leaf pattern, symbolizing hope in the new research that's being done to thwart this horrible disease. I'm not sure how I'll do the second one yet, I'm still thinking that one over.

OWOH . . . I Have Been Remiss . . .

2010-03-24T15:22:00.007-05:00

I have not blogged for a while, it's funny how quickly time flies by when you're not looking!

I received two other wonderful prizes from the One World One Heart event and want to show them to you.

The first is this lovely set of note cards from Pat Knowles at Images Through An Open Window:

And the second is this adorable bird print from Vickie at Whispers of Inspiration.

Vickie also sent me this cute little notecard!

The whole adventure with One World One Heart was a blast - thanks to everyone who participated!

Look what I WON!!!

2010-02-19T22:37:00.007-06:00

This incredible bit of art from Alaska arrived safe and sound in my mail box today. I won him in the One World One Heart blog giveaway. His name is Jasper and he was created by Pat Haight of Wigglebutt Clay Creations. She also generously sent me some wonderful hand made buttons and a gorgeous heart pin that were a total surprise.

What a wonderful thing to have show up in the mailbox today! Thanks, Pat!

OWOH WINNERS ANNOUNCED!!

2010-02-15T10:06:00.003-06:00

The following ladies have been contacted. If I don't hear from them within a day or two, I will pick another winner from the list. They are:

Snap from Texas

Shelley from Maine

and

Waxela from Austin, TX

Congratulations, ladies!! I hope you love your scarves and enjoy them as much as I did making them!!

And a special thank you to all of you who came, visited, and left wonderful comments. This was a great experience!

We got a little more snow, so . . . .

2010-02-04T20:25:00.007-06:00

I went out and scraped up enough to do 7 more pieces of snow dyed fabric. Is the suspense killing you too? I hate the waiting part!!

That top right one could be another potentially "ugly" piece, but we have to wait and see. The bottom two on the right side look scrumptious!

I had a lot of green dyes mixed that I wanted to use up, so there's quite a lot of green in this batch. So many of the other pieces sold that I figured I'd better make some more. I'll post the results just as soon as I can . . . until then, enjoy your ride on the magic carpet (post below)!

One World One Heart

2010-01-25T06:00:00.008-06:00

This initiative is really fun and you are exposed to blogs from all over the world . . . and they are reading yours too! If you are not familiar with OWOH, read all about it here:

My give-away is pictured below, it's a silk scarf hand dyed by me in purple and turquoise. It's a two step process with special dyes so that part of the scarf takes one color and part takes another color. It's something I've been experimenting with, and it gives great results! The spots are velvety and the purple background is sheer. The scarf measures 68" x 13" and is soft and dreamy!

The fine print: You MUST have an active blog. You MUST leave a comment on this blog entry - and that post has to include a way I can contact you if you win. You can leave your email or you can leave your blog address (but make sure your email or contact me info is current on your blog!).

THE END - yes, all good things must end - is on February 15th - the day the winners will be posted. So the cut off for comments on my blog will be midnight on the 14th. I'll use a random number generator to pick the winners.

*****************************NEWS FLASH*****************************

Because of the overwhelming response to this scarf, I have decided to give away a SECOND scarf! Your odds of winning just went up, so keep on clicking!!

And since we are well over 200 comments, I'll give up my THIRD and final scarf and this one is different than the other two. Tell your friends!

Thanks for stopping by, and thanks for all the wonderful comments!

What a difference a day makes!

2010-01-21T20:39:00.010-06:00

So, I created a snow dyed fabric that I LOVED, and I sold it! I thought that I could re-create something similar, since it was the same snow, same fabric and same dyes, but it didn't work out quite that way.

I think the results are different because the temperature of the snow to start with was different (warmer), and it wasn't cold enough out to freeze the fabric before I packed it in the snow. I didn't think that was a big factor, but now I'm not so sure.

Here are three pieces of fabric that I put under snow, on two of them I used the exact same violet and the exact same yellow as #41 (see previous post) and on the third I used chartreuse in place of the yellow. For the life of me, I can't be certain which one is which, and I find that extremely odd. Again, the serendipity of dyeing!

So here are the three pieces, these are full shots of each piece which measure ~39" x 44". The line across the center is the pressed in fold line from my mangle. They're absolutely gorgeous in their own right, but completely different than what I was trying to get! They actually are similar enough that you could use all three together if you needed more yardage for a project. Click on the pictures to get a closer look.

Did I mention that these are for sale? $30 each, should be on my website soon, but if you can't wait, just let me know.

*****************************SD#42

*****************************SD#43

*****************************SD#44****SOLD!!****
All of this just makes me want to make more!!

Even MORE Snow Dyes!!

