Yeowza what a day…. even if the promised snow was a feeble 3 inches instead of the promised (and wanted) 6-10 inches! I was skeptical but optimistic when my “order tracking” for my new laptop said FedEx would deliver it today, a holiday (for those not in the US, it is Martin Luther King day, a federal holiday). But when the FedEx guy arrived…and only in Maine and maybe Alaska and Minnesota would someone arrive in 20 degree weather and snow wearing shorts…he had TWO packages. And since I’m evil, I’m going to make you read to the bottom for the best part. First, this came:

What is that you ask? That is the styrofoam packing for the inside of the box with my MacBookPro which arrived, fresh from Shanghai, China (where it left on Thursday!)!!! And of course the first thing I thought when looking at that styrofoam: gee, I’ll bet that would make a great rubbing plate for Shivas and for printing on cloth….

Yes, here is my new baby:

I have decided to NOT try to switch everything from my PC to the Mac immediately. I really, REALLY want to finish The Tree and The Wall quilts first, plus have jury duty again on Thursday, and maybe next week, too. But I DID get the laptop turned on, e-mail set up and internet working (and heavens be praised somehow the laptop “found” the wifi in our house and did the hard stuff leaving me to be surprised and happy I didn’t have to “set up” anything to connect!!!). Of course, this decision is AGONIZING, but…..

One thing that will help the transition a LOT is this:

My friend Lisa Walton, of Sydney, Australia, (She is an art quilter and fabric dyer..website here and blog here where she just posted some awesome fabric she just dyed) bought a Mac laptop on her last day of a nice long vacation in the US last November. While she was in Barnes and Noble she spotted this book and told me about it (since she knew I too was thinking about getting one). BOY is this going to help! Thanks Lisa…and as soon as I figure out the how / what / etc., we can share projects and WiPs (works in Progress) live over the internet–brave wonderful new world!

Then there was the other “expected” surprise….

at long last the envelope confirming my conversation with the Executive Book Editor at AQS (which happened on Dec. 12…a date marked on my calendar): The OFFICIAL CONTRACT to do a book on ThreadWork with AQS!!!!! It will be about using thread on the surface of a quilt: applique, decorative-stitch and free-motion “embroidery / embellishment”, and quilting, all by machine.

To say that I am elated is an understatement of EPIC proportions! I’m doing the happy dance all over again! I can scarcely believe that it is true, but I have the paperwork to prove it! I need to call and talk to someone about dates, but I’m guessing the book will be out in time for Fall Market and Festival in 2008…WOWIE ZOWIE! Call me ELATED! So I guess I’d better stop blogging and Get to WORK! WOOOHOOOOOOO!

Well another week has evaporated…I know I was busy all week, but it seems to have vanished anyway! I finished one quilt over the last weekend…even got the hanging sleeve on! It may look familiar, since I did a series of posts in September featuring the postcards. This is a way to give a fabric postcard (or series) a bit more substance:

I quilted a background (about 14×28 inches) separately. First, I placed the postcards on the background so I could mark around them in chalk and mark where the slope of Mt. Fuji ended. Then I could mark the quilting lines that connect the mountain slopes. In the foreground / bottom area, I quilted more hills just as I did in the cards, then added “cloud” quilting in the top area. Finally, I stitched the four postcards to the surface of the background quilt. I really like this way of displaying a series of cards!

I also finished reading “On Writing” by Stephen King…yes, the one who wrote Carrie and Cujo and various other ghastly stories, lives up near Bangor, part-owns the Boston Red Sox, and is the owner of the only Maine-owned radio station WKIT (which has cool rock music…stuff that isn’t bubble gum pop 40…neat stuff that you don’t hear other places, along with some hilarious stuff like –during deer season– the thirty-point buck, sung in a vaguely French-Canadian accent as “de tirty point buck”….you gotta hear it to believe it! Oh I LOVE the internet…here’s a link to it on Amazon, with a brief clip…sometimes crass but hilarious! OK…further surfing has led me to this site, which I can assure you I would never have visited otherwise… click here then look for the link to play the entire song…but be warned it is a bit crass at points. Ahem. We all have our tacky moments…this is one of mine, but it makes me laugh!). Hmm…I’m getting chatty so think I’ll save King for another blog post…but it’s a good book!

And I began work on a quilt for the FiberArts for a Cause “Reverse Auction.” (An aside–to see the FFAC page, look in the sidebar on the right for a button and click on it) I am REALLY happy with how it is turning out…as a tease, here is an early glimpse. I had wanted to do a nude, just a thread painting, for the FFAC, but Virginia told me someone else was doing one, and I didn’t want to do the same thing. That night I dreamed that I was to do a quilt about a Maine stone wall, so I figured that was a sign and a decision. These walls are everywhere…it’s rocky around here. Here is my neighbor’s “fence”:

I decided to make TWO similar quilts…. they will be called : A Sense of Place: The Wall, and A Sense of Place: The Tree. The smaller of the two (20×27 inches) will go to FFAC, the larger (about 30×28 inches) will maybe go to shows or maybe just go up for sale, or maybe hang in my studio until I can part with it (as I said, I’m really liking these two pieces!). Here are the two on my messy design wall:

And here is a closer picture of the larger of the two, the one on the left:

And here is a subsequent picture showing the beginnings of the branches:

Stay tuned for further pictures!

