I've been busy this week rearranging and consolidating things in the back room of my studio.  It has been used this past year for storage of all sorts of things and I decided I needed to make the most out of this wonderful area.  I managed to carve out an entire corner for ME.  I've always done my drawing and designing in a little corner of the spare bedroom with everything jammed into cubbies and boxes.  Now I have wonderful space for my drafting table, a place to hang all my tools, places for the pencils, pens, rulers and compasses...

As I start creating new class samples and updating my E-books, I will start posting instructions on how to create some beautiful designs.  This is one of my favorites...once the quilting is done I'll be sure to post a photo! I started with the circle Ultimate Stencil and marked all of my angled lines. Then I used a 1/4 section of the Ultimate Shape and lined it up to each of the marked angled lines.  Look at the beautiful pinwheel that is created! I placed the circle Ultimate Stencil back on top of the design and traced the outside three...

I have been hostessing quilting retreats for eight years now...my...where has the time gone!  This is a tiny little lumber town nestled right at the base of Mt. Shasta.  When our group is there I think we double the population!  The McCloud Mercantile houses our retreat and we have 30 retreaters spend four days quilting, piecing, designing, eating and enjoying each other's company.  It's always sad when the October retreat is over as we don't get to go back again until April. :( This is one of the most productive groups I've had for a long time.  The design walls...

A few years ago I had the pleasure of meeting Michiko Yonemaru in one of my Open Thread Bar classes.  She was a brand new beginner with a sewing machine that was much larger than she was...her head barely cleared the top of her machine!  By the end of the class she was already quilting feathers.  I knew she was "someone special" at the time and little did I know she would be showing up in nearly every driving distance workshop and retreat for the next couple years. Two years ago I offered Michiko a challenge.  I gave her two...

A couple of years ago after presenting my guild trunk show, one of my guests approached me with some good advice.  She said "You know, none of us get what you do...we don't understand how these quilts are made...and even at the end of your program we still don't get it.   You need to SHOW us how these are done".  VERY good advice.  I figured that the Houston exhibit would probably be much the same.  Ladies would look at the beautiful quilts that are hanging and "not get it".  I have spent several months working on this piece and...