2010-01-14T15:22:00.010-06:00

I loved the first batch so much that I started a second, and WOW - these are great too!! Now we're having a January thaw, so it'll be a while before I get to do more.

SD#41 - ****SOLD**** (No one can believe I sold this one - Chris you are one lucky gal!)

SD#40

SD#39 ****SOLD****

SD#38****SOLD****

SD#37

SD#36

SD#35

SD#34

All of these will be for sale (maybe, I LOVE #41) on my website in a day or two.

If you missed my tutorial, go back a couple of posts and you can see how I make these.

Happy dyeing!!

Snow Dye RESULTS!!

2010-01-11T11:24:00.013-06:00

Here are the results from yesterday's snow dyeing. The pictures only show about a quarter of each piece, maybe a little less. These will all be for sale on my website (see sidebar for link) later today or tomorrow. If you just HAVE to have one of them, please email me right away and I won't bother putting it on the website. Use the numbers below each picture to identify it. Each piece is ~39" x 44", 100% Pimatex Cotton, high thread count, and will sell for $30.

SD#28 (much brighter greens IRL)****SOLD****

SD#29 (The one I thought would be "ugly" - not so bad, eh?)

SD#30 *****SOLD*****

SD#31 (This one is SO much brighter that the picture shows.)****SOLD****

SD#32

SD#33 *****SOLD*****

So I decided to do 8 more today, they're slowly melting . . . will show the results as soon as they're ready!

My Version of the Snow Dye Process

2010-01-10T13:46:00.017-06:00

So, we've had a LOT of snow. What to do? What else, dye fabric in the snow!! This was really the perfect snow for dyeing - not too wet, not too dry, just right!

I grabbed some of my dye bins, soda ash soaked some PFD fabrics and wadded them up into the bins:

At this point, some people let the fabric freeze, but not me - too impatient! So I packed them all to the brim with snow. (NOTE: I have since found that freezing the fabric first does have an effect - you get much crisper lines in the finished fabric as you can see from my subsequent blogs where I did freeze the fabric.)

Then I brought them inside to my wet studio and squirted dye on the snow. I used 2 colors on each, mixing them up with the 5 colors of fiber reactive procion dye that I had mixed. The dyes were Lemon Yellow, Brilliant Blue, Pagoda Red, Ultra Violet and Forest Green. I tend to choose dyes that are mixtures of color, rather than what they call "primaries" so that the colors come apart on the fabric and give some really unique results. Here are the fabrics after I put dye on them:

And here they are melting . . .

You can see the dye start to wick down into the fabric:

And melting . . .

And more wicking . . .

Over half way - this takes probaby 6-8 hours to get it totally melted.

And I took these just before I went to bed. The snow is nearly gone. I thought this was going to be a rather ugly piece from looking at this, but it's NOT!!

Here they are totally melted. I let them sit like this till they're room temperature, (or 24 hours, whichever comes first!) then rinse them out by hand, then they go through 2 super hot washes, the first with synthrapol in my dye dedicated top loader and the second in my front loader with regular detergent and fabric softener on the sanitary cycle. They're in the wash now, so as soon as they're done and I can iron them, I'll post pictures of the results. Stay tuned!!

(Yes, that's the "ugly" one!)

Velvet Scarf Christmas Gift

2009-12-23T16:59:00.004-06:00

I decided to make a velvet scarf for a friend of mine who loves to wear scarves, so I took one of my hand dyed velvet half yard pieces, split it, sewed the two ends together, then added some fringe and sewed the whole thing along the open sides. I think it turned out very well and was really very quick to make!

Side note: She LOVED the scarf!! I may have to make one for myself!

Give Away!

2009-11-12T09:30:00.006-06:00

Hawthorne Threads is giving away a Firenze Bag Kit by Patricia Bravo, and a fat-quarter set to 2nd & 3rd place winners. Click here to enter, but do it before Nov. 15!

Bamboo Bird

2009-10-31T15:14:00.002-05:00

Hi! Beth's sister Diane buttin' in here to show you this postcard I just made using some of the scrumptious snow-dyed silk on the QST website. Obviously, this is just a scrap - the full project is yet-to-be-revealed, but the fabric is so beautiful, there is no way I'm not going to use up every tiny piece!

Quilt Top #2 Complete!

2009-10-20T07:16:00.003-05:00

The second quilt top is complete, I've pieced the backings and the batting so they're all ready to go. I've had a crazy couple of days, so I need to carve out some time to get these sandwiched and the quilting started!

Here's a view of the whole quilt - this one really does look better in real life. There were 31 students in this class, so I had to arrange the blocks in the bottom row differently.

