Isn’t that the most wonderful blog title????   I was thrilled when blogger Dawn Goldsmith reviewed my book, here, and even more so when she asked me to do a guest blogpost over at Subversive Stitchers.  My post is here, and the main blog address is here.  Visit both—she has all sorts of wonderful quilters and artists writing about all sorts of fascinating things!  Thanks, Dawn, for inviting me over to your place! GRIN!

No…make that a double-double drawing!  Several years ago, Susan Brubaker Knapp (website here) and I met online through the QuiltArt list and became internet friends.  We FINALLY got to meet in Houston at Market this year.

Our quilty careers have been moving forward (a good direction) on parallel tracks, and we both were published this year for the first time!   So we are having a doubly-fun giveaway:

Over on Susan’s Blue Moon River Blog, she is giving away a copy of my book ThreadWork Unraveled AND my Nourish the Body, Nourish the Soul pattern, and here I’ll be doing a drawing for her beautiful Applique Petal Party pattern booklet AND her Pinata Purse pattern!   I’ll draw a winner at random from those who post by noon on Monday (oops) Wednesday, Dec. 16.  Read on for more enticing details!

Here’s Susan’s full quilt:

Applique Petal Party is an interesting new hybrid:  pattern plus booklet with detailed instructions.  Inside there are nine fold-open full sized patterns for all 16 blocks and the border, all with clear lines and notes.  There is also an 8-page booklet (8 1/2 x 11 inches) including:

• Needle-turn applique basics, with sharp photos clearly illustrating tricky bits such as getting sharp points for stars and leaves
• Making Bias Vines
• Fabric Requirements for the 73 x 73 inch quilt
• Cutting instructions
• Sashings
• Constructing the quilt
• Borders
• Finishing and Quilting
• Binding and labeling; here there are three brilliantly well done photos to illustrate how to do a double-fold bias binding on the ever-challenging scallops.  Well, they won’t be challenging any more, because they show clearly how to do them!

Here are two detail photos:

I love that on the back cover there are four small quilts made from a single block in this pattern, but in totally different colorways.  If you love the pattern but just aren’t a pink person, these will give you an idea of how versatile and beautiful this pattern is.

Susan’s publisher, C&T, is really leading the pack with innovative publishing and support options.  Even on the pattern they invite teachers to use the pattern for classes, and offer support via the C&T website.  Here’s a link to Susan’s pattern at www.ctpub.com ; click on the “google preview” for a tease of what’s inside.

Pinata Purse is a fun one to feature a favorite fabric— and you get lots of look. Just like a Mexican Pinata is covered in fringes of paper, this purse is covered in fringes of fabric.  I could see doing a rainbow thing with the fringe, or a colorwash from light to dark…LOTS of fun possibilities.  Plus it’s a great shape with a nice, useful pocket across the entire back.

Susan is a quilter and graphic designer who lives in North Carolina with her husband and children. You can purchase Applique Petal Party, or any of her wonderful patterns (be sure to check out the Round Red Barn!), at Susan’s website.

To be entered in the drawing to win Susan’s Applique Petal Party OR her Pinata Purse pattern, visit Susan’s website and blog.  THEN Come back here and leave a comment here on my blog telling me something you like over at Susan’s!   On December 16th, we’ll both do drawings:  Over here, the first number (comment number) drawn will win Susan’s Applique Petal Party , the second her pinata purse pattern!  Thanks for joining in the fun,

Cheers, Sarah

The weekend after I returned from Houston, Deborah Boschert flew up from Texas for a glorious Frayed Edges reunion.  It is SO WONDERFUL that Deborah can manage to get up here…almost every year!…since she moved to Texas.  We miss her daily presence, so appreciate her visits so much!

Deborah visited various ones of us spending the night (tho Camden is too far flung for her to reach, alas!), but on Sunday we had a wonderful sleepover at Kathy’s house!  Thanks bazillions to her hubby, Bruce, for taking a night away with his family so we could run amok!

