Pillow Talk ~

So what's new about pillows?  How about this modern pillow top?  It's simple and elegant and oh, so  sophisticated. 

Followed by the most delightful (comes in many sizes)
modern fans quilt
design....
found at Suzy Quilts. 

 The fabric choice is yours and appears from Suzy's shop samplers,  any and all fabric selections would work beautifully in this modern design. 

Go there, to Suzy Quilts,  take a few minutes to scroll and enjoy all the fun and fresh  pillow variations, then jump into the modern fans quilt. 

Rockin' My World ~

Here's what's rocking my world today.....Renate Hiller's powerful video about thinking and making with our hands.

Life and Sewing Machine Dust Covers.....neither have to be hard ~

Sewing machine dust cover(s)  made so easily ~ Just gather materials and sew along following these instructions from We All Sew.

and as for life.....for starters, just cut loose and have fun.

Ann Walsh Quilting

I found the most delightful and uplifting blog this morning and could not wait one more minute to share with you.  With every post, she offers supportive comments and urges herself and others to do what we love.   Ann Walsh Quilting go see and enjoy.

Ann started quilting only a short three years ago and wow....has she hit the road running.   The more I read of her journey, the more I wanted/needed to read....smiling all the way.    Beginning with her Podcast interview with Leah Day, how she started, her struggles, her self-doubt....her growth as a quilter....how she considers herself  an introvert who quilted herself to exhaustion. 

With the meander stitch as a beginning, Ann learned control, then moved herself into loops and swirls and feathers.  Along the way, she learned that she had to overcome perfection, discovering that she was robbing herself of joy.  She wholeheartedly believes that  practice should make progress - not perfection. 

Don't stop with the Podcast....go to Ann Walsh Quilting and feel my joy in discovering this heartwarming blog. 

Crossette.....free pattern from AGF Legendary Fabric Lookbook

From Pat Bravo's Legendary Collection - Crossette....a free pattern courtesy of Art Gallery Fabrics.

See even more fab-delicious sewing projects in Art Gallery Fabric's Legendary Lookbook ~

Book Review ~

Just one more book to covet ~  And it's a good one:  Kaffe Fassett's Quilts In Italy is just one of over 20 of his publications. 

There's also Quilts in the Sun....in Ireland....in America....in Provence...in Sweden.  But anyway, back to Quilts In Italy where inspiration was found on page 54 for my newest quilt top....a log cabin variation of Kaffe's Stone Log Cabin...pictured below.

While I loved the multiple use of his fabrics and the smaller log cabin strips in the quilt, there was not enough yardage in my Kaffe Fassett fabric stash to duplicate this quilt.

What is a quilter to do?   Well, of course, the obvious -  just be inspired by what you see and get sewing to make your own with what's on hand.

It started out with a 10" by 18" remnant I picked up in the Villa Rosa Designs shop at Houston Quilt Festival.  These little cancan dancers set the tone for the frivolity of the rest of the logs.  There doesn't seem to be any rhyme nor reason for each addition, nor the size thereof, except that I had enough of each additional fabric to get the log cabin surround finished at 80" x 88".

Quilts In Italy...a refreshing view of 20 quilt designs and easy to follow instructions for the novice quilter and beyond.   It gets a thumbs up from this sewing station.

Recording Quilters' Stories. May the stories never end ~

Now might be the best time....if you are not already a member of , then now might be the best time to donate or join.  Quilt Alliance  came together in 1993  to meet a need to record the stories of  quilts and quilt makers, to keep the stories safe and to share them with the world.

Here's a teaser of an upcoming interview





The benefit of now is that StoryBee will be traveling to Quiltville in Episode 10 to visit with Bonnie Hunter followed in mid-December with a visit with the maker of exquisite quilts  Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry.

You know how it goes....membership has its privileges.  Making a generous $30 donation by November 30 will get you a chance to win Bonnie's latest book, String Frenzy, and a chance to win an issue of Quiltfolk.   Joining by December 30 will get you Bonnie's Garlic Knots quilt pattern. 

There is so much to be learned from quilts and quilt makers and the performance of Quilt Alliance is spectacular.

 Here is an excerpt of just one interview found in the Quilt Alliance archives.

Center For The Quilt Online › Quilters' S.O.S.- Save Our Stories › Interviews Index ›

Kathy York

Quilt

Q.S.O.S.
Tape Number: TX77010-028

Interviewee:	Kathy York
Interviewer:	Peggy Ann
Transcriber:	Katie Demery
Project Name:	The International Quilt Festival QSOS
Event:	International Quilt Festival
Location:	Houston, Texas
Date:	2011-11-04
Time:	10:15 AM

PA: Kathy, will you tell me about the quilt you brought today?

KY: The quilt I brought today is called 'Fifty Female and Fearless'. It's a quilt that is very meaningful to me because it shows a bicycle rider with her arms outstretched riding on a bike and often I ride my bike like this with my hands off the steering wheels. It's all about balance and being able to take risk and kind of being fearless to embrace the world. To me, that's sort of a metaphor for my approach to art quilting because you have to balance your quilting with your life and you have to be willing to take risks and learn new techniques. You have to be fearless because sometimes making art evokes a certain fear. There's a fear of success. There's a fear of failure. There's a fear of having an idea and not being able to represent your idea the way it is in your head. Maybe your skills aren't good enough....................

Go Tell It ~

Torch sent me a link to Quilters' Alliance.Org and I'll soon get back around to sharing that information BUT, for today, I found these quilters who are telling their story about their quilt in 3 minutes or less.   As they say, there's always a story.    For example, here is Trisha Frankland who tells her story about one quilt in under 3 minutes.....quilts that bond quilters. 

and then a sad quilt story, but one that must be shared, less we forget.  Jeanne Hewell-Chambers at Houston Quilt Festival, 2017 talks about Aktion T4 and how the victims are being remembered in quilts being made....one at a time....around the world.

We all have quilt stories to share.   Go forth and help preserve the art of quilting.

The Literate Quilter: Red & White Quilts: 14 Quilts with Timeless Appeal...

I read, I quilt, I follow Nancy Bekofske.... The Literate Quilter who blogs about quilts, books and what she loves.   And,  how lucky that her latest book reviewed is all about quilts...a book spotlighting the red and white quilts of fourteen designers. 

The Literate Quilter: Red & White Quilts: 14 Quilts with Timeless Appeal...: I adore red and white quilts and was eager to get a look at Red & White Quilts from That Patchwork Place. Fourteen designers were a...

Yesterday Revisited BOM No. 10......Corn and Beans

I'm a country girl so corn and beans are old standbys....at the dinner table or on the sewing room cutting table.   Have fun with BOM 10.  Your challenge will be not when to start.....but where to stop.  Here's how you do it ~

Here are a few inspiring pictures found on Pinterest ~

Lovin' every minute of this job.