Daily Blog

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Photo by Gregory Case Photography

"Quilting cousins" (and accomplished fiber artists) Tami Pfeil and Kim Kleine have always been fascinated with "repurposing," and have carried their inclination to rescue and reuse salvaged materials - particularly wool - into their quiltmaking. From our location at the Blue Rain Gallery in Santa Fe, NM, Tami reviews the stabilizers, threads, and stitch length recommended for working with felted wool, and Kim offers a variety of creative ideas for combining wool with traditional quilting fabrics. (You won't want to miss our special models, Lilo and Elena!)

As an added bonus, Ricky introduces Shockwave, a dynamic pattern based on a 3" paper-pieced Kaleidoscope block.

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Photo by Gregory Case Photography

The TQS gang visits The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe, NM, to greet quiltmaker and author Brian Haggard, who has parlayed his love for traditional crazy quilts into a body of work that puts a contemporary spin on a familiar genre. After sharing some of his beautifully embellished pieces, Brian demonstrates an easy way to showcase a cherished photo as the centerpiece for a special memory block. He also shows his technique for creating three-dimensional flowers using die cuts, and Ricky jumps on the embellishment bandwagon with creative ideas for free-motion couching.

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Woo Hoo! Congratulations to TQS member CherylPlourde and friend, as you will be guests of Quilt Alliance at this 2nd annual event presented by the nonprofit dedicated to documenting, preserving and sharing the rich history of quilts and their makers.

Here are the details about the super quilting event:

• Saturday, September 15, 1-5 pm at FIT(Fashion Institute of Technology) in the heart of the NYC fashion district.
  

• Mark Lipinski will interview Denyse Schmidt for the Alliance’s oral history project, Quilters’ S.O.S. – Save Our Stories.
  

• Jennifer Chiaverini will talk about the newest book in her Elm Creek Quilts series, “The Giving Quilt,” and take questions from the audience.
  

• Denyse and Jennifer will show some of their quilts, and preview the 2012 Alliance contest quilts (up for auction in November).
  

• Beverages and a sweets buffet will be served.

• Also on tap: a lively silent auction.

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Photo by Gregory Case Photography

Do you get nervous just thinking about curved seams? Fear not! In this "tip-top" show (Episode 1105), fiber artist, designer, teacher, and author Cara Gulati is on hand to demonstrate her fabulous, no-fuss, pin-free technique for sewing curves. She also reveals the simplicity and versatility of freezer-paper templates, with a bounty of tips for making, marking, using, and removing them, and Ricky unveils his top five tips for machine quilting. This show is loaded with ideas, info, and inspiration. Don't miss it!

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Photo by Gregory Case Photography

For this episode, we travel to Santa Fe, NM (the second largest art market outside of New York City!) to catch up with Texas quilter and teacher Tommy Romano, who shares his top ten tips - or "ten commandments" - for precision piecing. Preparation, appropriate tools and their maintenance, technique... even the proper state of mind - Tommy puts his precise approach to work while demonstrating a new twist on the traditional Nine Patch block. You'll learn a bunch and love the results!

The episode comes to an "artful" conclusion as Peter Stoessel, executive director of our day's location, the beautiful Blue Rain Gallery, takes us on a tour of the site, which features regional and non-regional art by top Native American artists.

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The Alliance For American Quilts is now "Quilt Alliance."

Here's what they have to say about the change.

A new logo was unveiled this week which depicts a colorful ring of quilts or patches punctuated by a threaded needle to finish the letter Q. The logo is vivid and flexible, a fitting symbol for a nimble and creative organization. A quick visit to the website will show how the new logo has already been graphically adapted to showcase specific events and programs, like the Alliance's Quilters Take Manhattan fall fundraiser. 

Our basic mission to document, preserve and share the stories of quilts and quilters will not change. Our branding change is about inclusion, not dilution, and we won't be any less interested in American quilts and quilters. We've been interviewing some quilters in other countries for our oral history project, Quilters' S.O.S. - Save Our Stories, for years, and international quilt documentation projects have been added to The Quilt Index recently. We're starting to work with more quilt organizations abroad, and added our first foreign board member last year.

The phenomenal American quilt renaissance that began in the 1970s, has lately gone global. Both the craft of making quilts and the study of historic quilts are booming worldwide, flourishing everywhere from Europe to Asia. The Alliance wants to follow this vibrant trail of quilts wherever it leads.

Read their press release about the rebranding here.  

Please note that both URL's--www.AllianceforAmericanQuilts.org and www.QuiltAlliance.org--will take you to their website. They'll keep the former URL operational for at least another year.

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Beginning this week, Ricky and Alex will be taping 12 shows in just 6 days  From traditional to art, singing, and buttons, there will be something for everyone to enjoy. Keep an eye on the daily blog to see what kind of trouble they get into while taping.

In the meantime, here's a sneak peek of some of the amazing artists heading to TQS.

• Jill Gorski
• Liz Aneloski
• Rose Sheifer
• Susan Else
• Ann Petersen
• Sue McCarty
• Sheila Frampton Cooper
• Angela Waters
• Jean Wells
• Lauren Vlcek
• Jacquelyn Gering 
• Grace Errera
• Sue Nickels
• Mickey Lawler
• Cathy Miller

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We've been in overdrive preparing to converge on Boulder, Colorado tomorrow to tape 12 new TQS episodes. In the hustle and bustle we didn't post a birthday greeting for John Anderson on the blog. Today is John's big SIX-O. We think he's looking pretty good and we sure are glad he's steering the TQS ship. 

Ahoy and Happy Birthday John!!!! - and many more!

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Photo by Mary Kay Davis

Popular author, designer, and 1998 Quilt Teacher of the Year nominee Jan Krentz joins Alex and Ricky at the Quilt in a Day Studio in San Marcos, CA, with a sampling of her striking work, including the stunning Star quilts for which she is best known. She also brings a ton of great info to help you "diagnose" and work with various types of striped fabrics to enhance your blocks and quilts. (You'll love her nifty tip for using gift wrap as an auditioning tool!)

Finally, we meet poet Margaret Chula and quilter Cathy Erickson, whose collaborative book, What Remains, was inspired by stories and photos of Japanese Americans in internment camps during the 1940s.

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The Amazing Nine have done it again! Their quilt, Koshare Indian Dancer has been accepted into the Houston International Quilt Festival 2012.

It is based off of a photograph that they saw at a 2012 Ricky Tims retreat. Ricky gave them permission to use his photograph. From this photograph a beautiful Native American Indian was born.

See a detail of the quilt below.

Learn more about the original Amazing Eight. Listen as they discuss how their original quilt, FriendLily Blossoming came to be.  Click here to watch the video.

Members of the Amazing Nine:

Hanne-Grete Brink, Dana Lynch, Cindy Neville, Karen Fitzpatrick, Mary Holman, Mary Kay Runyan, Bridget Dunning Lilja, Wanda Myers and Carol Moellers.