My second article for Machine Quilting Unlimited magazine is now out, and I’m really thrilled that I’ve been able to help folks.  Rayna Gillman (blog and website) was so kind in sharing on the QuiltArt list that I’d helped solve a tension problem she’d been having, and Gloria (my /designer and art quilter extraordinaire) actually said she made a copy to tuck into her sewing machine manual…Wowie Zowie!  Here’s the cover of this issue:

My article made the cover:  Taking the Tension out of Tension (I can’t take credit for the title, but I love it! thanks Kit and Vicki)

Here’s the opening pages (clickable for a larger view):

There were a number of good articles, including two on Colorado art quilters, both of whom were awesome… Here is the opening to one of those two articles:

*****oooops…I can’t share the pictures of these articles…sorry….. due to copyright laws

Oh how those quilts make me want to get into the studio and play and create!   There are lots more pics in the magazine (hint hint).

And Diane Doran from the QuiltArt list (among other places) did a great article on design, specifically how she develops a design.  I really liked the sequence of photos in her article showing how she begins with a digital image, then builds on it one step at a time:

*****Photo included with Diane Doran’s permission

For subscription information go to www.mqumag.com.

I just finished the draft of my next article for them, on the use of contrast in line.  I’m going to do a series of articles on how various elements and principles of design apply to machine quilting.   I’m on a mission I think to convince folks that art isn’t impossible to learn, and that it’s really actually easy and fun to learn and apply.   So the article for the next issue talks summarizes the elements and principles, then talks about line (since of course machine quilting is about creating lines) and how contrast helps lines stand out (or not).  What fun… getting to write about quilting!  Now…kids on vacation, time for quilting evaporated…ditto for time for blogging!  Talk to ya later!

If you’re like me, you’ll hear Bing Crosby’s voice as he sings to Rosemary Clooney on that one…. For those of you who don’t love the old movie White Christmas, Bing and Rosemary are the older of a pair of war buddies (that would be Bing, to Danny Kaye’s younger corporal) and sisters (with actress Vera Ellen of the impossibly tiny waist and very fast dancing feet).   Theirs is a somewhat rocky courtship, aided and abetted by Danny and Vera’s characters.   Rosemary goes to get a sandwich at the inn, and Bing shows up to make her a liverwurst sandwich with buttermilk (BLEAH…how could anyone think that tastes good?????).  She says she can’t sleep, so of course Bing breaks into song about counting your besslings instead of sheep, and the refrain ends “you’ll fall asleep counting your bleeeeeeesssssss-iiiiiinnnnnnngggggggggs”.

So I decided I should count some of my blessings:

1.  My family is alive and well, and we are blessed to be together.

2.  Mom agreed to move to Maine, and now lives 5 minutes instead of a continent (or more as it has been in years past) away.  Best of all, she has become nice again, and I have my mommy back.  The dementia is getting worse, but she is much kinder,  she gets my sense of humor, and best of all she seems to be happier!

3.  Joshua is alive, well, fully recovered, and seems to have (we think/hope/pray) passed through some of the more tumultuous moments of the teen years.  He is a responsible employee at his job, and is bright and learning.

4.  Eli is a stupendous student, cool kid, devoted son and brother, and great dog-parent to Pigwidgeon.   He is (hooray!, we’ve bred two of them) an inveterate reader, curious, polite, kind, interesting… OK I’ll stop now.  I know I’m biased.  That’s my job.

5.  Paul and I celebrated 25 years of marriage, and we’re still bubbling along. As in all marriages that last, we are always there for each other, and he is my best friend and the first person I go to for most anything (well, except for quilting advice!).

6.  Pigwidgeon (the pug) and Thumper (the 26-toed calico cat) follow me around the house and bring furry love, joy and hair to my life.

7.  Pigwidgeon makes EVERYone, and I mean EVERYONE, smile.  Just last night, when I took him out for nighttime walkies, he had me laughing out loud as he cavorted and chased a snow clod!

8.  Joyce came to visit; my late half-brother’s wife, Joyce is like a sister to me.  I remember her from when my family and I returned to the US when I was six, and she has been a part of my life ever since.  T.J. gets major bonus points for bringing the best person in the family into it.