Kathy always decorates for the season, so it is lovely to visit.  Look how she used candy corn to anchor the bittersweet—lovely!

Since our sleepover was on a Sunday night, we had various family-kid obligations (well, Kate, Hannah and I did).  Hannah missed lunch, but here we are:

Then I had to decamp to Topsham, where Deborah used to live, for Eli’s last two soccer games of the season–and learned that her daughter used to play on the very same fields (directions:  go to the parking lot, then take the path through the woods to the fields… I kid you not, those were the actual instructions!)!  Here’s the goalie supreme (red shirt) in action:

By the time I got back to Kathy’s house, Hannah was there, and Kathy’s book group at the China Village library was over.   We had a blast making ornaments… I was the poop in the group and didn’t get kits made–just too much to do and too stressed after Houston and getting the pre-ordered books out, but the others came up with such wonderful projects….Here’s Deborah working on a felted wool rose-ball (from Hannah!)

and of course we indulged in some potent potables… I don’t even remember what this drink was (Kate brought it) except that it was tasty!  I am SO not a drinker of mixed drinks, so I don’t know what ANY of them are!

as we got up to go to dinner (we did potluck…I brought lunch, Kathy did dinner, Kate did breakfast, Hannah brought munchies) I loved this picture:  the chaos of friendship! Stuff and gifts and projects and crafts everywhere!!!!

and then two shots of us at dinner (which was delectable…but why am I the only one to have seconds????)

and then another of Kathy’s charming goodies…a little needle felted wool cozy, with embroidery and stitchery and beads and buttons…. sigh…. beauty on a daily basis wherever you turn in her house! 

It was my birthday not too long ago, so Deborah brough prezzies to celebrate assorted birthdays over the past year…. here we all are with our lovely pieces:

Don’t we all look so happy?!!!!  What a wonderful day… And that was just Sunday!   I decided I’d split the visit into two posts, then started processing the photos and realized I’d best make it three!  So I’ll share the rest of the visit over the next week or two.

Quilting Arts is having an online studio tour today (visit there to get the links to all the other studios…way cool, Cate!), so I thought I’d share some of what I like best about my studio.

1.  It is at home and my family is close by!

2.  My thread stash (hence the title of my book:  Threadwork Unraveled!) :

3.  The design wall, fabric storage and table!  I’d love to have full-height walls, but I don’t, so this will suffice.  I used 2″ thick rigid foam insulation covered with a flannel sheet for the design wall.  The storage is based on Carol Taylor’s and is custom made but oh-so-worth-it.  The work table is an old Ikea table that served as our kitchen and dining table for 20+ years.  When the boys got big enough to kick each other under the table, we got a bigger dining table and I got this for my studio.  I built a platform with 5/8″ plywood and tall casters/wheels.  The height is a perfect work surface, I ‘ve made storage underneath, and the table has good history/karma!

4.  My big, flat cabinet/surface for my sewing machine.  Since I got the big room (the one over the garage), I also got to host the guest bed, a gorgeous antique my late Father-in-law bought in New York City nearly 50 years ago; the bed dates to 1780!  I used to store my quilts on it, but the boys wanted to come in and flop on the bed…so…..

5.  I finally re-vamped my quilt storage.  Small pieces are in the plastic boxes, protected with a buffering layer of cloth.  Large quilts are rolled (blogpost about that here and here) and tucked into boxes under the bed:

6.  When I got fed up with not having ANY closets, I “made” one out of one of the narrow window bays.  At last, all the painting supplies are in one place, journaling in another, mixed media (ditto), shipping , etc.  Batting and shipping boxes are behind the antique Hoosier (1930s era kitchen cabinet):

So that’s it, my favorite bits.  But best of all,

7.  it’s home!

What fun… Quilting Arts magazine is having an online studio tour!   Here‘s a link to the QA website for information on the magazines.  On October 3rd, come back here or to Cate Prato’s blog, here, for links to all the participating artists/studios! FUN!   I’ll be back with pics on Saturday!  (and no, I’m not planning to tidy!)