And today I gave a talk on Thread to my local guild chapter, The Coastal Quilters. We had some fun show and share and a good crowd…maybe I’ll blog about that later in the week, too! Betty…if you read this, may I share the photo of you and your quilt? And Carrie Hedstrom, don’t know if you’re reading but I’d love to include yours, too…wish I had snapped more photos of the other sharing!

If anyone is in the vicinity of Nobleboro, Maine, on Saturday, I’ll also be teaching Machine Applique at Mainely Sewing! The phone is 563-8445. OK, that’s enough of this and that for tonight! Back soon with more.

Sometimes a magazine from a subscription arrives and just about wows you from cover to cover. I love Threads magazine, and have been a loyal subscriber for more than a decade, but this recent issue (it says March 2007 on the cover, though it obviously arrived in January) just sang to me. Even though the magazine is mostly about garments, and I rarely make them any more, I learn something from every issue that I can use in my sewing and art quilts. Click here to subscribe.

In this issue, which arrived just a few days ago, the best article (to me at least) is one my Lois Ericson, whose patterns and innovative manipulation of fabric, edges and openings has inspired me for years. I’d love to see what she would do with an art quilt. More to the point, I’d like to take what she does and apply it to my art quilts. You’ll have to find an issue (if you’re lucky at your grocery, and most likely at most Barnes and Nobles and at Borders) to read the whole thing, but look at what she does with a leaf and some imagery, like the noshi or bundles ribbons image (note–all photos should be clickable so you can see a larger image…if you’re on a PC try a right click and open in a separate tab or window in your browser):

And look at these garments…WOW…talk about inspiration for both garments AND quilts:

There were two awesome tips in this issue also. First, how about using a revolving, upright spice rack for small notions on your work table? I could see adapting this for quilting, leaving the lids off some of the jars and sliding in smaller scissors or rotary cutter (the 18 or maybe 28 mm size), another one to hold marking pencils, another for the seam ripper (just don’t spin too fast and send everything flying!):

And then…brilliant! using clear vinyl tubing from the hardware store as bobbin thread tamers. I bought two feet of the 5/8″ outside diameter (o.d.) with 1/2″ inside diameter (i.d.) for all of 76 cents. It cuts with scissors (my paper / utility ones) and a bit of hand strength. I think I might also buy a foot or so of smaller size tubing for when the bobbin gets low:

And then there was this cool article about adapting a single pattern by adding seamlines. This is fantastic for us quilty types, because we can then piece, insert applique panels or pieced blocks and segments:

Can you believe ALL of these jackets came from the same pattern?

To find out more, buy a copy…. oh, and the resources / adverts in the back are wonderful…tons of inspiring websites with all sorts of common and arcane sewing stuff!

Yep….I’m a long-time subscriber and lover of Threads magazine!

Hi all! Yesterday while I was on my first day of Jury Duty, visitor 30,000 surfed in! If you are from Logan, Utah(or somewhere near it) and found my site bygoggling “circle quilting templates long arm” you win the free pattern! THe only other things I know are that you surfed in via Explorer on a WIndows XP platform, and the ISP was Comcast, and you were on at about 12:42 your time.

Since visitor 30,000 came via Google and may not come back, I’ve decided to extend the prize to a second visitor: number 30,001 who surfed in from somewhere in or near Denver, Colorado, also on Windows XP and Explorer (version 6.0), at about 12:44 your time, and was also from Comcast ISP.

If you are either one of these visitors, write to me at sarah@sarahannsmith.com and I’ll iron out where to send which pattern!

THANKS to you all!

I’ll try to get that post about the Threads issue written today…it has been crazy busy here! And will continue…I’m on a one-day jury trial on Monday, but it actually looks kinda interesting. Will be able to share more after my entire jury duty is complete in early February.

A Lazy Girl, that is! I’m happy to report that Joan Hawley has featured my Mt. Fuji and Cherry Blossoms totebag on her blog! Thank you, Joan! I’m so glad you like it!

Go check it out here, and then if you like this pattern (or any of her other patterns) go visit her website! Her bag patterns are here and the Bag-e-Bottoms are here.

As I mentioned in my earlier blogpost, the pattern was very easy to follow and to make. It’s a good example (for me especially) that things don’t have to be complicated to be nicely finished and customized!