9.  The Frayed Edges:  Kathy, Kate, Deborah and Hannah make my life and Maine a better place to be (even tho Deborah  is currently in the wilds of Texas).  They are friends, artists, confidants, and just plain FUN and interesting and wonderful.

10.  Marie is one of those friends that will last through the ages… you know how maybe six or seven times in your life you meet someone and you know you will be friends forever, no matter where you are?  Well, Marie is one of those!   Even tho she is still in Washington State, and I am in Maine,  we are still close….and even tho we can sometimes only keep up by visiting each others’ blogs (hers is here), we are always in each other’s hearts.

11.  The Coastal Quilters:  my local quilt chapter is filled with wonderful, fun, diverse, interesting women (no men yet in the group).

12.  QuiltArt ( click here for the website) is the most wonderful online group (like an extended family spread ’round the world) of kindred (and not so kindred) souls, all of whom love art quilts.   QA was my door into art quilting, my master’s degree, my continuing education, the source of untold friendships and inspiration and ideas…. it’s a great place to be.  Thanks to List Mom Judy for creating such a home, to all who make it the best place in cyber-space….

13.  Kit Robinson, on both the QuiltArt and Janome 6500/6600 groups (the latter is a yahoo group), who invited me to write an article for Machine Quilting Unlimited magazine.  In talking over the proposed subject, tension, I mused that really I needed to write about needles first, because you need the correct needle to get the correct tension.  One article turned into two, then….

14.  Vicki Anderson, publisher of MQU and the sister-magazine for long-arm quilters, Unlimited Possibilities, asked me to be a regular columnist for them… WOOOOHOO!!!! For the first time since 1997, I have predictable income with each quarterly article.  Best of all, I get to write about quilting AND get paid for it… life is truly wonderful.

15.  Quilting Arts magazine accepted two of my ideas for short lessons in their e-Newsletter, Embellishments; not only was I paid a modest sum, but they put my name under theirs and in front of something like 50,000 subscribers!  WOW…. THANK YOU Pokey Bolton (top editor and big kahuna, even tho she is a tiny little thing!) and Cate Prato (editor) . For info on how to subscribe to the e-Newsletter, click here.

16.  Quilting Arts / Cloth Paper Scissors  invited folks to submit ideas to participate in Open Studio, where you get to demonstrate a technique, at the large Quilting Arts zone at quilt festival in Houston; they invited me to participate!!!!   I am thrilled at their confidence in me, and I had a blast.  I hope to be able to do it again.

17.  Festival in Houston:  I get to see great quilts, meet old and new friends, see folks I have originally “met” online mostly on the Quiltart list.   Thanks to Karey Bresenhan and her hard-working cast and crew for all they do for all quilters…. Karey is truly in the business of making dreams come true for so many of us!

18.  Iris Karp of Misty Fuse has been so kind and generous, and I had a ball demonstrating in her booth in Houston….. would LOVE to do it again!   Thanks Iris!

19.  SAQA, the Studio Art Quilt Association. Despite the somewhat steep annual dues, I decided a while back that I needed to join.  Boy was I right!  I’ve had at least one exhibit opportunity thanks to being on their site, and think that at least a couple of the work opportunities that have come my way have been due to being in SAQA (and on their website).  Then, last Christmas Marie (see #10) sent me a copy of Portfolio 14, a SAQA publication that is aimed at galleries, museums and collectors.  I knew within about 20 seconds of seeing it that I needed to upgrade to Professional Artist Member status (if they’d take me) and be in the next one.  Well…. I was accepted as a PAM, and got into Portfolio 15 (now available for sale here) and (drum roll) a thumbnail of my quilt even made the back cover!

20. As a result of adding some information to the SAQA wiki (an online information data base for members), I came to Lisa Chipetine’s attention, and she very kindly invited me to be the fifth person in an online Critique session with quiltartist Sandra Sider.  WOW!   I can’t believe how much I learned, perhaps even more so from listening to the comments and discussion about other quilts being critiqued.  If you’re interested in learning more about the upcoming critique sessions, click here.

21.  The manuscript is nearing completion!  More on that when I can!

22.  I was FLOORED when I pulled up Creative Quilting with Beads early this year on Amazon.com  looking for a publication date…as longtime readers know, I have two projects in the book, and Kate (1), Kathy (1) and Deborah (3!) also have projects.  The COVER was MY pomegranate notebook! Talk about a pipe dream come true!