Here's a close-up of the center of the quilt so you can see the detail in the fabric.

First School Quilt

2009-10-14T10:36:00.004-05:00

Top is finished, here's a picture! I've gotten half the blocks done for the second one, I hope to have that one put together by the end of the weekend, and then start quilting both of them. I think it really needed that black inner border to kind of break up the craziness of the background fabric. Thanks, Di, for the idea!

October Project

2009-10-04T21:31:00.009-05:00

My son's school holds an annual fund raising auction that usually raises somewhere in the neighborhood of $100,000.00. I have been involved with the gift basket comittee for the last 9 years which involves creating baskets using donated and purchased items. I have also personally made and donated a quilt each year. These can be seen on my website, Quilters Stitch Together as well as how much they raised at auction. My son is now in 8th grade and will graduate next June. For the auction each year, each class at school creates a project that is auctioned off to the hightest bidder. Traditionally, the 8th graders have created quilts. The woman who was making the quilts decided she was done 2 years ago. The projects changed, but they didn't have the fundraising power of the quilts, so I was asked to make quilts for this years' class. This is on top of making nearly 400 gift baskets with a crew of two other women. I agreed, and we decided on a project in which the students were asked to create a 6" block using their first name in a graffiti style. Another woman spent time with the 2 classes at school getting the blocks made. The art work I got back was amazing as you will see!

So inspired was I that I spent the entire weekend working on the first of the two quilts. Each will have a different background fabric, but I wanted an interesting set, so I found this one and thought it was perfect for these blocks.

For the first round of "sashing" I used black for framing the blocks. You sew on rectangles and then trim them into triangles. I found it in a book by Margaret Miller called Smashing Sets. Not as complex as you might imagine, but you do have to keep things straight!

Here's the second round going through the machine - I was chaining them to make it quick and efficient.

Here is a block with the 4 rectangles sewn on but before I trimmed them.

Aren't they fabulous??

Some of the fabulous artwork in the completed blocks which measure 9 1/2" unfinished.

This is the center of the quilt before borders. I'll add those tomorrow and either sandwich this one or start on the blocks for the second one. Both have to be done around the first of November, so the clock is ticking LOUDLY!!

What I've been doing lately . . .

2009-09-29T07:43:00.005-05:00

Things have been getting done in the studio renovations, just not the types of things that make for good pictures, so I decided to show you my ironing station where I have been spending a lot of time lately.

This is my mangle, for which I am eternaly grateful and which for now is tucked into a corner of the basement during renovations. I have a little TV where I can watch DVD's which keeps me sane during hours of ironing.

This is the first stack of 48 yards that I ironed on Sunday.

This is the complete stack of 96 yards that I finished yesterday. Sorry the picture is a little blurry - it was late and I was rushing to get to TKD.

All of this fabric is headed to Alberta, Canada, where a talented lady will turn it into beautiful quilts. She now has a nearly complete palette of my hand dyed fabrics. Funny - she has more of my fabric to play with than I do!!

New Floors!

2009-08-30T15:39:00.003-05:00

DH Tom has started the installation of the new floors in the studio.

It's going pretty quickly, as you can see.

He hopes to finish today, all the difficult parts are pretty much done.

The dogs are supervising the progress (as am I, but don't tell Tom).

Ta Da!!

Studio Update - Paint!

2009-08-22T06:00:00.000-05:00

A picture is worth a thousand words - finished the second coat a few minutes ago. I really like this color and I guess the cat did too - that's him sleeping in the paint tray in the first picture.

And the beat goes on!

2009-08-20T11:27:00.001-05:00

My son Alex helped me remove the carpet yesterday so that we could get it into the dumpster for the garbage pick up today. DH Tom finished up last night and got the foam padding (glued down) and the tack strips removed. The gross, ugly, nasty, stained, BLUE carpet is GONE!!

Tonight we'll do a bit more sanding, rip up the vinyl strip (also glued down) and hopefully get at least one more of 4 total light fixtures up (at least temporarily) so that we can put color on the walls tomorrow.

Look what came in the mail today!

2009-08-19T23:31:00.006-05:00

A wonderful gal named Lori Kasenter sent me this package today in the mail. I am the "printing czar" for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative, which means that I collect donated printed matter and send it to the venues where the AAQI quilts are being shown for distribution.

This volunteer went above and beyond the norm, sending me a half yard of fabic and a batch of very nice fibers to play with AND 400 flyers for AAQI. WOW!! Keep an eye out . . . you'll see it in a Priority Quilt one day. Sorry the picture is bad, low light and no time!

