You are currently browsing the monthly archive for March, 2008.
The Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) is an Internet-driven, grassroots, totally volunteer effort to raise awareness and fund research through art. Founded by Ami Simms in January 2006 because her mother has Alzheimer’s disease. All profit is donated to Alzheimer’s research. Since the AAQI began they have raised more than $157,000 for Alzheimer’s research.
The first quilts are ready for purchase right now in the AAQI’s “You Snooze, You Lose” Reverse Auction . See a quilt you like? Buy it on the spot. Wait a day and the price goes DOWN! But if you wait too long, somebody else might buy it first! It’s lots of fun and all the profit will fund Alzheimer’s research! Come back often — the page will be updated with new quilts all the time! Details here!
I try to exercise 5 to 6 days a week. Most mornings, you will find me walking 2-3 miles before 8am. When it is rainy or snowy, I ride our exercise bike or use our mini tramp. (On that note, why I don’t weight 98 pounds is beyond me, but that is a topic for another day!)
To pass the time, I listen to my iPod Nano.
So now to the question, what’s on my iPod?
I have a workout playlist, featuring high octane performances by Christine Aguilera ( Fighter ), Kelly Clarkson ( Since U Been Gone ), Chris Daughtry ( ”Over You“, “It’s Not Over” )
Lately, however, I’ve been listening to Podcasts. 45 minutes passes in an flash. I just love multi-tasking!
My current fav Podcasts:
And The Lost Podcast with Jay and Jack
Some lingering Lost questions (and why I keep watching!)
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Where is the island?
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What is the smoke monster?
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What is the healing force of the island?
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Who is Darma. . .really?
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Who build the four-toed monument?
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How did the Black Rock end up in the jungle?
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Who is Jacob?
I have tons of songs on my iPod as well. Some of favorites. . .
SONGS ON MY IPOD
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k.d. lang (Hallelujah is amazing)
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Michael Buble (Anything he sings!)
I’ve enjoyed my few weeks at home, but it’s time to get back on the road. In April, I have 4 trips scheduled.
The first one is to the Colonial Piecemaker’s in Williamsburg, Virginia. (One of my favorite places!) I’m looking forward to my visit with them.
Next is the Araphoe County Quilters and the Columbine Quilt Guild in the Denver, Colorado area. Can’t wait to visit them!
The final trip for April is to the Somewhere Quilting quilt shop in Johnson City, Tennessee. Love eastern Tennessee and looking forward to this visit as well.
As with any trip, there is always lots of planning. This week, I spent several days printing and packaging handouts, sorting quilts for my classes and lectures and packing class supplies.
For each trip, I unusually plan on 2 or 3 days of concentrated prep time, not to mention the months of planning with the program chairs of each guild. Kudos to these hard working people who plan workshops and lectures!
As you can see, Cocoa is helping as I sort quilts in to “workshop” and “lecture” piles for each guild.
Whew! The first round is printed, collated, sorted, packed and ready for shipping. Round two will be next week!
I’ve just gotten my sample cuts from my new fabric collection, Nami. For Spring Market, I’ve also added new colors to my Gilded Greenery collection. These sample cuts have also just arrived.
I’m so pleased with both collections! In the past few days, I’ve been working on quilts and samples for Spring Market and my Schoolhouse presentations.
Here’s a look into my sewing studio. You can see the infamous “fabric closet” on the back wall of the studio. This is the one I cleaned out this weekend.
I usually spread out when I work. I have two different cutting stations. This one is on my Koala sewing cabinet. I have the Koala Quilt Mate III. I’ve had it for about four years, don’t know what I did before I had it!
I’m working on the blocks for one of the Market quilts. If you look closely, you will see my constant companion, Cocoa in his bed, under the table.
Several weeks ago, he enjoyed playing in the snow!
I have some of my favorite notions out while I’m working.
I LOVE the new .07mm mechanical pencil by Clover. It is a fine tailor’s chalk and is perfect for marking.
I also love my wool Ewesful pincushion. The lanolin in the wool keeps my pins sharp and I never have to worry about the pins rusting.
Here’s a look at my other cutting station and my Block Butler design wall. The quilt on the wall is in progress and uses two textures from the new Nami collection and two new colors from Gilded Greenery.