23.  About this time last year, I wrote a quick note to Bonnie Browning, who is a big kahuna at the AQS quilt shows, related to a posting she had made on the QuiltArt list.  She must have clicked on my signature links and visited my website, and she invited me to apply to TEACH for AQS!  The kicker:  this was Sunday, and applications needed to be in her office Monday.  I quickly turned my brochure into a PDF and e-mailed her all the info.  The result:  Bonnie and AQS took a chance and hired me to teach in PADUCAH (Paducah and Houston are the two biggest, most prestigious quilt shows in the US and honestly, in the world!).  I had a ball, student reviews were good, and I did it….hoooray!

24.  Lowell Quilt Festival (Massachusetts) also hired me to teach, and I had a ball there, too.   That show is only about 4 hours from me, so I was able to take LOTS of extra goodies since I could drive.  I had the most amazing time, and they treated the teachers like royalty!  I learned so much from so many amazing teachers…. Nancy Prince and Joanie Zeier Poole were incredibly generous in sharing tips and tricks of teaching on the road…. all of us who ate dinner together… totally fantastic!

25.  Blogging and the internet and all of you!  One of the joys of my mornings is checking flags…. I use a couple of sitemeters, and I LOVE looking at where people are who visit my blog… the sitemeters don’t tell me your e-mail, but they do give a location (more or less… depending on the company, my address in Camden shows up as Camden, Rockland, Tenant’s Harbor….at least it is a general location).  I’ve now had visitors from over 129 nations and every state in the US and almost every province in Canada.  WAY COOL!   I love how the internet has brought us closer, how I can e-mail my friend Lisa in Sydney (literally almost halfway ’round the world), hear back a moment later, reply, and carry on an instant conversation.  I love how those of us who worked in isolated splendor can now share and learn, so THANK YOU for being out there and surfing in to here!

I could go on, but I will stop here, or I really will put all of you to sleep.

Thank you and blessings and peace to you and all of yours,

Sarah

With abiding thanks…..

That great whoooshing sound you hear is time whizzing by yet again….since the last blogpost, since  summer 2007 when Joshua got hit and was in the hospital, since this past summer when I finally (in the heat of July) finished both Joshua’s and Eli’s quilts. It took FOREVER to get Joshua to let me take a picture, but I so wanted to thank everyone for their kindness and support for all of us!

Within a few days of Joshua getting hit by the jeep (on July 17, 2007…posts start that week), a kind and thoughtful soul on the Janome 6600 yahoo group had a kind and wonderful idea:  instead of sending get well cards, send blocks!  She chose a simple one:  an 8 inch (finished square) surrounded by 2 inch sashing, to finish at 12 inches.  Fabrics:  something a teenaged boy might like, all colors, scrappy.    A friend relayed the post to the QuiltArt e-list, and eventually more than 75 blocks arrived!  Many folks sent extras, including ones special for Eli, since he too was greatly affected by the accident (and he logged more miles than anyone going to the hospital up in Bangor, nearly 90 minutes each way, almost every single day for three weeks as Paul and I traded off spending the night there with Joshua or coming home to care for Eli and the animals).

Here, at long last—all healed and well, is Joshua doing what he loves best, playing guitar, on his quilt.  When I asked him if he wanted  to use sashing or a border he said no, I want as many blocks as possible!  So his quilt is 6 feet by 8 feet, 48 blocks!

Each of the boys picked their favorites, with Joshua requesting all the musical ones, Eli wanting the one with the orca/lobster, the wolves and the soccer balls!  They both love their quilts, and I am so grateful for the kindness and support these blocks represent at a time that was really kinda scary!   It is a jolt when you are told your healthy-until-4 days ago 13-year old son needs a large transfusion because he is so anemic (from internal blood loss from the three broken leg bones and the consequent loss of red-blood-cell-generating bones), and then needs another one.  We knew he would live, but not if he would keep his leg, or how well he would live.  The  thoughts and kindness of so many were a great support to all of us, and especially to Joshua who kept saying “these are for me?!?”  The blocks came from Australia, Singapore, Europe, Scotland, England, Canada, all over the United States, and I mean ALL over….. If the maker hadn’t signed the block, I wrote her name and city/state/country on each block so we can look at the quilt and say, look, this one is from “xxxx.”

