A Little Trip Out West

A couple weeks ago my husband and I hopped on a plane and flew to Denver. I was there to tape an upcoming episode of The Quilt Show. I have written about The Quilt Show before, most recently here.

This is what I saw the morning I walked in for the taping. The audience has not yet arrived but soon these seats will be filled with more than 60 enthusiastic quilters.

The day before my taping, we arrived mid-day to deliver the four large quilts I brought so they could be hung up that evening, saving time the next morning. Also arriving about then was Christa Watson, who was taping after me the next day.

We ended up staying most of that afternoon to watch the taping going on then. This is helpful so the "guest artist" knows what to expect for their own taping.

Oddly, I do not have many photos on my phone of my taping. My husband took a few short videos, not really good to show you behind the scenes. So I am using a couple from Christa's Facebook page:

The monitors that show what the various cameras see, this is during her taping:

 The control room:

Back to my photos. When I arrived early the morning of my taping, it was exciting to see how beautiful my quilts looked in the great studio lighting. Here is Pieces of the Past--Circa 1875. I wrote the story of this quilt here.

My favorite quilt, because it taught me so much, Joyful Journey:

 Hello, old friend, nice to see you again. Red and White--By the Numbers. To find out what this quilt means to me, read this. This quilt is now part of the Corporate Collection of Quilts, Inc. and was borrowed just for this special occasion. We are so grateful that was able to happen, thank you, Quilts, Inc.:

 Another favorite, Stars in a Time Warp:

A very special quilt, one I had to bring to help "tell my story". A-Round With My Friends. I spent 7 years working on this and it has been very successful so the time was worth it:

It was hard to decide which quilts to bring, there is only so much room in the luggage, and more importantly, only so much time to talk about them.

For the first segment, I discussed how to do basic piecing, the things that help you be successful, the cutting, the sewing and the pressing. The second segment was on binding, the steps I use for a well-done finished edge and how it doesn't have to be hard. The time goes by in a flash, and then it's over.

I did get to talk with the audience a bit and answer a few questions:

Another segment taped after mine featured Bill Volckening, a quilt collector and nice guy--I've known him for several years. I am eager to watch this segment on a few of his antique quilts when it airs:

Another terrific quilt-world person I am happy to know is Becky Goldsmith. She taped the day after me so arrived mid-day of my taping to deliver her quilts. I didn't see her taping but we did get to chat a bit. Here are two of my favorite people:

All in all, this was a wonderful experience, one I never even put on my Bucket List. I have been a member of TQS since the very beginning. I learn a lot here and am happy to provide what assistance I can with the Block of the Month, answering questions on the Forum and teaching a class locally, made up of the Sunday Sew and Sews, a great group who have become good friends too.

I do not yet know when my show will air but you can be sure I'll let you know. When it does, I will have a passcode non-members can use to watch the show during one week of its' airing. But I enthusiastically encourage you to join if you are not a member, it is the best money you can spend on quilting--all of the shows are great and there is so much more. And follow them on Facebook and Instagram--lots of fun photos there.

The crew is very professional and I was treated so well. This is quite an operation--they taped 6 days in a row, two shows per day. One of my new BFFs is Shelly Heesacker, the amazing producer who makes sure everything is done as well as it could possibly be. Everyone who has ever worked with her says so. Thanks, Shelly!:

It's a wrap:

Let's quilt!

Barbara

Rajah Revisited is Done

Might be a record:  a Block of the Month quilt finished in less than 13 months.  Rajah Revisited, the 2016 Block of the Month from The Quilt Show is done:

It's about 67" square.  The pattern was based on a quilt made by slave women in 1841, as they were transported on the ship Rajah from England to Australia. A lot of historical information was presented each month, along with the monthly pattern.  My center is a panel I bought from Quilt and Textile Collections, owned by Kay Triplett.  It and several other printed fabrics are still available.

While I enjoyed working on this, I am glad it's done and look forward to spending 2017 making the Halo Star Medallion and finishing Ruffled Roses, the 2011 Block of the Month, also from The Quilt Show.  This year will also be spent developing some new classes I want to teach.

Stella's Splendid Sampler will be finished in 2017--I plan to enter it in my guild quilt show this Fall.  The other day I figured out what quilts I could have done for which categories for our show so now I have a plan.  Just have to execute it.

AND it wouldn't be me if I didn't start something new, right now, when I have so much to finish.  I'm a sucker for projects from Temecula Quilt Company, here is their 2017 Wild Goose Wednesday:

Each week, for 33 weeks, we'll make 8 Flying Geese until we have 264, or I get tired of them.  This is one of my favorite shapes, though this is a larger size than I typically make.  There are so many ways to use these.

I hope some of you are working on the Sew-A-Long.

Let's Quilt!

Barbara

Small Group Forming and Why You Should Join The Quilt Show

For all my local folks, I'm starting a small group, about 12 people, who want to work on the 2017 Block of the Month pattern from www.thequiltshow.com, designed by the incredibly talented Sue Garman:

Find information about this quilt at The Quilt Show.  

You have to be a paid member of The Quilt Show, the cost is $42.95 for a one year subscription.  This cost includes everything offered on the site, all the shows, a new one is released every two weeks, many videos on tips and techniques, great instruction from many well-known quilt teachers, a terrific forum where you can learn so many things from so many people, and so much more. This Block of the Month pattern alone will cost more than $70 when it is available to purchase alone, in 2018.

If you join now, before January 1, 2017, you will ALSO have access to the 2016 Block of the Month Rajah Revisited, which I have been working on:

'

Almost Done, last borders still to go

You need to save or print all 12 of the monthly Rajah instructions BEFORE January 1, 2017 because they will disappear then.  

I often say that if I had to severely limit the money I spend on quilting the very last things I would give up are:  my Membership to my local guild, and my Membership to www.thequiltshow.com, my Worldwide guild. I have good friends in each of these groups and I learn SO much from both.  Recently, I received this email from a friend/student who has heard me preach the value of TQS for years:

I finally joined TQS, mainly for the BOM, and have been watching videos. I LOVE it! Wish I had done it years ago.

Just watched Sally Collins on precision piecing and she is amazing. She made templates too.

Thanks so much for the tip about TQS!

You can sign up for Free as a Basic member to see all the things available on the site but you want to sign up as a Star Member to have access to all the goodness, the shows and this Block of the Month.  To join as a Star Member, go Here.

Want to use different fabrics/colors?  Here is what I've just pulled from my closet:

There are about 12 yards of various taupe/light tan fabrics for background, a dark purple for the narrow borders, a Jacobean-style print for the focus fabric, two turquoises, two purples, four greens.  I may also dig in my fat quarter bins for the turquoise and purple to add even more variety.  It's your quilt, do what you want!

Back to my Small Group:

We will meet at my house one Sunday a month, 1-3 p.m.

You can bring your machine to sew if you like but it's not necessary

We will discuss the hows and whys of Sue's instructions

We will discuss fabric selection if you are not using the Kit--I am not, I'm shopping in my closet

There is no cost--just bring your printed set of instructions for that month

If you are interested in joining this small group, please let me know right away as space is limited and join TQS now so you are ready to receive your first set of patterns January 1, 2017.  You will learn so much from this quilt, things you will use in your future quilts as well.  While it looks complicated, we'll take it one step at a time and you can stop whenever you decide your quilt is "done".  See why this is called a No-UFO quilt pattern.

Let's Quilt!

Barbara