Just a note

Back from Houston a month now and finally catching up on things. Here's to the real world getting in the way of creativity! But it pays the college costs for one kid and the rent..who can complain in these days of hard economic times. I bless my stars to still have a great day job and the energy to create on my off time.

Houston was wonderful! BBD Creations had another great run. On our off day the gals and I found new galleries, old friends and new garden shops. I brought home a bunch of seeds to sprout and even begged good friends Mary and Scott to haul a plant home for me to WI! Kudos to the Archway Gallery, new home of an artist friend! We enjoyed spending our afternoon there, as well as dropping a few on Tom Irvens' wonderful wood sculptures. The gallery is in its infancy and we hope to make regular trips each Houston. If you are ever in Houston look up the Garden Gate in the Villages..a wonderful gardening shop with a helpful (and patient) staff.

The sea turtle was a big hit in Houston. We are almost sold out of the first run on patterns. I quickly printed more for Lynne the first week back..a new first for me. Houston Market was filled with new shop owners, old friends and steady orders. We did very well despite the numbers being down for attendance. Festival was just as exciting with regular customers checking in and new friendships gained. I found a few new shops to make regular visits to for silk, beads and fabrics. I had to ship my thread home again this year due to airline restrictions..I am set for another 6mos behind the long arm!

I am working on several new quilts for BBD Creations. I will post as I finish..there are two coming out in April at IQA Spring Festival: Flamingo and Tree frog..stay tuned.

Off to Houston with 2 New Quilts

These are the two new quilts for BBD Creations this Fall. The first is a small 24 x 32" wall hanging called Tea for Two. It uses Bonnie's images from the Tea Postcards and the index cards..fun little weekend quilt. The second is the first of a triptych called Sea Turtle: 16 x 26"..two other small quilts will be added in the Spring featuring a sea fan and a sea sponge....

I leave in a few hours for the IQA Houston Market. An exciting time of the year! Stay tuned there are two more quilts for BBD coming soon!

Count down is on

Four weeks and counting until I leave for Houston. BBD Creations has had a bumper year this year so I am in full pattern mode. Reprinting several of the popular patterns and finishing up on the new patterns. I have four to offer this year.

Sea Turtle: The first of a triptych. It features the popular seat turtle graphic off the fine art print and card pack.

Flamingo: A wonderful "quick quilt". Tall and skinny it is perfect for a loo or narrow entryway wall! Literally went together in a short weekend.

Tree Frog: This cute little quilt is also a quick quilt, short weekend from start to finish.

Tea for Two: This is a bit more complicated of a pattern with piecing and fusing. It features several of our tea related items from our postcard and index card items.

Hopefully will have pictures in about a week.

September Already

I can't believe it is September! Quilt Odyssey seems like last year and that was only last month! Many exciting things have happened since then:

1. My new show with the Milwaukee Art Quilters opens this evening in Shorewood, WI at the Garden Room/Anaba Tea Room...all quilted items are "tea" related. I made 5 pieces for the show. I am anxious to see which piece(s) they decided to hang. I will meet my Mother and hopefully more friends at the opening reception at 5pm tonight.

2. I have finished the tops for 4! new BBD quilts..small wall hangings including the tree frog, flamingo, sea turtle and one called: "Tea for Two" based on a combination of our tea related items in the postcard and index card line. (Can you tell I have had tea on my mind?) I will finish the quilting this next few weeks in time to bring the quilts to Houston which opens 2 weeks earlier this year! (Oct 10-18th).

3. Finished my quilt for the Ukulele Festival Challenge sponsored by the North Shore Quilters Guild. We are creating a backdrop for the players' stage. Hopefully all 9 of us are done. I will take pix when I get the facing done today and post all pictures soon. Our theme was "the blues".

4. The Quilt Museum building project is back on the front burner. We are still trying to cut costs, find contractors and put out to bid. We are still on track for a build in the near future. Keep tuned in for more details.

5. My show, "Pieces in Time" continues to run at the Museum through Oct 4, 2008. We have had great attendance and I am pleased to have heard so many compliments from people from around the state.

Have to run, September brings a new school year as well in these parts..our son is off to Madison for his first year in college and our daughter returns to high school!

Just back

Just back from Quilt Odyssey in Hershey PA! What a wonderful show..the quality of the quilts was beyond my imagination..there were some very talented quilters represented here in traditional and art categories. I was especially pleased to read in artist statements that the quilters found it necessary to spend 2-5 years on quilts in order to achieve the level of quality in design, piecing and quilting. So many times I see shows and the comments lean toward how fast quilters can make something!

BBD Creations had a good show but you can tell the economy is catching up with the quilt industry. Many of our customers were weighing purchases and taking mementos of the show as opposed to buying for future projects, stash building or splurging. Again, going back to utility and focused quiltmaking. There was everything from Gammills to wool to hand-dyes to bling represented at this show. I would highly recommend the show to anyone who can make it.

The five day vending spree also allowed Bonnie and I to catch up on some new designs. We have some exciting things coming out for Houston this Fall and the Spring Shows in Florida and Chicago..stay tuned!

Speaking of the Museum

We are out to bid on the Museum..The bids are out and now the work begins to get the brick and mortar started on the museum. It is a huge project with complex building requirements due to the barn restoration. We are renovating a 1850's barn into exhibit space...when the new Museum opens we will have a gift shop, prep-kitchen for large events, classrooms, collection humidity controlled storage and a "lab" for restoration. We are SOOOOO close to getting this up and running..keep posted..or better yet drop into our website at www.wiquiltmuseum.org and take a peak!

Exhibit opens this week!

I stopped by the WI Quilters Museum of Fiber Arts yesterday to help the curator, Luella Doss, hang the signage for my show. I was stunned by the awesome job she and her assistants had done in hanging the show. My goodness! All 60 quilts fit in the two room space, artfully hung and well spaced. I remarked it looked like a family reunion! Here were quilts I had not seen in several years, some showed their age and others looked like they had never seen the light of day. There were happy quilts and quilts that brought back memories best forgotten..all with stories of their own.

Please join me on Sunday, July 26 from 1- 4pm at the Museum for the opening reception. We will have refreshments. There is a scavenger hunt through the collection for children and other items for sale.

One Woman Show

Please join me at the Wisconsin Museum of Fiber Arts in historic Cedarburg, Wisconsin! My show reflects 25 years of quilt and fiber art history. It is a chronological exhibition of my work from the 80's to present day and how my style of technique and design has changed over time. Opening night reception is Sunday, July 26, 2009. The show at the Museum runs through October 4, 2009

2009 SHARP quilt

The 2009 SHARP quilt is done. After many hours of work, Ellie and I have finished the quilt..Thanks to our helpers from the North Shore Quilter's Guild who helped Ellie and I sew this wonderful quilt. The book by SHARP students this year focuses on bullying. We selected the "T" block as it was developed way back to be a symbol for tolerance and temperance. These bullied kids' lives are turned upside down in so many emotional ways that we entitled this quilt: "Topsy, Turvy"..it is done in scrap fashion out of all colors of blue, green, gold and red with an ecru background. The border is a wild batik that picks up all the block colors; there is a small inner border of true black. It is made of 100% cotton fabric, banboo and cotton batting (low loft), machine pieced and long arm quilted with edgy zigzags in the "T's" and an overall McTavishing in the plain background. A beautiful quilt, sized to fit a double bed or queen topper. It will go on auction at the SHARP Luncheon in early October, if you want more information on purchasing raffle tickets, please email me privately.

By the way, the quilt has been photographed at the WI Museum for the Fiber Arts in Cedarburg, WI. Come see my new show at the Museum starting July23, 2009.