Another sneak peek at two textures in my new Nami line as well as two new colors in my Gilded Greenery collection. Gilded Greenery Saffron and Cinnamon - I LOVE the rich colors of these new colorways. (There are more colors, but I’ll show those later.)
A close-up of the Gilded Greenery texture.
If you look in the corner of the photo above, you will see a basket with work in progress. Here another sneak peak at a 3-D cube in a 4th dimension. I’m playing around with this and hope to have more time to dedicate to this concept later.
All the warm weather has put me in the mood for some spring cleaning! My fabric closet in my sewing studio was a mess! I could not find anything and I was getting pretty cranky about it.
This weekend, I decided to tackel my sewing studio. After about 15 hours of cleaning, sorting and weeding out, I finally finished! What a beautiful sight!
Here is the closet, all sorted and beautiful!
This shelf holds my Gilded Greenery and Essence collections. Now, I can find the colors I need, as I design quilts for these collection.
Gilded Greenery - color Danube
Essence - Arctic
The next shelf holds my blue, green, black and white fabrics. (Hmm, looks like I need a few more blacks and whites!)
The third shelf holds my teal, yellow and orange fabrics.
On the top shelf, I have my hand painted, sun screen and hand dyed fabrics. I decided to store these fabrics in these see through bins. It makes the fabrics easy to find and keeps them neat.
On the side of the closet, I’ve stored my previous fabric collections. I try to keep some of each fabric, so I always have a reference. I also have batting at the top of the closet.
Notice the “sewing fairy”, she is guarding the fabric. Don’t mess with her!
I also sorted my Koala notions cabinet. I can finally find all my stuff!
The thread drawer.
Notions drawer - all organized!
The rest of my closet has also been cleaned out. I love to use baskets to keep things sorted. The stuffed animals are for fun!
Another sewing fairy guards this side of the closet!
I’ve also been working on quilts for my new fabric collection, NAMI, for Blank Quilting.
Here is a sneak peak. We will be debuting this collection at Spring Market. As we get closer to the release, I’ll show more of the textures and colors.
Be sure to ask your local quilt shop for Nami, designed by Karen Combs for Blank Quilting.
Nami is a oriental inspired collection. This is the wave design, inspired by an antique Japanese texture. This is the indigo and white colorway.
Nami in the black and white colorway.
Nami in the red and black colorway.
I read this recently and wanted to share it:
1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America pageant.
4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
5. Name the last half dozen Academy Aware winners for best actor and actress.
6. Name the last decade’s worth of Word Series winners.
NOW answer these questions:
1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.
5. Think of five people who you enjoy spending time with.
Which list of questions did you have the most trouble answering? My guess, it was the first list.
What is the point?
The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money or the most awards. They are the ones that care.
Here is to all of those people on the second list!
Yesterday afternoon, Rick and I decided to meet our son, Josh in Nashville and go to the Nashville Auto Show.
On the way, we made a detour to Wild Oats, my favorite market!
Well, I went into the Market, Rick decided to go next-door and visit the electronics store!
Heading into Wild Oats is a sensory treat with all the colors and wonderful smells.
Look! Three kinds of asparagus!
The floral department is a treat. Look at this unusual flower. . . a kangaroo paw.
I love the cheese department and picked up some of my favorite cheeses.
The chocolate aisle is fantastic. Love the emergency chocolate!
After leaving the market, we headed into Nashville. The view from the sky-walk into the convention center is beautiful.
The convention center is right across the street from the historic Ryman Auditorium. The tall building is the A T & T building, but everyone calls it “The Batman Building”. Can you see why?
As we were walking along the sky-walk, I spotted some beautiful carpet, three floors down. Love it and love the lights!
After looking down, I looked up and saw this amazing sight.
After entering the car show, I lost track of Rick and Josh. Oh here they are. . .can’t get them away from the Corvettes!
Looks like Rick has found one he likes!
Oh my, this Saturn Sky is cute!
I love the EQ software. Most of my quilts are designed on this software. I love playing with different settings, colors, fabrics and blocks using this software.
In January, I was honored to be interviewed by The Electric Quilt Company and designed a project file around my book, Celtic Pieced Illusions.
Here’s a quilt from the book, it is called Celtic Vision. I love the interwoven design! (Don’t worry it is easy to piece. It only looks hard!)