And here is Eli on his bed with his quilt, made from 25 blocks.

Cindy Sissler Simms is a maven at Mariner’s Compass blocks, so she sent two awesome ones, which I made into coordinating pillows, one for each boy.  I love the way they turned out…. I machine quilted them simply with the walking foot, proving that sometimes simple is PERFECT!

Again, thank you (which seems so small and not enough) from the bottom of our hearts, hugs, Sarah

Oh what FUN!  I’ve been hearing about these Moo Cards for a while now on the QuiltArt list.  When I got the opportunity to participate in the Open Studios (blogpost here), I decided it was time for something a bit fancier than business cards made on my printer at home.

If you stop by my table at Open Studios on Wednesday, October 29th, I’ll have them there for the taking!  Also when I demo in the Misty Fuse booth on Thursday and Saturday mornings, somewhere around 11 or 11:30 ish……. See you there I hope!

I had not realized the cards were printed in England, but even at that the cost for 200 2-sided (color both sides) business cards and sixteen easel notecards was only $120 including shipping!   The quality of the cards is astounding…. in the photo above, you can see the selection of cards (I had 24 different images, could have had more but decided just to go with these).  One side of the heavy, glossy cardstock is one of my quilts.  The reverse (and of course forgot to include that in the photo) has another photo… I used the yellow-blue Hawaiian quilt since it is also the background for my website and blog plus all my contact info in a coordinating turquoise ink.  They also include a nice black card holder box (on the left toward the back).

The notecards, seen at the back, have a square photo and a trapezoid-shaped white “wing” that bends back, allowing the card to stand up on a desk.  The sixteen cards plus envelopes cost about $25….(that was included in the amount above).  Anyway, I am thrilled with the quality, and will order from them again.  Here’s a closer view of the business cards:

Here’s to hoping the cards will, eventually, lead to some contacts that might lead to some teaching jobs!

WOOT!

My copy of the May/June issue of Quilter’s Home Magazine arrived, and I’m IN it! Page 41, to be precise! Back in January, I received an e-mail from editor Mark Lipinski saying “YOU CALL ME tomorrow for an article on you. xoxom” Ya think I called? I sure did! I am totally and completely thrilled with the article, and still amazed that he asked *me* to be in the magazine! Here’s the cover of “my” issue:

And… lookit the table of contents…. who ever woulda thought that I’d be in a national quilting mag’s table of contents, but there I am (if you click on the photo, they’ll pop up a bit larger, but you’ll need a real copy to be able to read it)!

Originally, I think the article was going to be one of his intermittent series of articles on things like the contents’ of famous (definitely not me) and not so (still probably not me, unless you drop the “so”) famous quilters purses, refrigerators and the like. This set was to be “Hometown Favorites.” Mark e-mailed a long list of questions, to which I replied by e-mail, and then helped him out by sending a CD of photos of various of these places. At least half of my (lengthy…sigh) replies made it into the article.

THEN, while I’m out in California in February, I’m standing in the grocery store with my frail, wobbly 89-year old mom, when my cell phone rings. It’s MARK! He had been trying to reach me by e-mail, but I’d been off helping my sick mom get a root canal (we had just come from having it done no less), so hubby gave him my cell number. SO, with mom propped up on the grocery cart and the Novocaine wearing off, I’m doing an interview with Mark on my cell in the middle of Scottie’s Market in Terra Linda, California! Here’s the result:

I couldn’t be more thrilled and honored. And he used my photos! I’m still amazed that he asked me, and grateful that he did. One step at a time, I’m getting to pursue doing what I love for a career (tho it’s a long way from a full-time wage!), and I so appreciate the exposure for both me and my wonderful home town of Camden.

Quilter’s Home has been out for about two years now, and they began subscription service (at long last!) at the end of last year— the magazine is truly a breath of fresh, sassy, quirky air in the world of quilting mags. So, this issue will be on newstands soon… go see what’s fun and new in quilting mags and see what a nice job Mark did… especially on page 41! And thanks again, Sarah