Almost there!!

2009-08-17T11:37:00.004-05:00

Yesterday we got the walls and ceilings all primed, ready for paint. This morning, I gave the ceiling its final coat of paint. If I get really motivated and the blood returns to my hands, I may try to start removing the carpet - garbage pick up is Thursday and I'd like to get it GONE!! That way we can paint the walls and not worry about messing up the paint when removing the carpet.

We also took down the ugly old light fixtures last night so it'd be easier to paint the ceiling. The new ones will have to go up soon - it's kind of dark in there now! It's really starting to look like it may get finished!!

Renovations Update

2009-08-14T17:51:00.005-05:00

OK, I don't want to bore you with all the minutae, but this is exciting for me. Tom got 3 out of 4 of the new doors hung, now I just need to find the right hardware for them.

This is the first door that he put in, getting the system down just right.

Then this is the other 2 all framed out and ready to accept the doors.

In my head I'm seeing brushed nickel hardware, now I just have to find it . . .

Studio Renovations

2009-08-12T16:13:00.004-05:00

I'm taking over some formerly mis-used space in our home for my studio. I have a dye room and what I call a "cutting" room (where I cut fabric and store things) as well as a fabric storage closet adjacent to this room, so it really makes sense to turn this room into a sewing space where I can spread out a bit. My sewing space until now has been in the dye room which made me sort of uncomfortable because of the possibility that dye might somehow get onto a sewing project - eeekk!!

So here is a "before" picture - after we ripped off 2 layers of paneling to get to the original walls. We re-insulated that whole outside wall and got rid of that icky old insulation.

Here is a "so far" picture, the drywall is up and the mudding is going on, layer after layer, bit by bit.

And a "what color shall I paint it" picture - I committed to a slightly darker version of the color on the left. Looks great with the flooring and is nice and warm.

I'll keep taking them as things progress and post them here. My house is an old schoolhouse, in use as a school from 1914 until 1959 or so. This room was used as the student lunch room at that time, then converted to a "den" by the former owners. We used it as an office space for our business, then it became a storage room when we moved the business to another location. We're putting down laminate floors for easy care, and I will have countertops on 2 walls and a design wall on one wall with it's own light source and all new daylight lighting throughout the room. I can't wait till it's finished!

Priority Quilt

2009-08-06T09:27:00.008-05:00

I've been working on an idea for a Priority Quilt for the AAQI and it involves heavily thread painting a picture I took of a rose in my garden. I love the way it's turning out, but I forgot about the shrinkage when you thread paint and so it distorted the borders a bit. I've gotten them sort of square again, but I'm not sure how this one is going to turn out. Luckily, it's a practice piece - I wanted to try it out before I tackled the "real" PQ.

I've added a stabilizer to the "real" one, hopefully that will help keep it from shrinking as much as this one but I really like the way it came out.

Cotton/Silk Comparison

2009-08-02T12:38:00.004-05:00

Here are pictures of the cotton that I dyed along with the silk. There's the picture of the whole piece, both scrunched and pleated, and underneath that, a close up of one part of the piece. To me, it's amazing how very different they are - the fibers take the dye in a completely different way. These were odd size bolt ends that I dyed, so I get to keep them - yippee!

I'm also undergoing a major studio renovation, taking over some space adjacent to my current dye room and cutting room, so I'll be posting updates of that process as well.

Silk Revealed

2009-07-30T16:00:00.007-05:00

So here are the results of the silk dyeing mudbath. These are just 2 pieces with close ups of parts of them - I dyed a large piece, then cut it into pieces approximately 20" x 40" for sale. Pretty, huh? Each piece is unique and as such, sold on a first come, first served basis through my website.

The colors are so much richer in real life - they're really gorgeous! I also dyed some cotton along with the silk, and the results are different again. I'll try to get those pictures up tomorrow.

Silk Dyebath

2009-07-29T19:30:00.006-05:00

I needed to dye some silk for the website, and I wanted to play with tray dyeing, using just 3 colors. I chose the warm version of the primaries (dyes are different than crayons!) and used Royal Blue, Scarlet and Golden Yellow.

Here are the "before" pictures, one scrunched tightly, and one pleated. You'll see that the results are amazingly different. I'll try to post the "after" pictures tomorrow - it's all washed out, but needs to become one with my mangle (a.k.a. super iron) before photography. Kind of looks like mud, you say? Just wait to see!!

Eye Candy

2009-07-24T16:52:00.004-05:00

Just thought I'd share a little eye candy with you! I was packing up this order to ship to a customer in Canada and it just looked so great in the box that I couldn't resist taking a picture of it. Don't you want some too?