Yesterday, I talked with the good people at The Electric Quilt Companyand I will be their “Do you EQ?” ad for May and June! What a pleasure surprise and what an honor!
Here is a sneak peek at the ad:
Look for this ad in the following magazines:
The Quilter - May 2008
Quilter’s Newsletter - May 2008
American Patchwork & Quilting - May/June 2008
McCall’s Quilting - June 2008
This morning, at 5:48 (GMT) was the Vernal Equinox. You know it’s not true, but as legend goes, an egg can be made to balance only on the Spring Equinox, also known as the Vernal Equinox.
The Vernal Equinox is the moment when the sun is positioned directly above our equator, giving us all an equal period of day and night. The Spring Equinox is great for us lucky folk in the Northern Hemisphere because the days are about to get longer than the nights. If you live in the Southern Hemisphere, March 20th marks the Autumnal Equinox and the beginning of fall.
I didn’t want to try balancing an egg, so I decided to take some photos. The signs of Spring are everywhere in middle Tennessee.
Our Trident maple tree is swelling and getting ready to bud.
Up on our hill, the Bradford Pear trees are blooming. Our son, Josh, calls these “fish trees” . . .since they smell like fish when they bloom. Beautiful to look at, but don’t bring them into the house for a floral arrangement. If you do, the house will smell like garbage. I know, more than you want to know!
As the sun was coming up, I saw this beautiful scene.
Our ground is warm, but the air is cold, resulting in a beautiful misty landscape. I could see the outline of the river in the distance, from the rising clouds of mist.
Happy Spring to everyone!
Yesterday, I ripped off the next page in my Optical Illusions 365 calendar. . .
To my surprise, my quilt, Amazing Attic Windows was the feature quilt!
While several of my quilts will be featured during the year, I was not sure which date, so it was a nice surprise to see it on March 18th.
Why is it so special??
March 18, 2008 is our 30th anniversary!
Yes, we were married on March 18, 1978, in the rocking ’70’s. This current photo was taken of Rick and I, last year at our daughter’s wedding.
Incredible photos of an “ice wave” in Antartica.
These “ice waves” are created over time from ice that has been compacted and uplifted by glaciation, then shaped through exposure to the elements.
The color is amazing!
I’ve just returned from a fantastic conference, Quilting Advetures. . .Texas Style. It was held at the T Bar M Ranchin New Braunfels, Texas.
It is a beautiful place! This is the building, where my class was held.
I worked with 10 amazing women during the 5 day class. We focused on my Patchwork Illusions technique and my Celtic Pieced Illusions technique. Each person selected their own colors and designed their quilts. It is always fun for me to see what each student creates!
They worked hard and produced some beautiful work.
The last morning, we took photos of each person with their work.
Mary Ellen Clifford created a 7 cube design with rotating light sources. She also created the quilt Celtic Vision in her own colors. Love both of them!
Ginny Daly created 3 cubes and rotated the light source to the center. Notice the fourth transparent cube in the center! She also worked on a Celtic Illusions quilt, we see it in progress. Beautiful!
Linda Diaz worked on 3-D cubes in two different sizes. Love the small cubes with the large ones! She created an original Celtic Pieced Illusions design, here it is in progress. Fantastic!
Anna Lee Fahey pieced 10 different small cubes and placed them in an amazing design. Notice the different light sources and the impossible figures that appear and disappear. She added some small cubes on the side, just for fun.
She also created a Celtic Illusions quilt in beautiful greens, and golds. Love both designs!
Charlotte Keener created four 3-D cubes and placed them with multiple light sources. The dark background really makes the cubes “pop”. Charlotte also created an interwoven heart Celtic Pieced Illusions quilt. Love them!
Carole Weaver created a beautiful original Celtic Pieced Illusions quilt. I love the colors and the design!
Lee Whittle created a multiple cube tower with pieced 3-D cubes. They also have multiple light sources. Beautiful!
She also made a beautiful Celtic Pieced Illusions quilt, using several lovely batiks.
Marilyn Wilson made several large 3-D cubes in different colors and blocks. I love the Friendship Star, the Ohio Star and the Nine-Patch blocks in the different colors!
She also created a beautiful Celtic Illusions design in several colors. Notice the weaving on the center design. Love it!
Martha Cropper created a beautiful Celtic Illusions design with a gradating background. It is fantastic! She also pieced 3-D cubes in several different colors, it is in process and she plans to add two more cubes. Notice the rotating light sources!
Sandra Hammond pieced 4 different 3-D cubes and plans to add more 3-D corners. I love the different design elements and impossible figures in this design.
She also created a lovely Celtic Illusions quilt. Love both designs!
Here is our class photo:
While at Quilting Adventures, I had the privilege of teaching with Sue Benner, Joen Wolfrom, Rachel Clark, Debby Caffrey, and Paula Scaffidi. I snapped their photo while we were enjoying the sunshine and waiting on our rides to the airport. It was a pleasure to be with them!
I’m here in Texas, teaching at a wonderful retreat, Quilting Adventures. . .Texas Style.
We are having a wonderful time and I’ll post photos soon. We are working on the Patchwork Illusions technique
and the Celtic Pieced Illusions technique.
It’s true, we love Tennessee and part of the reason are the mild winters. . .however, we do get snow from time to time.
Yesterday was one of those times. We had rain, high winds, turning to freezing rain, sleet and finally snow. When we woke up this morning, it was a winter wonderland!
Cocoa was confused by it, but found it was good to eat!
While at the Friendship Star Quilters Guild last week, Susan, one of my students had the coolest thing on her sewing machine! The bendable bright light!
This small wonder had a pure white light and attached to the sewing machine. The best part, it attached with a mounting bracket, no magnets!
Susan was kind enough to share the web page with me: http://www.bendablebrightlight.com/ .
What a cool notion! Perfect for those dark corners in class or anytime you want more light. . .
I love Quilter’s Newsletter! In fact, I have ALL the issues, starting from the first issue, published in 1969. They are a wonderful resource and always filled with good information and lots of inspiration.
I had a wonderful surprise when I opened the April 2008 issue.
On page 70 and 71, I found an amazing pattern called Kismet, an original quilt by Eileen Fowler.
The quilt is beautiful! I started reading the pattern and to my surprise, Eileen credited me as one of her inspirations for this quilt. Wow! I am humbled and honored!
Hmm, won’t Shade Cascade be perfect??
This weekend, I had the privilege of teaching and lecture for the Friendship Star Quilters in Gaithersburg, Maryland. What a fun, friendly and talented guild! We had a blast in the MORE PATCHWORK ILLUSIONS class.
Everyone worked on drawing patchwork blocks into a 3-D shape.
Just a few of the cubes made in class. Everyone selected their own colors and block!
Wow! Their cubes look fantastic!
Jodie Davis tagged me!
Tagging–not to be confused with tagging of blog posts–is a friendly game of cyber-tag that has become a source of fun in the blogosphere.
In this case, Pat Sloan tagged Jodie, and Jodie tagged me. I am to blog about seven things you may not know about me, and I am to tag seven other bloggers to do the same.
1. I love chocolate! The darker, the better.
2. I HATE socks. I can never find them to fit my foot. (I wear a size 5.) I will wear them when I need to, but most of the time. . .NOT!
3. I am a deaf interpreter at church. I learned to sign about 5 years ago, and am still learning. The deaf are very patience with me as I continue to learn.
4. My husband and I are high school sweethearts. We started dating when we were 16 and in a few weeks, we will have been married for 30 years.
Our newest hobby is riding on Rick’s new Yamaha V-Star 1100.
5. I have been designing fabric for Blank Quilting for 7 years.
Shade Cascade is my newest fabric collection.
6. I love quilts of illusion, okay, you probably know that already.
7. My newest book, Celtic Pieced Illusions, only uses two blocks to create almost unlimited pieced Celtic Designs.
Now onto 7 of my favorite quilters who blog. Check them out!
Mary Stori - She has am amazing sense of humor and is the queen of beading. A wonderful friend!
Pam Holland- Fantastic blog. Prepared to be inspired by her photographs.
Pepper Cory - A good friend for years! Love her quilts and love her! She encouraged me to start this blog. Thanks, Pepper!
Beth Ferrier - Fantastic sense of humor! Love her blog and love her quilts.
Bonnie McCaffrey - Another good friend. Her work and blog are wonderful!
Pat Sloan - Wonderful blog!
Mark Lipinski - My bud, Mark. Need I say more? If you haven’t checked out the Quilter’s Home magazine or Mark’s blog, you are missing out!
Karen Combs
